Overview of Banff and Jasper Trip

On Saturday, July 21 Cristin and I began our honeymoon, a road trip to the Canadian Rockies. Our primary destinations were Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta (AB).  We drove 1260 miles over 2 days to reach Canmore, AB. We took a route thru Fargo, Jamestown, and Minot N.D. and crossed the international border into Saskatchewan at Portal. We camped the first night in the Saskatchewan prairie in the middle of nowhere, near Avonlea,  at Dunnet a regional park.  We were somewhat shocked that this is a noisy, crowed, party campground. There was wedding reception that night in the park and a live band played until well after midnight.

On Sunday we had coffee in Moosejaw, where we connected with Trans-Canada Hwy 1. That afternoon  we made a little diversion to check out downtown Calgary, which made a favorable impression on us.

Downtown Calgary

The Bow River, which originates in the mountains near Lake Louise,
flows thru downtown Calgary.

The next week was filled with one great day after another. We were on the move almost daily and saw and did so much that I have organized this report into several companion blogs that are listed roughly in the same order as our itinerary. Just follow the colored links contained in the caption below each picture.

 Canmore:  Cool town and mountain biking.

Banff Townsite:  A busy, expensive tourist area crowded with tour buses
but the castle/chalet and waterfalls are interesting.  

Yoho National Park:
A natural bridge,  Emerald Lake, a spiral tunnel, and one of the most
productive and important fossil beds in the world, the Burgess Shale

The Icefields Parkway and Athabasca Glacier:
Mile after mile of stunning views.

Jasper National Park:
Amazing geology, waterfalls, hot springs, trails, and wildlife viewing.

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Lake Louise:
One of the 7 natural wonders of the world.  Now we know why! 



Fall 2012 - Adventures in the Northland

October 7:  William O'Brien State Park

Fall is my favorite time of the year!  This year our fall included some yearly favorites, a few new local and regional venues, as well as a quick weekend trip to Pittsburgh, PA and to battleground Ohio the weekend before the presidential election.  My adventures noted here all included Sidekick #1 (Cristin) and/or Sidekick #2 (Bella, formerly Sidekick #1). I hope you enjoy this fall journey!


September 8, 2012:
Cristin bombs down The Bobsled,
an expert trail

The weekend after Labor Day, Cristin and I went on a Minnesota Rovers weekend mountain biking and camping trip to Cuyuna Country State Recreaation Area in central Minnesota, located between Brainerd and Mille Lacs Lake in the small community of Crosby-Ironton. When I was a kid my dad took us fishing to this area, at Fool's Lake and my brother Mark and I fished Fool's when I was in college, so I quietly reminisced those adventures.

This is an area of former mining pits and waste rock deposits. The former pits are now deep, clear lakes and the waste rock is a hilly forest.  Recently the DNR developed a world-class mountain biking trail system here. We camped at the Portsmouth Campground, a nice campground with showers. The biking trails can easily be accessed right from the campground.   The Cuyuna Lakes State Trail is a paved 6- mile trail also in this immediate area.  The mountain biking trails system is well-designed and everyone from beginner to expert was excited at the end of the day.