This trip took place from June 3rd to June 19th, 2011.

NOTE: you will reach a point twice after a posting and see: <newer older> and need to hit older to continue on the trip. the final post is labeled: the end.

We drove over 4,000 miles, hiked some 45-50 miles of trails, kept on going through lots of rain (12 out of 13 days in the middle of the trip), hiking in the snow, avalanches aplenty, changes of plans, lots of animal sightings, beautiful scenery, more waterfalls than we could count, glaciers galore, substantial accelerated alcohol consumption, and lots more.

Andrew (our son - aka BOZ), April Wood (Andrew’s girlfriend at the time and now his wife), Vicky (my wife) and I – in a combination of small RV and tent camping – managed to follow Andrew’s 16 day excursion plan as best we could, taking into consideration some challenging weather, and we were still talking to each other in the end. As Andrew stated, it was a bit of a Zen experience.

As always, I’m including a few photos to entice your interest.

I called this the Glacier Grizzly trip before we left. In fact, we saw 16 bears: 5 Grizzlies and 11 Black Bears. We saw them hiking, driving, and one even came through our camp. I’ve included a Grizzly photo (first photo) to start things off. I’ll have a Grizzly bear story or two to share later in the trip.

Beautiful scenery was a highlight of the trip. From my hitchhiking trip through this part of the world back in 1972, I can still remember that Lake Louise was absolutely beautiful. But even after reading the travel literature and park brochures, there were still plenty of surprises with respect to beautiful lakes and rivers. Photo two is Peyto Lake.

For those of you who know me and discussed this trip with me before we left, you might notice another difference in the title. This excursion has been upgraded from a “trip” to an “Adventure”. We had a hike of a lifetime above Lake Louise on our way to the Plain of Six Glaciers. We had to go “off trail” due to an avalanche. You can see where we ended up in the third photo.

So pull up your socks, pull down your sock hats, and get ready for an exciting Canadian Rockies adventure.