Driving western Canada

□ Day 14 (25 Feb) Edmonton → Radium Hot Springs

Today's schedule was long, so we got up early and left without breakfast. The original plan was to spend a night in Calgary and head straight to Vancouver the next day, but we changed the plan: today we would go to the Rockies, drive the Icefields Parkway, visit the Columbia Icefield and bathe in the hot springs at Radium Hot Springs. Nearly 900 km, quite a hard distance.

The morning temperature was −18 °C. Colder than expected, and snowing too. But once in the car the cold was no problem. We meant to head south from Edmonton, but the city roads were complicated and we struggled to get out. I think we took quite a long detour. Finally we got out to the suburbs and, a little further on, entered the oil town of Leduc. We decided to buy breakfast at the drive-through of a fast-food chain called "Tim Hortons" in Leduc. But we couldn't place four detailed orders, so we all got the same set: a mixed berry muffin, an egg salad sandwich and juice. It was quite good and we liked it.

From Leduc we continued south on the divided highway. Looking at the map before the city of Red Deer, we found a road from here to the Rockies without going all the way to Calgary. This was clearly shorter. Changing plans, we switched to Highway 11, heading west from Red Deer. There wasn't much traffic, but along the way the town of Sylvan Lake, with its beautiful frozen lake, and the town of Rocky Mountain House at the foot of the Rockies were lively and worth seeing.

From Rocky Mountain House there are no petrol stations at all. Hardly any other cars used the road toward the Rockies, and the further we went, the more snow there was on the road. At the national park gate before the Icefields Parkway, the snow had hardly been cleared and was deep on the road. We slowed right down. By the way, at this time of year there's nobody at the gate. Once through the gate and out on the Icefields Parkway, the snow had been cleared to some extent. Even so, there were white stretches of road here and there, so we couldn't let our guard down.

We drove the Icefields Parkway toward Jasper (north-west), heading for the Columbia Icefield. Rugged snowy mountains and rock walls seemed to close in on both sides of the road. Driving carefully along the winding road, a car park and a lodge appeared. But they are closed at this time of year. The trail to the Columbia Icefield was also shut by deep snow. It was snowing, so we couldn't see its whole extent even from a distance, which was a bit disappointing.

Next we turned back the way we came and headed for Lake Louise. It's a small town of fewer than 1,000 people, but it has Lake Louise, so beautiful it's called "the jewel of the Rockies", and in summer tourists flock here. In winter too there's the Lake Louise ski area nearby with over 100 runs, so we thought it might be lively like Whistler, but the snow-covered town was quiet. We had lunch at a restaurant, and there were no other customers at all.

After Lake Louise, we headed for Banff on Highway 1. On the way the cloud thinned and we could see "Castle Mountain", a mountain shaped like a castle. It has a row of sharp rocky peaks and really does look like castle walls.

Rounding Castle Mountain, we arrived in Banff. Lots of people were walking around carrying skis and snowboards. There are many famous large ski areas near Banff. But we had almost no time this trip, so we just quickly went round the highlights. First we went to the front of "The Fairmont Banff Springs", a magnificent top-class hotel in the style of an old castle. After that, about 20 minutes of free time. In winter there are fewer people than in summer, so many shops seemed to have discount sales on souvenirs. There was also a souvenir shop called the OK Gift Shop, owned by Kyosen Ohashi.

Leaving Banff, we drove the Bow Valley Parkway, a winding road through the forest, and from Lake Louise came down out of the Rockies. It gradually got dark, and we carefully descended the snowy downhill road. "Radium Hot Springs" is the name of the hot spring and also of the town around it. When we arrived at Radium Hot Springs it was about 7:30 p.m. and pitch dark. The hot springs are split into a pool type with slightly cooler water and a bath type with hotter water, both mixed open-air baths. You have to wear a swimsuit, though. Even at this hour it was busy with lots of people, young and old. The hot-spring pool is big enough to swim around in. Naoto, well prepared, had brought goggles. The hot bath is small, full with ten people, but at a pleasant temperature, and it washed away the tiredness of the trip. What bothered us was that quite a strong smell of chlorine lingered. It felt more like a pool than a hot spring.

We still hadn't found a place to stay tonight. Fortunately there were several motels, so we were able to check in somewhere decent. Only 85 dollars a room. Far too cheap. But for dinner, it was past nine, and we couldn't find anywhere open. What we found was a small restaurant inside the shop of a Husky petrol station. We could eat at a reasonable price.