June 3, 2017 - Canmore & Cochrane, AB Canada

We can go out today because we got the Jeep back!  We wanted to visit Canmore, AB, the ninth largest town in Alberta.. This is one of the touristy towns along Trans-Canada Highway, and is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rockies.

Canmore is 40 miles west of Cochrane, and we took Highway 1A going west.  The drive along the highway was very lovely and scenic.  You cannot miss the iconic peaks of  the Three Sisters when approaching Canmore from Cochrane.

We pulled into Ghost Lake Recreation Area, which is located on the shores of the Ghost Lake reservoir.  Ghost Lake is a man-made lake and lies at the foothills of the Rockies.  The dam was built in 1929, which is used for power generation.  

 

Erwin is proud of his cairn he built

Lenticular clouds

Canadian Rockies

I read in the visitor's guide about historic 142 year old McDougall Church that is off Highway 1A, wanted to check it out on way to Canmore.  It was unfortunate that there was a fire on May 22nd and the church was burned to the ground. The police have ruled that the fire was deliberately set. The area was closed off because it is a crime scene.

Rev. George Willard McDougall and Rev. John Chantler McDougall, father and son, were ministers at the church.  It was the first church to the Indians in Canada. 

Tribute to Rev. George Millward McDougall and Rev. John Chantler McDougall

 

 

 

 

We continued driving along the highway enjoying the beautiful scenery of trees, mountains, prairies, 

 

 

Gap Lake is a lake near Saunders, Alberta
in the background is the iconic Three Sisters Peaks

 

 

 

 

 

It was not easy finding a parking spot in the town of Canmore.  There were few tour buses parked nearby, which means the town is filled with lots of tourists. I had to go around few blocks trying to find a place to park, finally found one that was not too far from the town center.

Stop and smell the lilacs!

 

It was almost noontime and we were hungry for lunch, decided to try The Range Restaurant on 8th Street. It offers artistian roasted sandwiches.  Erwin elected to have its special of the day sandwich: Pork & Beef Sliders and I had Beef Roasted Alberta sandwich. Good portions!  Each table was adorned with unusual salt/pepper shakers.

 

 

 

We strolled around the town checking out some interesting spots.  There were not many food trucks, but there was one we overlooked and wished we had lunch there instead.

Canmore town center offers a multitude of shops and shopping venues. We checked out some art galleries, gift shops, tea shop, and many more.

Whenever there is a bookstore in a town you can be sure
that Erwin will go in to check out books

 

 

 

Intetesting wine labels

We were offered to sample these wines and
did not care for any of them

Whoa!  Look at the price for this bottle!!!

 

Town of Canmore

 

The restaurant added a "dining deck" on the side of the road

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back to Cochrane we made several side stops, checking out horse pastures, mountains, prairies, etc.

We wanted to see what it is like to drive on an unimproved road at Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, decided to drive for several miles.  The view was awesome, but there was almost no place to pull over for photo op. The road is unimproved

 Back in Cochrane we went straight to historic Cochrane town center.  There is a
historic Rockyview Hotel that was built in 1904.  There are a couple bronze sculptues along the street.  

 

 

The line was long at ice cream shoppe

 

 

 

After supper I went out by myself to look for a place to get pictures of the sunset.  It was about 10 miles west of Cochrane that I finally found a nice spot.

 

Sunset as seen from Range Road 50 off Highway 1, west of Cochrane, AB

~Edith