canada – johnboystravelblog

Regina, Saskatchewan

August 21, 2025

After my stay in Moose Jaw I would drive about 50 miles east to Regina (pronounced rej-EYE-na), the capital of the province and it’s second largest city. But first, the view from my bedroom window when I woke up before sunrise:

Kind of hard to see in a photograph but the crescent moon is in the bottom center and above and to the right are two planets (I don’t recall which ones).

I drove over to Regina and the first thing I saw when I arrived in town was Mosaic Stadium, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team.

Next I drove downtown to, where else, the Visitor Centre. Frankly I was surprised that about all they had there was a map of the city.

I drove back to the stadium to get a closer look. Outside were three flags.

On the right, the British Flag, on the left the Canadian flag and in the center the Saskatchewan provincial flag.

Next to the stadium was Confederation Park, a small, grassy fenced in area with several benches and tables. There was also a display of indigenous art:

Next to the park and the stadium was the convention center, and in the parking lot a group called Cirque Italia (Water Circus) was setting up a large performance tent:

It was a nice day so I drove back downtown and walked to several city parks. In one of them I saw an enormous jackrabbit (technically a hare).

I could tell he was big (he reminded me of my cat, Bigfoot, who weighed 16 pounds). Well, jackrabbits don’t get THAT big but his back legs were long and when he got moving he could really make tracks. I saw another one in another part of town.

The next day I had to do laundry. The Airbnb I was staying in had a combination washer/dryer – something I had never seen before. I don’t know what the attraction was, other than taking up less space, but it took FOREVER.

I had done some research overnight and decided to go to two government buildings – The Legislative Building and Government House.

That is the Legislative Building, looking back from the gardens in front of it. And this is the view from the front of the building looking towards downtown.

And the statue of the horse and rider you can see in both photos is Queen Elizabeth II, riding her favorite horse – Burmese.

In another part of town I found Government House.

It is the official residence of the Lieutenant (pronounced Left-tenant in Canada) Governor of Saskatchewan, who is the Crown’s representative.

The weather was going downhill and I had a driving day the next day so I went back to my Airbnb to get my clean clothes out to the car and rest up a bit.

Calgary, AB to Moose Jaw, SK

August 19, 2025

Today would be a driving day. I would be traveling from NW of Calgary, near the western edge of southern Alberta province (though it is relatively narrow at the south end), to Moose Jaw, in south-central Saskatchewan province, which is much wider. Google Maps said it would take about 6 3/4 hours without stops, and would be all 4-lane highway. I don’t call it the dreaded interstate because I am in Canada. If anything it would be interprovince, but the highways up here have treated me very well so I have no reason to attach the “dreaded” moniker to them.

This going to sound crazy but I have wanted to go to Moose Jaw since 1977, when the movie Slapshot came out. It was about a fictional minor league hockey team with a bunch of misfit players, and included, what some might call above average hockey rough play which really drew attention to the team. It included the three Hanson brothers and another player whose name I don’t recall. At some point in the movie the fact that the brothers were from Moose Jaw and the other from Saskatoon (or vice versa) was mentioned. Ever since then I have wanted to go to those two places.

This was the view out my bedroom window during the night near Calgary- the moon and two planets.

When my Airbnb hosts in Golden and Canmore learned of my plan to go to Saskatchewan they told me – be prepared for prairie and farmland. Once you get out of the Rockies it will be flat as can be. No worries – the same is true in the US.

Not a mountain in sight.

I stopped for lunch in Medicine Hat, AB, which was about halfway to my destination. The first thing I saw before I got off the highway was the World’s Largest Teepee.

Well, maybe not authentic but it makes a good photo op. There was some indigenous artwork on display.

I stopped at the nearby Visitor Centre for maps and brochures and had a nice conversation with one of the workers there. He convinced me that there was enough here to see that I would add it to my itinerary later in the trip. Because of the possible air quality issues I had downsized my original plan which had included a stop in Medicine Hat.

