.
A lot of the whale watching companies offer free return tickets for another trip if you dont see a whale which sounds good to me. The average price for trips I have looked at seems to be around $100CDN, does this sound about right?
We were warned by a first nations whale watching trip captain to beware of these money-back guarantees 'cos in the eyes of the tour companies any cetacean no matter how far away will do......
These are our accommodation locations Vancouver, Lac Le Jeune, Jasper, Sunwapta falls, Lake Louise, Banff and finally 1 night in Calgary.[/QUOTE]
Don't know anything about Lac Le Jeune but I'll ask our Canadian friends. Jasper - more mountains than you can shake a stick at. Go and do Mt Edith Cavell Path of the Glacier Trail but don't bother with Edith Cavell Meadows - a boring slog with too many people. Go to Maligne Lake, especially if you can get out in the early morning as you're bound to encounter wildlife on the way. Hire a canoe when you get to Maligne.
Sunwapta Falls - well it has to be the Columbia Icefield doesn't it. Touristy beyond belief but well worth it and good vale. The antidote to the glacier tour is to drive 5 mins down the road from the Glacier visitor centre to the trailhead for Wilcox Pass (I think it's called Nigel Creek), a short, steep trail up into fantastic almost tundra meadows with a great view over the Icefield - a big fave with me. Whilst at Sunwapta you ought to do at least part of the Fortress Lake trail that starts from where you're staying.
Lake Louise - you have to go and look at the lake and Chateau Lake Louise but you can escape very quickly by taking trails on either side of the lake. The trails on the northern shore will lead you to the Plain of the Six Glaciers; there are a number of teahouses to keep you going. The southern shore is less developed and there's a great walk up Fariview from the top of which you can see Chateau Lake Louise a vertical kilometre below! Just take care on the descent because at one point the path turns very sharply and it is very indistinct and results in people coming off the trail onto thevery steep scree slopes. Just make a mental note of the turn on the way up. If Paradise Valley is open go there but I expect Grizz activity will have shut it by the time you're there. Also go to Moraine Lake one evening and hire a canoe - it's really quite an experience. Everytime we go to Banff we end up in being the last canoe of Moraine Lake - magical. The walks at Moraine can be a bit hit and miss; in the last few years an uppity young male grizz has been causing a few problems
Banff - you've got to go to Sunshine Meadows. A bus leaves the gondola car park at 8.30 in the morning (other times available) and takes you up to Sunshine Village from which there are fantastic walks across alpine meadows. Do the Standish loop and drop back down into Sunshine. Don't walk up Healy Creek - v.v. boring and in previous years a bit afflicted by mama grizz
You've also got to go to Blue Canoe on the Bow River in Banff and hire a canoe for at least an hour and either paddle Vermilion Lake or the Bow itself. And if you've got time after all that get yourself to Kananaskis Country - lots of wildlife on Highway 40
Calgary - well there's another MEC....... but if you're prepared to drive a couple of hours south there is Head Smashed-In
We're off to Alberta for 4 and a half weeks on July 29th; staying with friends in Bragg Creek for a week and a half and the rest of the time we're doing a house-swap for the second time in Banff. My 15 year old son is going on various rock-climbing courses and we're planning to spend a day padlling the Bow as far as possible. We've been incredibly lucky and managed to get onto the early Lake O'Hara bus twice while we're there and we're going to do Healy Pass among any number of other walks.
We're also going to go back to Head Smashed-In and we're going to go down into Montana and return via the 93 and Radium Hot Springs.
Can't wait!!!!!!
But as soon as you go it time to come back again.
