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Canadian Rockies

East TN and West NC

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After spending all our weekends at home for a couple months, we recently drove out to North Carolina for a wedding. It was a several hour drive, but the gorgeous scenery was well worth it. On our way home, we stopped for two beautiful hikes. The first was in Western North Carolina, about 45 minutes northeast of Asheville. I spent quite a bit of time researching online to find the hikes with the best views, and you know what I discovered? There are tons in that area!We ended up choosing Mt. Mitchell State Park because reviews said the terrain is more similar to Western Canada. (Most of you know that we took a trip to the Canadian Rockies this summer and loved it.)

Of course there are no snowy peaks in North Carolina at this time of year, but it was still about 20 degrees cooler at the summit than it was along the interstate. The one downside is that the 20-plus-mile road leading to the park is narrow and winding.

We drove as far as the road would take us, parked, and then walked five minutes up to the Mt. Mitchell Summit. The view was glorious!

At 6,684 feet elevation, Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Apparently the guy after whom the mountain is named lost his life proving that statistic.

We wanted some decent exercise, so we hiked two miles down the mountain on the Commissary Trail (very rocky but not too strenuous). On the way back up, we took the 2-mile Old Mitchell Trail (even rockier and much more strenuous).

The sun was setting quickly, so we had to jog part of it, but of course we still had to stop and take a few photos.

We spent the night at a cheap hotel in Asheville, walked around the shops of Historical Biltmore Village and then drove a couple hours to Gatlinburg to hike the 2.6-mile out-and-back Laurel Falls Trail.

It took about 30 minutes to reach the waterfall and 20 minutes to return. The trail is a decently steep incline, but due to erosion, it is paved (although still very bumpy). The waterfall was beautiful, as were the views along the way.

 

In downtown Gatlinburg, we stopped for BBQ at Calhoun’s, a Knoxville-based restaurant with nine locations. The ribs were some of the best we had ever tasted. And let me tell you, when your husband is as much of a ribs connoisseur as mine is, that’s saying a lot.

While driving through the area, we saw some of the damage from the November 2016 Gatlinburg fire, but the town has done a fantastic job of restoring and rebuilding.

Athabasca Glacier

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Have y’all been enjoying seeing photos from our trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains? For those who have missed past post, here are all the links:

Canadian Rockies Day 1
Canadian Rockies Day 2
Canadian Rockies Day 3
Canadian Rockies Day 4
      Lake Louise
      Moraine Lake 
Canadian Rockies Day 5
      Icefields Parkway Part 1

And now for my next post, our tour of the Athabasca Glacier. This was certainly one of the highlights of our trip.

After spending the day driving along the Icefields Parkway, we stopped at the Glacier View Inn for the night. We dropped our bags off in our room; grabbed our winter jackets,
hats, and gloves; and embarked on our glacier tour. A coach bus took us
partway up the mountain to a transfer station, where we boarded a giant
Ice Explorer, which took us up onto the Athabasca glacier.

The Ice Explorer is a very unique vehicle that is able to climb up extremely steep slopes while gripping the ice. Aside from the one used by the United
States Military up in Alaska, they are all currently being used on the
Athabasca Glacier.

From
the hotel, the glacier looks very small, but once you’re up there, you realize just how massive it really is. As deep as the Eiffel Tower is tall, the Athabasca Glacier is approximately 6 km (3.7 miles) long and is receding at a rate of about 5 meters per year.

On the way up, we passed pine trees that are 300-700 years old. The growing season is only 60-90 days, so despite their age, the trees are quite skinny. They aren’t
very tall, either.

When the Ice Explorer completed its climb up the glacier, we were able to hope out and walk around. It was crazy to think just how thick the ice was below us.

Although the park officials were unable to legally prevent visitors from walking outside of the designated area, we were not about to wander off after hearing about the danger of falling into a crevasse (a deep, narrow opening in the ice).

Although it was cold, we took our gloves off and took the opportunity to try some fresh glacier water.

After the glacier excursion, we spent a few minutes on the Glacier Skywalk, a transparent platform jutting out from the edge of a mountain. It was a bit disappointing, as it didn’t actually look out over the glacier but over a valley a few miles away from the glacier. If you’re afraid of heights, you may not enjoy the skywalk, as it hangs 30 meters (98 feet) in mid air.

 

 

Check out this video that we made on top of the the glacier:

 

Canadian Rockies Day 4

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Our Rocky Mountain saga continues! If you missed my post about day three, click here to read it.On day four of our trip, we ventured to two of the most iconic locations
in the Canadian Rockies: Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. We arrived fairly early in the morning, but it still wasn’t early enough. Both parking lots were already full, so we ended up parking about a mile away from Lake Louise and walking.The Lake Louise shore was teeming with tourists, but it was totally worth the walk. It truly is a spectacular place! There were quite a few people out canoeing on the far end of the lake. If you look closely, you can see the Upper and Lower Victoria Glaciers behind the lake.