I had learned of a small racetrack and r/c aircraft flying field north of town and set out to check them out quickly before I got back on the road. Before I got there I saw a sign indicating that neighboring Redcliff, Alberta is the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.

I found both the racetrack and the r/c flying field right next to each other but both were closed on the day I was there.

Spectators Welcome so long as there is someone here! I won’t even post a photo of the race track since I couldn’t get very close. For those of you that don’t know me, car racing is one of my interests, and I used to fly r/c helicopters for a few years and always stop in if I see a flying field somewhere.

I also learned that Medicine Hat is nicknamed “Gas City” because of an abundance of natural gas underground, and I passed a few businesses which process it for transportation by rail.

As soon as I crossed into Saskatchewan I started to see evidence that it was, in fact, largely farmland.

Huge silos and grain elevators. And to give you an idea how big this one is, here is a photo with vehicles parked next to it (way down in the lower left hand corner).

Further up the road, another one:

Before I got to Moose Jaw I came to a large lake and noticed a raised observation platform:

The signage indicated that Reed Lake is a seasonal stopover for migratory birds. It is the second largest saline inland water body in Canada.

When I finally arrived in Moose Jaw I discovered that one can even get poutine at McDonald’s in Canada.

Poutine is basically french fries covered with cheese curds and brown gravy. I tried it a few years ago when I was in Quebec (where it originated) but it is not something I should really be eating…

I arrived at my Airbnb in Moose Jaw in the early evening. It was located several miles out in the country south of town, and I was treated to a magnificent sunset and, looking in another direction, storm clouds. It had been a beautiful day but storms were moving into the area. They basically went around us but because of the flat terrain I could see storms far away from where I was.

My second day in and around Calgary

August 18, 2025

The next day I drove south around the west side of town to visit the small town of Okotoks, which is about 45 minutes south of downtown Calgary. I wanted to see the “Big Rock”.

It’s actually 2 big rocks and many smaller ones. The proper name of this site is Okotoks Erratic and these rocks, many of which have drawings or carvings, have deep cultural and ceremonial significance to the local indigenous peoples. It sits a short distance off the road with a gravel path leading to it and around it. There is also a perimeter fence around it which is not to be crossed.

As I was driving back north I stopped in town for coffee and saw this deer casually eating grass right next to the street, seemingly without a care in the world.

When I got back to Calgary I, again, went around the west side to stop at a place I had seen on the way to Okotoks. Several facilities at the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics which were held in Calgary (remember Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsled team?).

The biggest building at the site is called Winsport, and is a multipurpose sports and training facility for Canada’s Olympic athletes. They also maintain many of the facilities constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Behind it is the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame.

Also nearby was a building for the gymnastics team. And yes, they do have the original Jamaican bobsled (in Canada they call it a bobsleigh) used in the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings”.

The things that drew my attention from the highway were the three Olympic ski jumps.

After I finished taking photos at Winsport I drove back downtown. I went to a place called Devonian Gardens, which is a large atrium high atop one of the buildings. The plants alone didn’t really do much for me but I was intrigued by a display of wooden masks by artist Tom Ward.

And as I was walking around downtown I figured I’d better get a shot of the Calgary Tower, shaped to resemble the torch for the Olympic games.

It has kind of been dwarfed by many taller buildings downtown but as I was driving past Calgary later in my trip I noticed that looking towards town from the southeast is does stand out pretty well (though I was on a multi-lane highway and couldn’t stop to take a picture).

My last stop downtown was the Wonderland Sculpture.

I wanted to go inside it and try taking a photo looking out but as you can see there was someone working there and had it cordoned off so I was unable to do so.

Calgary, Alberta

August 17, 2025

Today I would be driving east, away from the Canadian Rockies, to Calgary. Rather than take the Trans Canada Highway I decided to take a smaller road which roughly parallels it.

