Rimrock Hotel: No Holiday is Perfect (8)

Banff is much bigger than Jasper and I was delighted to see that there was a large, downtown area with wide, inviting sidewalks and baskets of flowers and lots and lots of shops.  It wasn't Lake Louise, but it looked like it might be fun. So I was a bit taken aback when we got off the bus and were told we'd have to take a taxi to our hotel, which was two miles out of town.
Two miles doesn't sound like much. But this was two miles up a winding, narrow mountain road where the forest came right down to the edges of the crumbling asphalt.
The Rimrock Hotel is perched on a steep mountain slope in the middle of nowhere.   That could have been romantic. It wasn't. There was nobody at reception. There was a (closed) jewelry store on the lobby, with all the prices in yen. The Rimrock caters to Japanese tour groups and isn't all that interested in the odd, individual traveller. It took nearly an hour to check in, and after waiting another hour for my luggage to be brought to my room, I went and got it myself.
I assumed there was a courtesy bus to town.  There wasn't. Guests take the public bus, which runs every forty minutes or so. It turned out, we'd just missed one.  There was no way I was going to walk down that road, which was barely wide enough for two vehicles. And even if I did make it to Banff without being run over by a car or attacked by a bear I knew I would never in a million years make it back up again.

We'd had a fabulous day yesterday, and would enjoy a full day of sightseeing tomorrow. A quiet afternoon by the pool might be nice, I decided. But the pool was closed.  So was the restaurant. The bar wouldn't open until 5 PM. Okay. Maybe a nice walk around the grounds, enjoying the cool, Canadian air. But there weren't any grounds. The hotel is built on the side of a mountain, sloping down to a dirt road and endless forests. No walks. No trails. Nothing. And whoops! The public bus was running early and we'd missed it again.
Long story short, I would not recommend the Rimrock Hotel. On our last morning, when I attempted to have breakfast in the restaurant, I was told that I'd have to be put on a waiting-list.  For breakfast!  There were empty tables but apparently they were all reserved. Never in my entire life have I been wait-listed for breakfast. We ended up having breakfast in the room.

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise: It Doesn't Get Better Than This (7)

I've stayed in some pretty fantastic hotels and I've seen some spectacular sights, but a night at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise should be on everybody's bucket list.  This is an unforgettable experience.
I have to admit that the thing that made it super special for us was the fact that we were upgraded to a room on the seventh floor, which is the Concierge Floor. I don't know why that happened. Maybe they thought I was somebody else.  Usually, it costs a few hundred dollars extra.  But I have to say, if you've  got the money it is more than worth it.
Our room overlooked Lake Louise, which would have been more than enough to make the experience unique. Lake Louise is magnificent. The room itself was beautifully appointed and the view -- which as you can see is spectacular -- presented a continually-changing vista of reflections as the sun slowly sank behind the mountains.
We'd been invited to drinks and complimentary hors d'oeuvres in the Concierge Room, which is exclusively for guests who are rich enough (or in our case lucky enough) to find themselves situated here on the seventh floor.  And it isn't just the free hors d'oeurves, which are delicious. It's the whole ambience,  the intimate, friendly atmosphere that seems to encourage total strangers to interact with other strangers.  Comfortable chairs are grouped around little tables, and people just naturally start talking to one another. I've always felt uncomfortable sitting by myself at a bar, but this was totally different. and delightful.  I felt as if Xingxing and I were members of a private, very exclusive club.
A complimentary hot breakfast is served in the Concierge Room as well. Again, it was a pleasant novelty to be able to chat with other people while enjoying my sweet rolls and coffee, more like being on a cruise than being in a hotel.
Breakfast was followed by a leisurely walk around the lake -- made all the more delightful by the fact that I'd been assured that there were no bear, elk or ravens in the immediate vicinity. Xingxing trotted and sniffed, and I found myself hoping for his sake that the smells were as gorgeous as the scenery. I could have stayed all day.  I could have stayed all week. Lake Louise is pure magic. I wished we'd time to take the canoe ride around the lake, or one of the wonderful guided walks, but our bus arrived right on time (darn!) and we continued on to Banff.
Just so you know, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is super dog friendly. And the Concierge Floor is definitely worth the money, even if you can only afford one, wonderful night.

