Day 21 - Yoho, Glacier and Revelstoke National Park and off to Vancouver

It was still cold in the morning when we left. Today's list was Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and pass through the aforementioned 3 national parks on the way to Vancouver. Lake Louise is a tourist hotspot, think of hundreds of people within 100m distance. I don't know exactly why exactly this lake has been chosen by the crowd, they are literally 1000 other lakes that bring the same visual experience. Probably that the town Lake Louise is located at the intersection of the two busiest highways in the region (Icefields Parkway and Trans-Canada Highway). Park attendants are directing the traffic that comes to visit the lake...that tells it all. We didn't stay longer than needed to take some pictures and then checked out Moraine Lake, which was a bit less crowded and offered a same spectacular view.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention that we spotted the first grizzly bear while being on the trip. It was a mama bear with 2 cubs wandering not too far from the roadside and still causing a traffic jam by their sheer present. All the lake tourists stopped to get a picture. Our way was long, 800km, and there were quite a few stops to do in the 3 national parks, so I already thought: "Oh boy, when will we arrive in Vancouver?" Yoho National park is already in British Columbia province (BC), so We entered our third and last new time zone on the way. We stopped at Takakkaw Falls and then went on to Glacier and Revelstoke National Park. There are 3 short boardwalks along worth a stop where you have a chance to see some amazing flora. Hemlock Grove Trail and Giant Cedars Boardwalk will show you some more hundred years old and tall cedars and hemlocks. They were already here when Columbus just boarded his ship. Some are so huge that in their hollows black bears make their dens. I told you they were huge, right?

The Skunk Cabbage Trail introduces the visitor to this large sized cabbage plant that has a distinctive smell, hence the name "skunk". The boardwalk winds through a marshy area inhabited by some birds worth watching out for.

At the western end of Revelstoke Nat. Park the town Revelstoke is a good spot to fill up the car for the long trip to Vancouver. It was after 6pm when I had my last bites there before we hit the road. Oh boy again. Fortunately the new Hwy 5 between Kamloops and Hope, which is a shortcut to the more winding Trans-Canada Hwy, was the best highway I have ever seen in Canada. Most of the time 3 lanes, intersections are supported by road lights and wildlife is constantly fenced off from the road, plus cateyes on both sides of the road. Pretty much looks like European highways unlike the rest of the highways I have seen in Canada. Before midnight we reached Vancouver which seemed like a sea of lights from the far and high. The radio just played the "This city" song for the first time which gave the arrival to Vancouver a nice composed touch. I reached the downtown hotel we had booked 3 minutes before midnight so I could keep my plan of still arriving on the day that was planned. :)