One of my first stops was at a lake where there was a river rafting launch point. I arrived there as the rafters were arriving for their orientation but I was on the east side of a lake, and not the river itself. Looking behind me it was still partly to mostly cloudy but ahead of me were bright blue skies which were welcome after the past two rainy days.

The group wasn’t quite ready to go so I proceeded to drive further east. I came to this rodeo facility not far from the lake. This was the first indoor rodeo venue I have seen, but I know there are many others which sometimes host large, professional competitions.

Further up the road I came to another, larger lake although the signage there indicated it was a reservoir called Ghost Lake.

When I got to the first town on this route I turned off the highway to find a car wash and passed by this Mexican restaurant.

Their motto: Fiesta, Siesta, Tequila, Repeat. Sounds good to me but they weren’t open yet.

One of the reasons I traveled on this road was to make sure I knew where my Airbnb for the next two nights was located. It had a very rural address and I wasn’t sure my GPS would be able to find it. I ended up trying the “Get Directions” function on the Airbnb app and it took me right to it.

I was now northwest of the city so after getting gas I decided it was time to brave going downtown. It was after morning rush hour and the roads were pretty much clear of traffic so I got there with no problem. My first stop was the library, which is in a very modern building.

As I walked up the steps to the main entrance there were some oversized games set up for kids, and others, to play.

I went to the library because that is where the Visitor Centre is located. This was looking up inside the building:

I got some maps and spoke with the two people working there who suggested some specific things to see in the city. Outside the building were several large art pieces which resembled the “bobbing head” science teaching tool.

They did move with the wind but were restricted from coming too far down.

I drove to a modern art museum they had suggested. It was kind of a mix of museum and office building, but it covered three floors and had some interesting things to see.

This is a closeup of how the third piece was constructed:

Back to Banff – Post 2 of 2

August 16, 2025

This is part of the downtown shopping area in Banff:

I drove to a viewpoint called “Surprise Corner,” located along the Bow River across from the big Fairmont hotel. I parked in a small parking area and carefully walked down a rocky, muddy path to where I thought I could see the hotel. Well, the viewing opportunities from that low vantage point were not good at all.

Disappointed, I carefully walked back UP the rocky, muddy path to where I had parked my car, only to find a spiffy new viewing deck across the road!

It was above the hill to my left as I drove up to the parking lot for the old trail.

Surprise!!

THAT is the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel.

Next I drove out Tunnel Mountain Road. I showed you a photo of Tunnel Mountain in the previous post. Tunnel Mountain Road goes around it, not through it. It would take me away from town and to several viewpoints and trails.

The first stop I came to provides a great view of Mount Rundle.

Hard to see from this distance, but there are three distinct “layers” of different kinds of rock, formed over millions of years.

Here are the famous Canadian National Park “red chairs” which are strategically placed through Parks for residents and tourists alike to sit and take some time to soak in and enjoy what there are seeing.

Further up Tunnel Mountain Road I found another viewpoint and trail which would lead me to some “hoodoos,” or natural stone pillars. They are at the bottom of the 3rd photo below, and I could only see the two of them. Sorry, Banff, but after seeing whole National and State Parks with hoodoos in the western US, I can’t say that I was terribly impressed.

It did make a nice photo, though, with them in the foreground, the Bow River in the center and the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in the distance.

It was still raining and more tour buses and RV’s were starting to arrive in town so I thought I would try my luck across the Trans Canada Highway and up over a mountain to visit Lake Minnewanka.

Back to Banff – Post 1 of 2

August 16, 2025

Yesterday it rained a good bit and I stayed put in Canmore. Before leaving Durham I had booked all of my Airbnb’s through and including Canmore. I now needed to make a decision about going further east, away from the Canadian Rockies.