Xingxing and the Athabasca Glacier (6)

The sun is shining and although we've barely sampled the delights of Jasper, it's already time to move on. Xingxing seems to be enjoying the bus, wagging happily when he sees it and bounding gleefully up the steps as soon as the door opens.
This morning we're headed east along the Icelands Parkway towards the Columbia Icefield, the largest ice mass in North America south of the Arctic Circle, where the ice is as deep as the Empire State Building is high.
Once again, we're all urged to keep our eyes peeled for bear along the side of the road. But the scenery is astonishing -- huge, snow-capped mountains, vast forests, incredibly blue lakes. This has to be one of the most spectacular drives in the northern hemisphere, and I'm glad I'm in a bus and can just sit back and enjoy it. I don't care if I see a bear or not. This is purely amazing.
The Athabasca Glacier is one of six glaciers in the ice field. This will be Xingxing's first glacier. It is also my first glacier, in the sense that although I've seen glaciers from afar, I've never actually walked on one. 
We begin at the Interpretive Center, across the road from the glacier. Glaciers form at the edges of ice fields. A glacier is compacted ice that is moving. If it isn't moving, it is not a glacier. The Athabasca Glacier moves a few centimeters every day. It is also receding at the rate of 6-10 feet per year, and is only half as long as it was 125 years ago.
Our Ice Explorer arrives, and we climb aboard.  Ice Explorers are big, specially-made four wheel drive, three-axle vehicles that weigh 33 tons.  The tires are enormous. We move slowly across the road, down the moraine and onto the ice. 
I have no idea of what Xingxing will do when he sets foot on the ice. If he hates it, we'll just come back and sit here in the bus. Just being here on top of a glacier is pretty incredible. We let everyone else go first, and then climb gingerly down onto the ice. No problems. To my surprise, it isn't all that cold. And Xingxing is delighted. He loves ice cubes, and this is the biggest ice cube he's ever seen. He licks it and nibbles at it.
Although we're only allowed to walk on a very small part of the glacier, there are longer excursions available that involve half-day hikes led by professionals. But this is enough for me --simply being here is awesome. The Ice Age must have been awesome, as well. And who knows what civilizations might have existed 15 million years ago? There would have been no stopping the ice, which would have obliterated everything. What, I wonder, will be left of our civilization, after the next Ice Age?
Back on the bus, the driver wants a photo.  Xingxing is the first dog he's ever brought out onto the glacier. Although Xingxing may not be the first dog who has every walked on the glacier, I'll bet he's the first Shih Tzu.

Jewels of Jasper (5)

Clouds were massing by the time we boarded the bus for our sightseeing tour of Jasper, and I was a bit disappointed.  When you only have a day in a place that's known for its spectacular scenery, you want  sunshine.  But I needn't have worried.  Our tour guide Fred was enthusiastic and up-beat and hopeful that we'd see at least one bear along the way.
He seemed very knowledgeable about the local wildlife, so I asked him about the ravens.
"They weren't looking for breakfast. They were just protecting their territory.  They're not hunters. They're scavengers, like hyenas. But you do want to watch out for elk," he added. "Their calves are being born about now, and if an elk thinks her calf is in danger, she'll attack. And that's no joke. An angry elk can kill a wolf with her hooves. Even a bear won't take on a Mama elk." 
We stopped at Athabasca Falls. Athabasca is a Cree word for "plants along the riverbank, one after the next".  Xingxing frolicked joyously on his leash and I kept an eye out for mama elks. We went on to Maligne Canyon, a series of waterfalls created as the Maligne River passes through a series of deep, narrow gorges. The waterfalls freeze during the winter months, presenting an amazing spectacle for anyone willing to brave the sub-zero temperatures.  Xingxing was having a ball, smelling all the smells and occasionally lifting a leg where no dog had gone before.  I was still watching for elk. Everyone else was taking photographs. 

