We flew Air Canada from London Heathrow to Calgary arriving early evening. After finding an hotel we explored looking for somewhere to eat. We found ‘Hooters’ which did exactly as it said on the tin - I shall say no more <G>. Our hotel room was carefully selected so that we could lie awake during the night and enjoy the rattle and clang of a mile long goods train trundle over the crossing less than 100 yards from our window. We were up quite early. By 10am were in the hire car and headed, by the back roads, to Canmore, just outside Banff National Park. After exploring the town a little we popped into a cafe for coffee and got talking to a local. “Have you tried the Spray Lakes road?” “No, where’s that?” “See that cleft in the mountains? Follow the road through there for 90 klicks, at the end, turn left after 90 klicks, turn left and 90 klicks later you will be back here - enjoy!” “Errrr wassa ‘klick’?” So, we headed off for our first encounter with the mountains, absolutely beautiful! A shale road with some snow and ice but totally empty, saw less than 5 cars the entire trip! Next morning we were on the road at 05:45 and headed for Banff. We took the old road and arrived in town about 07:30 enjoying the peace and empty streets to explore and wander alongside the Bow River. We left Banff around 08:00 and headed for Lake Louise, that’s about 30 miles tops! We arrived at noon, just in time for a late breakfast/early lunch. By now you are probably getting the idea that Canada is not a place to rush - take the back roads and stop frequently. Simple rule of thumb - if you see somebody stopped, stop! They might have spotted something worth looking at. A word of warning - if you need to stop for a pee, make sure you find a thick bush, you may well come out from behind to discover 3 coach loads of tourists with cameras and binos watching your every move! Day 3 - headed for Jasper, up the Icefields Parkway around 180 ‘klicks’. It took all day coz we kept stopping to enjoy the views. Jasper is the jumping off point for Maligne Lake and Canyon - these are both ‘must sees’. During winter the river flowing through Maligne Canyon forms an ice cave in sections. Day 5 we headed back to Calgary with a stop off at the Athabasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefield. Another ‘must see’! We didn’t even scratch the surface! The Rockies are a place to linger longer. | 