The largest wildfire in Canada in 2025 was in Manitoba province, which I was not planning to visit. I did, however, want to go further into Alberta province, and then continue east into Saskatchewan. They, too, were battling wildfires, mainly in the northern parts of their provinces. I was monitoring both the wildfires themselves and what the air quality in and between the towns I wanted to stay in was doing. I decided that with one exception, I would go ahead and book stays in several towns that I originally planned to visit. I cut down on the number of nights and went ahead and made reservations. I did not go to northern Saskatchewan (Prince Albert National Park) because the ongoing fire near there was still burning and the air quality was not good. The air quality in the other towns had improved from unhealthy to acceptable, though some smoke would catch up with me later in my trip.

Having done that, today I drove back up to Banff. The rain was still in the area but it was not a washout. Light rain continued off and on all day but I tried to get out and see more of Banff. I drove up high above town to where the Banff Upper Hot Springs are, as well as the Banff Gondola. I could not drive all the way to the Hot Springs because I didn’t have a reservation there. The Gondola was not yet open, and given the cloud cover I wasn’t optimistic that I would see anything from it anyway. As I started driving back down into town I saw a lone cow moose walking along the road. She turned to walk up into the woods but I was able to take some pictures of her.

I continued on down the hill and parked at the Cascade of Time Garden. It is behind a big building which I believe is used for Park Administration.

That is the view from the front of the building looking across the bridge over the Bow River and down Banff Avenue, the “main street” of Banff. The mountain in the distance is Tunnel Mountain.

This is yet another marmot. I spotted it as I walked around to the front of the building. I stood very still after he ducked down into a hole near the sidewalk and after a short wait he reappeared.

I figured I’d leave him alone and walked down to the very front of the property to take a photo of the building.

About this time I saw a large tour bus pull in and start unloading passengers. I walked back up to where I had seen the marmot and he was still there, roaming amongst the flowers.

I went back to my car and drove to the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. I had to park on the street behind the hotel and managed to find a way up a set of stairs on the side of it. I couldn’t get a good shot of the hotel itself as I was too close to it, and I would have needed a key card to open any of the entrance doors.

I knew I would be able to take a good picture of the front from one of my next stops so I walked back to my car and drove downtown.

Canmore, Alberta

August 13, 2025

I drove south 20 miles from the town of Banff to the town of Canmore, about triple the side of Banff with a permanent population of around 16,000. Canmore is just outside the southern end of Banff National Park. Golden and Canmore were, by far, the most expensive Airbnb’s on my trip but they are both close to the places people want to be and can command higher prices. Staying in Banff proper would have cost even more…

I went downtown and parked and found that I was in a very nice little town that didn’t feel as congested as Banff. They also had a few blocks of their downtown area blocked off to traffic to form a pedestrian mall of sorts. I walked around and went in a few shops and immediately felt at ease. I also noticed that no matter which direction I looked I could see mountains.

I walked a short distance to a town park located along the Bow River.

Before I checked in at my Airbnb I decided to go to the library to print some documents from my computer. What I found there was totally unexpected.

A multi-story climbing wall! The library is located inside the Elevation Place Recreation Centre which also features a fitness gym, an aquatic centre and an art gallery! The climbing walls seemed to be the most popular and there were not only adults but also some rather young, but fearless, children.

Some of the walls go as high as 45 feet and the are some much lower ones which arced out to give an additional challenge to the climbers (not shown).

I stood for quite a while in the entrance area and marveled at the ability of the climbers. I even went back on another day to watch some more as I found it fascinating.

Getting to Banff (the town), Alberta

August 13, 2025

After leaving Yoho National Park I crossed into Banff National Park and began my trek southeast. Jasper and Banff National Parks both have an elongated footprint which slants northwest to southeast. They are both on the spine of the Canadian Rockies and help form the western edge of Alberta province. Banff National Park covers just under 2,600 square miles, about 60% the size of Jasper NP. Banff NP has over 100 named mountain peaks.

