Banff National Park, Alberta

The scenery around here is stunning. By this time, between eastern British Columbia and western Alberta we've seen lots of wildlife. Twice we saw baby black bears, and we spotted lots of deer including mothers with their babies.

The Canadian Rockies

Banff National Park, Alberta

Believe it or not, we tented in Banff. Anyone who has been here in the middle of the jam-packed tourist season with the weekend approaching will appreciate what a miracle this is. We didn't bring a tent from Oregon, instead figuring we'd buy one in Canada that is better suited to the weather up here, but most of the stores we tried were out of them. We finally found one store, just before reaching the national parks, that had one very good quality, Canadian-made tent left... and for half price, no less, because it's close to the end of summer. We snapped that up, cruised into Banff on a Thursday night with no advance reservations, and still managed to get a gorgeous treed tent site close to a lake. Talk about winging it!

Lake Louise, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Lake Louise, the village of Caroline, and Mount Alberta were also named in honour of Princess Louise.

Eastern British Columbia - Provincial and national parks, Canadian Rockies

Salmon Arm, British Columbia

Skihist Provincial Park, British Columbia

Glaciers in the Canadian Rockies melt and feed the rivers, streams, and lakes here, turning them a bright unnatural-looking turquoise green hue due to the silt it contains. When early explorers here described this, it was initially assumed that they were just making it all up.

Lytton, British Columbia - Siska Indian Band internet cafe

It's been a wonderful ride so far. Will share more when I'm not limited to 15 minutes' internet access. (Currently using the internet cafe computer at the Siska Indian Band art gallery.)