Banff to Kamloops

With another great day "in the books" and a whole treasure trove of wonderful memories to add to our collection, we had to finally point the compass to the southwest and begin our journey back to the good ol' U. S. of A. But first, a visit to a place as special as Banff would not be complete without trying to 'melt down' a credit card or two in the local shops. When we had completed what will be known to future generations as the "Banff stimulus package", we struggled back to the car with our purchases. Linda got a shot of me helping load our merchandise from one shop.


After a final stroll through the streets of Banff we again headed up the Trans-Canada highway toward Golden.





The scenery changed constantly and the mountains rose to ever greater heights as we traveled. The city of Banff is situated in Banff National Park, Canada's oldest and (I think) largest. But this section of the country is rich with national parks, forests and other protected areas.

We were soon traveling through the Kootenay National Forest, a prelude to the amazing icefields of Canada's stunning Glacier National Park.  In fact, this area is home to no less than five national parks (Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, Glacier and Mt. Revelstoke) and an absolute ton of Provincial and local parks!!!!  Amazing!!!  

The area is filled with incredible vistas, magnificent foliage and enchanting waterfalls springing from the slopes. If you can drive through this place and not be moved, you had better establish a close personal relationship with your favorite funeral home. Suffice it to say that the things you find here simply enrich the souls of those who experience them.




It was a long trip to Kamloops and our stops were limited along the way so I'll let the photos do most of the talking for now.

As we approached our destination we traveled alongside Lake Adams, a remarkably lengthy stretch of water that has earned the title of "the houseboat capitol" of Canada.  Interestingly, the lake was named after the Chief of the Secwepemc tribe who died in 1862.  His name was also spelled "Atahms" and he was quite promenent in his tribe.  Anyway - as late as 1995 the Secwepemc people - along with at least two other tribes in the area - were in conflict with the local government about development actions around the lake and they have made it clear that they intend to be involved in any decisions that determine the use of their tribal lands.  The lake is thirty nine miles long, averages one to two miles wide and is 1,500 feet deep at its deepest point.  It is also home to a huge Sockeye Salmon run that attracts tons of fishermen to the area.  The origin of the name Kamloops is somewhat hazy with one camp believing that it comes from the Secwepemc (Shuswap) word for "meeting of the waters" and the other camp voting for the French origin rooted in the name "Camp of Wolves."  For those of you who have read Jack London's "Call of the Wild", the French version originated in the description of a 'wolf attack' much like the one described in London's text. Whatever the origin, it is an interesting place and one which we regret we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked.

In Kamloops we settled in and looked around for a place for somewhere to have dinner. Fortunately the area had tons of choices and we settled on a place with the unlikely name of "The ABC Restaurant." the food was surprisingly good and we gave it a "six thumbs up." Then we headed for our rooms to prepare for another long day. We'll be back with a recap of our final day on the road soon so for now... see ya!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

--
Posted By RAV in SC to SCTravelersX3 at 9/26/2012 11:06:0