Once I pass the town of Lake Louise on the Trans Canada Highway I would travel about 40 miles to get to the town of Banff. I have traveled the northern part of this road twice, both times driving northwest after leaving Kootenay National Park. Today I will be driving southeast so I be seeing a different vantage point of several mountains I have already seen, and will be seeing some new ones which I could not see as I drove north,

The next two sets of mountains were being backlit by the early morning sun as I approached them.

I stopped at a rest area before reaching Banff and took these photos. The first one is looking back northwest towards Kootenay NP.

And this next one is looking back towards the highway I had just driven down, with the upper part of mountain now basking in the morning sun.

The next one is looking southwest towards the town of Banff.

I would soon exit the highway and turn left, climbing a mountain towards the Mount Norquay ski area. From a scenic viewpoint along that road this is the view looking towards the town of Banff. You can see Hwy 1 going from left to right at the bottom of the photo.

Below is a closer look at town. You can see the Bow River on the right and the shopping district to the left of it. If you look closely at the upper left hand corner of the photo you can see the large Fairmont Banff Springs hotel. You will be seeing more photos of all those things in subsequent posts.

Banff sits at an elevation of 4,600 feet and has a permanent population of about 8,300. As with Jasper, and many other towns in Canada, that number increases significantly with year-round visitors. It was named by a railroad executive after his hometown in Scotland.

Below are some of the big mountains west of town. In that photo the Banff Springs Hotel is just right of center at the bottom. To the right and above it is the road leading up to the Banff Hot Springs and the Banff Gondola.

I ventured into town to get some maps and get a feel for the lay of the land. Banff has a reputation for being overrun with tourists, especially in the winter when people are visiting the local ski areas. I would actually be staying in the town of Canmore, about 20 miles further south, for several nights but will make a quick trip into Banff today, and will drive up from Canmore on another day to try and beat the crowds.

Here is the first place I visited when I drove downtown.:

The photo above is of Bow Falls. The Bow River originates at the Bow Glacier up in Jasper National Park, along the Icefields Parkway. It will pass through southern Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces before turning north, pass through Manitoba province and empty into Hudson Bay.

Below are some rafters setting out on the lower part of the Bow River.

After navigating mid-day traffic in town I decided to go back out to the highway and drive down to Canmore and get settled into my Airbnb there. I will return to Banff in a day or two to spend more time here and will have lots of photos to share.

Yoho National Park

August 13, 2005

I have driven through Yoho National Park 4 times during my visit to Golden and thought I’d better tell you a little bit about it as I pass through it a final time on my way south to Banff.

The name is an exclamation of surprise in the indigenous Cree language, though there isn’t any record of the Cree people ever having lived here so I don’t really know why it was chosen. The Park covers a little over 500 square miles and has 28 named mountain peaks over 9,800 feet. The tallest is Mount Goodsir at 11,703 feet, not visible from the highway due to closer mountains obscuring the view. As you will see, some of the mountains are low enough to only be covered with trees, and it is a very popular destination among hikers. It may be hard to see but the colored dotted lines on the map represent cycling or hiking trails.

(Photo credit: Parks Canada)

The only road which passes through the Park is the Trans Canada Highway (Hwy 1), shown on the map in red. Several roads branch off from it but I only took one of them as I left Golden.

Emerald Lake (upper portion of the map, above and left of the town of Field) is frequently shown in brochures because of it’s brilliant color. Every time I passed by the road there was an electric sign near the highway exit indicating that the parking lot was full. As I returned from my second trip through Kootenay NP I took a chance and drove up anyway, only to find that traffic was at a standstill before I even got to the parking lot. I sat there for a while hoping to see vehicles leaving but since we seemed to be at a dead stop I turned around and left, deciding that I would drive up first thing in the morning as I was leaving Golden.

Here are some of the things I saw during that drive.

It was a strange morning, cloudwise. The two photos above were taken one minute apart, from the same section of the highway! I know it was clearing in one direction but there were heavy clouds when looking in another.

I drove directly up the mountain to Emerald Lake – no line, no waiting. The parking lot was only partially filled so the “go early” advice was sound.

