After a very beautiful drive up the eastern foothills into the Rockie Mountains our destination is Banff National Park, one of the crown jewels of the Canadian National Park system.

Our site was located in Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court on the edge of the Bow River Valley, which made it easy to go for a nice long hike along the ridge.  This walk gave us impressive views of the fresh snow covered mountain peaks and the green pine valley that lines the Bow River.

As we walked, we could here the elk calling to each other in the forest and occasionally got to see them as well.  What a beautiful peaceful place.  Unfortunately, with the forecast calling for 15 to 20 centimeters of snow in the next two days we cut our stay to one night from the planned three night stay in this piece of paradise.

This way we could drive across Rogers Pass over the top of the Rockies in the sunshine and not a snowstorm.  When driving in your house this is considered good planning!  We did however, mark down the site that we want to come back to some day.  The next morning we left the campground and drove through the town of Banff on our way back out to the Trans Canada Highway and headed west to our destination in Revelstoke, British Colombia.

The drive over the Rockies and through the Rogers Pass was one of the prettiest drives we have done in the two plus years of travelling in our motorhome.  With all the fresh snow and the sun in the sky the mountain tops were brilliantly white, and very rugged with the majestic peaks rising high above us. Rogers Pass was discovered in May of 1881 by Albert Rogers who was working for the Canadian Pacific Railroad trying to find a shorter way through the mountains, as opposed to following the big bend of the Columbia River. This is now the main route from east to west through the mountains for vehicles and trains.  The pass crosses at an elevation of 1,330 meters above sea level.

Our campground in Revelstoke was located  two kilometer from downtown, so we decided to stretch our legs and check out our new town.  The city was built as a railway stop in the 1880 but today is known for its outdoor lifestyle, with a hardcore ski hill on Mount Mackenzie located at the edge of town.  A side trivia for Revelstoke is, it holds the Canadian record for the town with the single most snowiest winter.  Back in the winter of 1971-72 when Mount Copeland, which is just outside of town, received over 24 meters of snow. For our American friends that is over 80 feet!

We explored the downtown by foot and even got in a nice cycle along the Columbia River south out of town and along Mount Mackenzie.  Our last night we enjoyed taking in the Luna Festival, where the downtown closed the streets and turned itself into a mini Fringe Festival with street performers and business specials.

Revelstoke is definitely a small town with a big town heart.  Great food, a few craft distilleries and a vibrant downtown, a place to stop again some day.