Father's Day on the Icefield Parkway

Rampart Creek
Site #49 - $15.70 + $8.80 fire=$24.50, n/s, no cell, Temp 17C

Happy Father's Day to all the dads! We have been out of both cell and internet service as we drive through the mountains. It's certainly a beautiful drive -- "One of the World's Ten Greatest Drives" apparently! The road has been improved since we travelled it some years ago.

We stayed in a really nice wilderness type campground last night at Rampart Creek.  There were no services and there were bear lockers in the park. Such a beautiful spot in the mountains and trees and along side a river. Our worries of full campgrounds was unfounded as their were only 5 of us spaced around the 50+ sites. 

This campground wasn't to be opened until June 27 according to the campground guide, but the closed signs were down and bathrooms were open. A number of these mountain camp spots weren't made for large units, so it was a little scary winding around the narrow road that was a little tight in spots!! We were lucky to find a site to accommodate us, however. The camping was only $15. but the fire permit in the park is now $8.80 :-(  Note: We discovered later that the larger sites were in "Loop 2"

We started our fire early and we got our money's worth!! (There was lots of wood available) It was a chilly night, but our little propane heater kept us comfy. We were on the road by 9 a.m. this morning.

We've pulled in to a couple 'points of interest' along the way - Athabasca Falls, the Columbia Ice Fields, Bow Summit. (Ron is hiking up to the Bow Summit as I type.) There is still snow in the ditches in the Bow Summit parking lot.

                                 Columbia Ice Fields:

Later: I was able to see Bow Summit as we ended up driving to the Bus/Handicap parking lot and it was just a short walk to the viewing area. There was a beautiful turquoise lake -- gorgeous viewing. There is snow at this summit 9 months of the year.

       Next stop was Bow Lake and Bow Glacier. Such beautiful reflections!

We pulled off at Canmore for lunch in the RV and will pick up a few groceries. We plan to spend a night or two in the Kananaskis area. Hopefully the weekend campers will have gone home! It was very busy on Hwy 1. There is a lot of traffic -- RV's etc.