After one night stays at Regina, Saskatchewan, and Medicine Hat, AB, we began to climb out of the Great Plains. The mountains grew larger and larger on the western horizon as we approached Banff. We noticed some haze in the distance that we suspected was from forest fires but it was not too bad.

We spent the next six days in the Canadian Rockies. We did not experience forest fire smoke at all. We were amazed at how long the epic scenery of dramatic peaks and valleys, glacial lakes and rivers continued mile after mile.The Canadian Rockies on Trans-Canada Highway 1 seem 10 times broader than the Colorado Rockies on Interstate 70. Our campsite at Tunnel Mountain campground in Banff National Park sits on a ridge above the town of Banff surrounded by the most beautiful granite peaks. As the sun moves across the sky different sections of the skyline become highlighted in the sun’s spotlight. It is breathtaking.

We rode our bikes about two miles down the hill into town and reacquainted ourselves with the shops and restaurants lying in the narrow Bow River Valley surrounded by steep, glorious peaks. The town is crowded and touristy, but it is not to be missed due to the setting. We had some amazing pizza in a side-street restaurant and then made our way to the Rose and Crown’s rooftop bar. We love having no walls or window frames to block any bit of the awesome scenery.

We returned to camp to retrieve Charlie and drove to a nearby lake for her daily swim. That allowed us to scout out a spot to launch our inflatable kayak the next day. We returned to Johnson Lake with our boat. The beach was quite active, but once we were on the water, we enjoyed a glorious, peaceful day floating on the calm surface, basking in the bone-warming sun and admiring the handiwork of the Greatest Sculptor and Painter.