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the entry to Banff National Park 
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Just below Banff is a magnificent region of lakes. A scenic driving loop allows you to visit all of the beautiful lakes- each of them within just a short distance of a few miles.
"~~we have driven the afternoon visiting one beautiful lake after another. Mountain goats freely roamed the hills and along the roads - we had to stop to allow them to cross the highway. The speed limit here is whatever speed the goats are walking~~" 
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"~~along the hillside we saw wild horses. We have seen almost every animal that I had hoped to see on this adventure - mountain goats, elk, deer, an eagle, wild horses, - if we see a bear I think we can say we have crossed all the animals off of our list!"
"~~the reflections of the mountains in beautiful Two Jack lake are amazing. The water is crystal clear and the snow topped peaks and clouds are shining like mirrors. I have never seen anything so magnificent~~"
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Hang with me to the end of this post! There is going to be a give away later!!
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"~~Johnson Lake is one of the smallest lakes in the valley. The setting is so serene - just looking over the treetops to see those snow covered mountains was incredible~~" 
"~~Lake Minnewanka was still frozen. The largest of the lakes that we visited - it was so unexpected to see this lake still covered in ice when just around the corner the other lakes were splendid in their reflections of the towering mountains." 
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"~~while we were driving around- we happened upon an abandoned mining town that dated back to the turn of the century. We had a wonderful time walking around the historic setting - nestled in the valley below those mountains. The Gardener was quite excited to see the engine that ran the mining cars~ we walked all over that little valley, no surprise that we took about a hundred more pictures~ is there anyplace here that is NOT a Kodak moment?"
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"~~after our morning hike we drove the scenic parkway down to the valley. We stopped all along the way to take photos of the mountains and valley shrouded in fog. We had to stop twice for elk along the road and on one of our stops we were able to see an eagle perched atop a pine tree - keeping watch over the valley below~~"
"~~we saw deer everywhere we looked. They could care less that we had stopped the car and got out to take photos . Clearly these deer are not afraid of people, they just stared at us~~"
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(made this hat too!)
Keep going - you are almost there!
"~~in the afternoon we decided to hike the trail to Johnston Canyon. The Gardener was taking photos of mountain tops and I was keeping watch for BEARS!! He said, "so if we see a bear, I don't have to run fast - I just have to run faster than you - right?" I had a BEAR plan in place, just in case - if I saw a bear, I was going to throw him my bag of cheetos and the last bite of candy (that I would not let the Gardener eat - just in case we needed it for a bear escape) and then take off running. I am sure that this would give us plenty of time to make an escape - and I WOULD run faster than the Gardener!"
"~~ and then there was the hike to Castle Mountain Lookout. We maybe should have read the trail description a little more closely - especially the part that said steady elevation gain of 1500 feet in 2.6 miles - which translates to - straight up the mountain!!
"~~so up we went - and up - and up - and up - and up~~ almost 2 and a half hours of up and up~~I just kept thinking, any minute now it is going to level off~~"
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"~~every time we passed a hiker going DOWN the trail I would give my best smile and ask "how far is it to the top?" The reply was always the same - "oh about 20 more minutes". We'd hike a little farther and meet another down ward hiker - same question - same answer "about 20 minutes or so". So up we would go - met another hiker going down the trail - I said," let me guess - 20 minutes to the top, right?" They just smiled and shook their head, yes, 20 minutes more~~"
" ~~and then we found this wonderful rock. The Gardener said it was the perfect place for our picnic. We had been saving our cranberry scones and orange marmelade for our treat when we reached the top of the trail. So we stopped even though it was only about 20 more minutes to the top! " 
"~~I had worked up a sweat on the hike up and had stripped down to just my cami top - but when we stopped for our lunch, I almost froze and had to pull out all of my clothes in my back pack to try to get warm. I put on my down vest and 2 sweaters! The air at the top of that mountain was thin and cold!" ***Special note - the hiker who took this photo for us as he was going back down the mountain - assured us that it was just about 20 minutes to the top from here! *** 
"~~so we found ourselves on that perfect little rock - we named it Picnic rock and we crawled up there and ate our scones and marmelade. We sat there on the side of that mountain and looked out over that magnificent valley below - we watched a train go by ( from here it looked like just a tiny little line across the valley) - we could see the Bow river as it wound back and forth, and the rapids - surrounding us all around were those snow covered mountains. I just don't have the words to describe that view as we sat there on that mountain side - hundreds of feet above the treetops~~ after we ate our scones, I told the Gardener that I had another name for our rock- "I want to call it Quitter's Rock", I said.~~"
the view from Quitter's Rock
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(can you see the train down there? click on the photo to see it better!)
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"~~stopping just 2o minutes (!!!) short of the top, we decided to head back down the mountain! We are such slackers!!~~"
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"~~midway down the mountain we met another group of hikers heading UP the trail. "How much further?", they said. I just smiled really sweet and said - " oh, about 20 more minutes, give or take a little~~"
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Thanks for hanging with me for Part 4 of our adventure in the Canadian Rockies - here is your reward~~
Somehow, over the last few weeks I reached a milestone that I never even imagined was possible in regards to my blog - 500 followers. I remember telling the Gardener, that I had set a little goal for myself and that someday I just hoped to reach maybe 50-100 followers - just enough so that I am blogging to someone out there - (not just my 2 sisters and my best friend Mary!) ~~
I am so very grateful to have you all to be here with me - a part of my blogging family. If I could - I would want to thank you each personally. Your comments, your emails, your always being there - you truly mean the world to me.
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So - to celebrate this milestone - a little give away for my very special followers - this Vera Bradley Weekender travel bag in the beautiful Poppy Fields design. Your comment is your entry - and if you wish - you can enter up to 3 times. Maddy girl will draw the winner on July 29 - I'll ask her to wear her "way cute" strawberry floppy hat that her Auntie Vickie just bought for her! Anyone who follows my blog is welcome to enter - this contest is my THANKS to you. Regardless of where you live - I will ship it to your home. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being here for me~~
I will be back soon with the last photo essay of our Canadian Rockies adventure. We will all travel to the top of the world - a trip on the Banff gondola - for some views that will be absolutely incredible. BUT first - a little break from all this travel~~~~
My next post will be about the Charity fundraiser that was recently held to benefit our local Ronald McDonald House. Some amazingly talented folks gave of their time and talents to help me with this most worthwhile cause - my next post will introduce you to my friends and highlight their beautiful creations that were donated to the silent auction~~
xoxo,Vicki