Fred was sure we'd see a bear on the way to Medicine Lake, which is a glacial lake that fills up with ice and snow melt-water each spring. During the summer months the water gradually vanishes down a series of rock faults at the bottom of the lake.  Ancient native Americans didn't know about the rock faults and considered the disappearance of the lake's waters magical. Whether or not the water can also cure illness is an open question, but beneath the overcast sky it was broodingly beautiful. Xingxing saw something that looked like a rabbit, but we didn't see any bear. However,  we did encounter swarms of the biggest mosquitos I have ever seen.  They were like little helicopters!  There had been a plague of mosquitos, Fred told us, and  all the shops in Jasper (not that there were very many of them) had sold out of mosquito repellent.
Our final stop was at Maligne Lake.  Maligne is French. It means, malign. Apparently a French missionary traversing the area decided that he wanted to cross the river, despite the warnings of his Indian guides.  So he waded in, and he and his pack animals were swept away.  He didn't drown, but he lost all his stuff. Seriously pissed off, he blamed the lake which he dubbed, Maligne. Don't know if he had a dog, or not. Probably not.
Here, we embarked on a boat ride to Spirit Island. For a few minutes it looked as if it might be clearing. The sun was peeking in and out behind the clouds, and the effects were fantastic. During the moments of sunlight, the water was an amazing turquoise color -- which comes from the glaciated, powdered minerals in the water which refract the light. Spirit Island itself has a prosaic backstory:  Years ago, someone entered a photograph of it in a Kodak competition and won -- and everyone who saw the photograph wanted to see the island, which became a major tourist attraction.  Canadian history is like that: Things just seem to happen by accident.
 We took lots of detours on the way back to Jasper, passing roadside clumps of a particular berry bush that bears apparently find irresistible. Undaunted, Fred was determined to show us a bear.  We did see an elk, and lots of deer.  Alas! no bear.Maybe they'd already eaten all the berries. But I felt bad for Fred. He tried so hard. 

Jasper: A Walk on the Wild Side (4)

Jasper National Park sprawls across 6,976 square miles, is on UNESCO's World Heritage List and is also the largest Dark Sky Preserve in the world.  The tiny town of Jasper sits humbly in the midst of all this wilderness. Jasper -- named for the fur trader who used to run a  trading-post here -- has houses, roads and even sidewalks, but it is totally dwarfed by the mountains and virgin forests that surround it.
Xingxing and I stayed at the Sawridge Inn and Conference Center, at the edge of this very small outpost of civilization.  The rooms are comfortable and the decor is hunting lodge, with a number of very convincing wildlife specimens on display in the lobby. I found the wolf particularly alarming. I never  knew wolves grew so big. Hard to believe this guy was one of Xingxing's ancestors.
Sawridge Inn is dog-friendly, but the neighborhood -- which includes wolves, bear, moose, caribou, coyotes, lynx, cougars, wolverines, hawks, eagles and 275 other kinds of birds -- isn't. To most of the non-human population, Xingxing was just another potential snack.
The tall pine forests came right down to the edge of the parking lot, and so did many of the critters. When I ventured out onto our little deck, I found myself staring at an elk in the nature strip, who didn't even bother to look up.
When we set out for our morning walk, discretion seemed the better part of valor and I decided not to venture beyond the perimeters of the hotel parking lot.   However, this made for a very short walk.  Xingxing was restless and excited by all the new smells and wanted to go where a Shih Tzu had never gone before. I looked around. The elk had wandered away and it was a quiet, peaceful morning. So we set off boldly across the patch of grass that separated Sawridge Inn from the motel next door.
We were between the two motels when a huge black bird swooped down on us.  The bird was a lot bigger than Xingxing. It dived, and I screamed and jerked Xingxing out of reach.  The bird banked, and settled on a branch. It was not happy.  It flapped its wings and looked around almost as if it was waiting for reinforcements, which it was. Within seconds, three of its friends arrived. They looked at us, calculating.  You could see their bird brains, working. This was not looking good and I decided to make a run for it. Scooping up Xingxing, I dashed back towards the hotel. To my astonishment and chagrin, the birds came after us!  They swooped and dived and screamed around us, and I was really, really scared. It like something out of Hitchcock.
"They're ravens," the young man at the desk explained.  "They build their nests in that stand of trees between the hotels. They might just be protecting their territory. Or looking for food. Baby ravens take a lot of feeding.  But you don't need to worry. A hawk could take a little dog like that, but a raven probably couldn't manage it. At least, I don't think so" he added thoughtfully.