The lake surface is at 4,267 feet elevation and Golden is at 2,600 feet so I had climbed over 1,600 feet to get here, encountering fog or low clouds along the way.

You can see that the sun was finally able start burning off the fog.

Another lake in the Park, Lake O’Hara (up near Hwy 1), is only accessible by making bus reservations in advance. The long road leading north to Takakkaw Falls is only open a portion of the year and is considered difficult to navigate for large vehicles. Recreational vehicles or vehicles towing trailers are not permitted on it.

From what I’ve read and brochures I’ve seen, Yoho is extremely popular with hikers and I’ve seen many great pictures by visitors who have hiked up to high elevations. If you enjoy hiking you could plan your whole vacation in the Canadian Rockies and have a never-ending variety of things to see.

The photos below were taken as I started driving down to Highway 1.

When I got to the bottom I stopped at Natural Bridge.

Kootenay NP Redux – Part 1 of 3

August 11, 2025

Today I decided to drive back down south and go through Kootenay National Park again. The first time I went through the weather was less than ideal for photos, with some low clouds obscuring some of the mountain tops. The weather was forecast to be better today so I thought I’d give it another go.

Sorry the map is kind of small but it focuses on the route I would take. From Golden I drove south on Highway 95 to the town of Radium Hot Springs. There I would turn left on Highway 93S which goes through Kootenay National Park and up to the Trans Canada Highway (Hwy 1), which I would take back to Golden. The entire loop is about 200 miles.

I did post some photos of my original trek through the Park so you will probably see things you have seen before. I have more photos than what I am about to post but I went through them and eliminated ones that seemed repetitive or were not very clear. I am in the Canadian Rockies so obviously mountains are the main things I see. Many of the mountains have a different appearance than ones I have seen elsewhere so I hope you enjoy the variety as much as I do!

I start off with a few repeat photos from Radium Hot Springs (the town). As I drove in to town around 10am I encountered several young bighorn sheep, strolling down the highway seemingly oblivious to the traffic around them.

I stopped briefly in the Visitor Centre and then drove back about a half mile to enter the Park itself. A short ways in are the actual Radium Hot Springs, which gives the town its name. They are an odorless natural hot springs which are popular among visitors to the area. They have their own fee structure and one must have a Park Pass to access them. I was thankful that Canada waived the entrance fees to their National Parks for the summer, though I was prepared to buy an annual pass when I arrived here.

This time I was better prepared for the first thing I saw after I drove past the hot springs.

There wasn’t anyone behind me so I was able to stop in the road and take that photo through the windshield.

The next thing I saw was also something I didn’t photograph the first time through the Park. A large red rock wall on the left side Highway 93S. This time I pulled off into the area where the entrance gate for the Park is and walked back to take a photo of the wall. I have not seen anything like it so far in Canada and suddenly I felt like I was in southern Utah!

Redstreak Mountain is located right behind the Visitor Centre, and I presume this is how it got its name.

Ok, so from this point forward all you will see are mountains. Most are a fair distance off the road. I have tried to crop the photos to focus on the mountains themselves but occasionally left in more of the surroundings for perspective.

The map for this Park did a much better job of identifying many of the mountains but I will not try to match them to the photos. According to Wikipedia there are 71 named peaks within the Park but the map identifies only about half that many. There are at least 5 mountains over 10,000 feet tall and at least 11 over 9,000 feet tall.

The Park ranges from 3,012 feet elevation at the south entrance to 11,234 feet at Deltaform Mountain, near the north entrance and the Continental Divide. The roadway ranges from around 2,600 feet at Radium Hot Springs to 5,510 feet at Vermilion Pass near the north end of the Park.

The tallest mountain in British Columbia, Mt. Assiniboine (11,870 feet), is located south of the Park in its own Provincial Park. Despite its height it is not visible from within the Park due to other mountains which are closer blocking the view.

Here, now, are three posts with photos of some of the mountains.