Day 15, Back to Our Home Away from Home on Canada Day

I started the morning early again, reading and listening to some jazz while trying the hotel supplied coffee. Not bad but it left me wanting something a little more. Weather was perfect for a walk so I dressed and went towards the main street. At 6:20 the sun was just coming over the mountains on the east side of the valley and bringing the details of the Three Sisters on the western side into view. They are visible from almost anywhere in Canmore. I strolled along passing over a small creek before entering the town center. I stopped and took a few pictures with my phone. I had passed a few businesses that would have had coffee, had they been open. I passed another early morning walker and asked if everything was closed. We walked for a bit with his dog close by. He suggested the Rocky Mountain Bagel Co. a few blocks up. If I hurried my coffee would only be $1.50. We went our separate ways and I got my large coffee and sat at a table outside, just sipping real coffee and watching the sun moving on the sisters. I really can't understand how anyone gets any work done in Canmore or Banff. I'd be caught staring at the mountains a dozen times a day.

I refilled my cup for another buck and a half and returned to the hotel down the main street that was all set for the Canada Day Parade. There were lawn chairs, folding chairs, restaurant chairs and blankets lining the street even though it didn't begin for another 5 hours. Small towns, must be nice to be able to leave something outside overnight and not have it grow legs.

We decided on a light breakfast after the large meal the evening before. I had overheard the owner of the bagel place tell a customer that there was another location on the 1A so went there, grabbed another coffee and a bagel. We each picked a muffin for later. Then it was up the Three Sisters Parkway, where oddly enough we couldn't really see the sisters. The parkway wound its way up over Canmore and we got a quick glimpse down to the valley from elevation before the parkway intersected with the TC and we were off to Kananaskis.

We made this 150 km drive last summer from the south without stopping except for Bighorn sheep. This time we took a much more leisurely pace from the north and stopped often for pictures and just to pause and look at some of the mountains, the last we will see of them for at least another year. This area is home to several provincial parks and since only the national parks are offering free admission the road was not very busy. The TC heading towards Banff looked like rush hour on the 401.  

About 100 km in I saw a dark brown shape on a slope along the far side of the road and quickly pulled onto the shoulder. Scrambling for my camera, I told Sal 'Grizzly'. It was a young bear about the size of the black bears we had seen the previous day, slowly roaming the hillside nibbling at plants. I changed to my longer zoom lens, put the drivers window down and snapped away for 5 minutes. It was something I never expected so see on the side of the road. We had almost counted on seeing bighorn sheep again as they were on the road right after all the warning signs last year, but not a grizzly. He paid no attention at all to us or the other 2 cars that stopped. Earlier in the week it was reported that someone had walked right up to a grizzly to get a picture. Park officials are getting more and more upset as they have to react when one dummy causes a bear to get a taste of the easy life on the side of the road. Feeding them causes the bears far more trouble. 'Our' grizzly put on a good show, stopping to pose so that we could snap away and then we left him, totally amazed at what we had just witnessed.

At the southern end of the road just as were were dropping into the foothills, we came around a corner after another ad for wildlife and a group of bighorns were standing in the middle of our lane. 2 adults and 3 smaller, scraggly looking young sheep. They had no fear of the cars that stopped to check them out. Our day was complete and it was barely lunch time.

Some may look forward to Canada Day for the partying and fireworks. For us, this was a special Canada Day. Being able to drive through such beauty without crossing a border is a blessing we should all learn to appreciate. Our country has so much to offer. Why the crowds are flocking to the national parks simply because they save the $20 entry fee is beyond my comprehension. If I lived here I would gladly spend $20 any time I could to further explore.

We're going to start buying lottery tickets in the hopes that someday we might move a little closer to the part of the country we share a love for.

Surprise visitor

Three Sisters

Bighorn sheep at the end of the drive