One of the unique things about Lake Louise, aside from the beautiful blue color of the water, is that it offers two hikes to historic teahouses. We were hoping to do the 8.4-mile Plain of Six Glaciers
Teahouse Hike (teahouse built in 1927), but we heard from other tourists that the snow up on top of the glacier was quite deep, so we chose the Lake Agnes Teahouse Hike (a newer teahouse built to replace one built in 1905).

The first half hour of the hike was a steep incline, and the next half hour was steep switchbacks. We arrived at a medium-sized lake that can’t even be seen from the start of the trail. We thought that was pretty incredible, but we were in for an even better surprise!

About 20 minutes further, and we made it up to the teahouse. The teahouse itself is a small, wooden structure, but it sits on a lake about 10 times as large as the first!

The views were splendid!

Both Lake Louise teahouses sit on top of mountains, so they are inaccessible by road and rely on horses and helicopters to bring supplies.

The teahouse was quite busy with hikers enjoying refreshments before going back down the mountain. We took a short break and then decided to
leave the crowds behind and continue on the Big Beehive trail. The trail took us all the way around the lake and through a large patch of snow. Here is the view from the other side of the lake:

From there, we began the steepest, most harrowing trek of our entire trip, as we snaked up a rocky slope. Looking down was quite frightening! I had a few freak-out moments when I almost lost my balance.

 

It was rough, but once again, the view was totally worth it. There was hardly anyone up at the top, and we could see for miles.

We were directly above Lake Louise and the chateau. The people canoeing on the lake looked like ants.

I nearly had a heart attack as Mr. Handsome sat near the edge to take a picture.

But then I saw another man go even further (while leaning out over the drop-off) and was grateful that my husband wasn’t crazy enough to follow suit. The man’s wife was watching him do this, and she just shook her head and said, “Sometimes I wonder how he’s still alive.”

We sat up there for about 30 minutes, enjoying the views. The air was fresh, and the stillness brought a peacefulness unlike any I had ever experienced in nature.

By the time we made it back to our car, we had hiked 8.6 miles/13.8km in 6.5 hours and gained an elevation of 1,770 feet/540 meters.

We were exhausted, but I still had to show Mr. Handsome beautiful Moraine Lake before we left the area. I’ll share those photos in another post.

Moving…

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Thank goodness it’s Friday! We have had a very busy summer. Just a week after returning from the Canadian Rockies, we moved into a new place.

Anyone who has moved at least once in their life (which is probably most folks) understands what a huge undertaking it is to gather up everything you own and transport it to a new location.

I started packing a box every day about a month in advance. Visitors to our house gave me strange looks when they saw boxes stacked in the corners and found out we weren’t moving for another few weeks, but I am so glad I started early. The packing process ended up taking much longer than I had expected.

I had about 20 boxes saved from our previous move and had to acquire 10 more. (A word to the wise: Rather than paying for moving boxes, ask local grocery and clothing stores if they have any to get rid

of. Kmart pulled through and gave me all I needed for free.)

On the day of the move, Mr. Handsome’s family brought their van and trailer over, and nine of us transported everything in just a few hours. Although it was evening, it was the hottest day of the year, so we were all sweating buckets, but the feeling of accomplishment at the end was well worth it.

It’s going to be a while before I finish unpacking, organizing, and changing addresses, but I’m trying to enjoy the process. I am especially thrilled because we made it through the move without any major catastrophes!

How many times have you moved in life?

Canadian Rockies Day 3

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If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how on Earth it can be Wednesday already. Where has the week gone?I’m thrilled to hear that you have been enjoying my Rocky Mountain posts. If you missed them, click here to view Day 1 and here to view Day 2.

On Day 3, we woke up very sore and tired, following our intense hike up the Iceline Trail. One thing I forgot to mention on my post about Day 2 was Emerald Lake, another beautiful spot in Yoho National Park. We didn’t have time to visit after our long hike, but if you’re in the area, I highly recommend it. The access road is located just west of the town of Field, British Columbia.

Now for Day 3…

We “slept in” until 7:00 and spent a relaxing morning on a group fishing charter on Lake Minnewanka, located about 15 minutes northeast of Banff Townsite.

As you know, Mr. Handsome is a fishing enthusiast, so he was eager to get a pole in the water.

Most of the fish species were catch and release only, but determining which was which didn’t turn out to be an issue. We didn’t catch a thing.

Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary with free park admission, so 2017 is projected to be one of the busiest years on record in Banff. We also chose one of the busiest weekends of the year, as we visited over Canada Day. And it had rained the day before. So the fish had many reasons to stay far away from our hooks.

The scenery surrounding Lake Minnewanka made up for the lack of fish. It is among the most well-known fishing spots in Canada, so there was a decent amount of lake traffic, but our guide was able to find some secluded spots to fish. Mr. Handsome says it was by far the most beautiful place he has ever fished.

