Looks like we're going this year. What's it like, any recommendations for things to do/avoid?
smokepole;
Good afternoon my cyber friend, I hope the day's been behaving for you and you're all well.
With the understanding that my post will assume the following:
A) unlimited time
B) unlimited budget
C) similar tastes to what I might enjoy
Here goes.
Going up:
If you're able to swing west a wee bit, cross on Highway 2 which will take you up past Waterton National Park. Head in and look around as it's very, very pretty.
Continue on up Highway 2 until you reach Fort McLeod which has the old NWMP fort there, as well as the NWMP graveyard where one of the most colorful people in our history, the half Blood NWMP Scout Jerry Potts is buried.
Once you're done there, head west a few minutes and go to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump which is a UNESCO heritage site and interpretive center run by mostly Blackfoot Confederacy folks.
If it's not too, too late then, we'll head back to Fort McLeod, then west on Highway 3 until you hit Highway 40 which is the Kananaskis Route and it's just been opened up for summer travel.
As someone who has wandered around in mountains all over North America and a wee bit in the Alps in Austria and Switzerland, I'd put the Kananaskis road near the top of the "must see mountain roads" list.
At risk of offending our Montana friends, it equals the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Montana park for jaw dropping beauty.
Once you come out at the 541 Highway, then roll into Calgary.
Do your thing at the Stampede. Bring a hat or buy one there, everyone has one.
The Glenbow Museum in Calgary used to be nothing short of fantastic, but I've not been through there in decades.
You can go up the CN Tower in the middle of Calgary to see around the neighborhood if so inclined.
Going home:
Go back west and hit Banff, which is okay but a sad remnant of what it used to be and a tourist trap, but go there and head up to Jasper. The drive alone again is nothing short of spectacular.
Cross into BC at Valemount and head south on Highway 5 through Blue River, Clearwater and into Kamloops. You're now in rolling sagebrush, BC cattle country at its best and most of the world doesn't know that exists. It's a really pretty drive getting there too.
From Kamloops, there's a fast way and a scenic way down, take your pick, but you could backtrack on Highway 1 and drop down at Golden and head south through Radium, into the Kootenays, so Cranbrook, Creston and then cross into Bonner's Ferry.
Also, you could wander down through more cattle country on Highway 97, hit Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton, stop here for a coffee and then cross at Oroville WA.
If I think of more things to see and do or you put up a few parameters for me to follow, I'll do my best.
Until then, then...
Dwayne