Lake Minnewanka is a glacial lake that is 142 meters/466 feet deep, so the water is cold. If we were to fall in, the guide advised us to keep our mouths closed to prevent us from swallowing the frigid water and going into shock. Now that’s a comforting thought.

After our fishing excursion, we drove 25 minutes southwest to Sunshine Village, a ski resort that doubles as a summer tourist attraction. I made some delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we headed to the gondola. The ride was about 20 minutes long, and although our gondola could have fit eight people, we had it all to ourselves.

I grew up downhill skiing, so I felt right at home on the mountain. Sunshine brands themselves as a family-friendly ski resort, although they have two runs (Wild West and Delirium Dive) that are among the most extreme ski hills in the world.

At a 55-degree gradient, Delirium Dive is only open to guests with an avalanche pack, a beacon, and a shovel. I’ve done my fair share of black diamond hills, but I can say with certainty that I would never venture down Delirium Dive.

The gondola starts at an elevation of 1,660 meters/5,440 feet and lets off at 2,164 meters/7,100 feet. After hopping off the gondola, we walked over to the Standish Chairlift, which shuttled us up to an even higher elevation (2,400 meters/7,875 feet). At that point, we were on the Continental Divide.

From the top of the Continental Divide (also known as the Great Divide) rain or melting snow either flows west toward the Pacific Ocean or east toward the Atlantic Ocean.

The view was other-worldly. It truly felt like we had stepped into a fairy tale.

The mountains seemed to go on forever in every direction. We were shocked that there were only a small number of tourists on top of Sunshine. Folks just don’t know what they’re missing!

Here’s a video we made from the lookout point:

After taking in the spectacular views, we hiked down to the lake and back to the base of the chairlift. The longer trails were closed due to grizzly bear threat and snow, so we only walked 3 km/2 miles through Sunshine Meadows. Seeing patches of snow next to beautiful summer wildflowers was a strange juxtaposition.

We finished off our jam-packed day with a visit to iconic Johnston Falls, located halfway between Lake Louise and Banff along Bow Valley Parkway. Even at 6pm, the path to the falls was packed, but it was still unique to walk along the inside of a canyon with a rushing river below.

After we reached the first waterfall, the number of people dropped by quite a bit.

We stood in line to walk through a small cave to the base of the falls (had to keep our cameras away from the spray) and then kept trucking along.

The hike was only 3 km/2 miles total, but the elevation increased steadily the entire way there.

The second waterfall was definitely more beautiful than the first. We could have continued another 3km to the Ink Pots (seven bubbling mineral springs), but we opted to call it a day. We rewarded ourselves with ham and cheese sandwiches from Safeway.

Canadian Rockies Day 1

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On Monday, I shared a few pictures from the trip we took last week to see if you could tell where we were. All the guesses were close, and several readers hit the nail on the head. We spent eight days in the Canadian Rockies! I have wanted to take Mr. Handsome to Alberta since before we were married, and it finally happened.We flew into Calgary and stayed overnight with friends. Then we stopped by Walmart to load up on healthy snacks and ingredients for peanut butter and jelly before heading to the mountains. After checking into our bed and breakfast, we grabbed our hiking gear and went straight to the trails.

The first trail was a short walk to the hoodoo viewpoint. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what on Earth a hoodoo is. (Sure is fun to say, isn’t it?) We learned that hoodoos are rock formations that have been eroded into pillars. You can see a few towards the bottom of this photo:

Our next stop was Tunnel Mountain, a 2.7 mile/4.3 km hike with a 948 foot elevation gain. It took us about two hours. On the way to the top, the views just kept getting better and better, and we took pictures every chance we got.

There were beautiful mountains and valleys in every direction!

Mr. Handsome snapped a bunch of photos for painting inspiration.

Mr. Handsome also really enjoyed playing around with the panorama setting on his iPhone.

 

This is the first video we made on our trip. It’s a little shaky and poor quality, but I promise that the rest of the videos I will post from our trip will be clearer and more stable.

When we reached the top, we were both blown away by the breathtaking view of Banff Townsite and the surrounding mountains. We saw a teenage boy sitting on a rock engrossed in his smartphone, and it made us laugh. How could someone prefer technology over this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime view?

“The views are only going to get better from here,” I told Mr. Handsome excitedly. “No way,” he responded. “Surely this is going to be the best view we see on our entire trip.”

The views did end up getting better each day, making Tunnel Mountain a perfect first hike.

Here is another video I filmed at the peak:

 

Following our hike, we walked around Banff Townsite trying to find a reasonably priced place to eat. After much time spent looking at menus outside various restaurants, we finally settled on McDonald’s. I would never choose to eat at McDonald’s at home, but we were hungry and tired, so the food tasted great!

We stopped by Bow Falls, a very loud and fast-flowing waterfall below the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

And of course, we had to take the iconic picture at the end of Banff Avenue. Unfortunately, it was 10pm by that time and starting to get dark, so the photo didn’t turn out great.