The Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper was a highlight of this trip. Our stops: Herbert Lake; Crowfoot Glacier; Bow Lake and Bow Glacier; Bow Summit and Peyton Lake; Columbian Icefields area; Sunwapta Falls; and, finally, Athabasca Falls.
Peyto Lake
Athabasca Glacier
we saw bears next to road near Jasper and elk in the campground.
Whistler’s Park, Jasper
The Whistlers campground was a full hookup *and* pleasant – not packed together plus trees.
Lake Louise
We visited Lake. Louise. Very pretty. John went up the trail to the viewpoint. I pooped out about a third of the way up just as it got really steep. Molly stayed with me – she is not a good hiker – she wants to go perpendicular to the trail for scents-stations. I talk led to a lawyer from Columbus OH who is US corporate counsel for a Canadian energy company. 
Next we drove out to Lake Moraine, which is a spectacular sight. John did his mountain goat number and climbed the Rock Pile to get even more spectacular views. I spoke with a woman from Ontario about New Foundland. The ferry required to get there is expensive but worth it. Gros Morn is the place to go. She advised not doing New Foundland in the same trip with the Maritime provinces – they spent 2.5 weeks in NFL alone.
Moraine Lake
Nearby peaks
On the way out of Waterton, we drove through the Bison Paddock where we saw a solitary bison, a group of four bison, and a wolf. As we drove to Banff, we saw big horned sheep. We provisioned in Cranmore.
This gallery contains 3 photos.
We wanted a more forest-like setting as a camp, so we moved for one night to the near-by Crandall Mountain Campground with no hook-ups but set amongst the trees. We saw a bear by the roadside and were visited by … Continue reading
St Mary Lake, Glacier NP
On June 23 we traveled up the east side of Glacier Nal’l Park and crossed the Canadian border. We headed to Waterton NP, the Canadian part of Glacier NP, which straddles the border & shares Waterton Lake.
The Canadian parks are more integrated into commercial & residential activities than their American counterparts. Thus the town of Waterton is like any handsome small town with private houses and a busy commercial center, even though its in a National Park. We stayed at the in-town RV park with full hook-ups which was not particularly charming, but was close to everything.
Classic launch, being restored
US-Canadian border, kept clear by Homeland Security.
Canadian launch docked in the American end of Waterton Lake
We took the boat trip across Lake Waterton, crossing the US border again and landed back in an isolated outpost in Glacier NP before returning. We also checked out the main lodge at the lake.
The next day we moved to the more remote campground with no hookups, but beautiful surroundings and deer wondering through.
We decided to head back to the eastern side of Glacier NP, but stopped to take in some of the sights & a white water raft ride first. So we drove up the “Going to the Sun” road as far as we could, since it was closed to through-traffic due to late snow storms. (It had rained & snowed a lot a few days before we arrived.)
Lake McDonald
The white water rafting was great fun, but no pictures. Then we got on the road to the eastern side of the park and Two Medicine lake. This was a lot less crowded but much more scenic.
Two Medicine Lake
Running Eagle Falls. Also called Trick Falls because there’s a second fall on the right lower side of the falls.
Colorful Montana farmland
Crossing the northern Montana Plains
We got to Glacier NP late in the afternoon, having watched the Rocky Mountains loom larger as we crossed the northern Montana plains. Our first choice of campgrounds was full, but we found space at the nearby Fish Camp (no hookups) which was very charmingly situated among the pines. 
Visit with friends in Bismarck and get some exhaust system repairs. We had a great visit with Val and Gary and Molly had fun with Sophie and Alice, standard poodles.
“Nellie” being fixed in Bismarck
We drove US-2 across half of North Dakota and a third of Montana to get into Edgewater Inn & RV Park in Malta. The park is next to the Milk River and the railroad, which was quite busy. We live near the rail line in Mountain View so the train sounds don’t bother us. We met a couple bicycling from Maine to Oregon. Wow.
On Saturday the 21st we got on US-2 at 7:30 am to continue our journey to Glacier National Park. We hear they have had a lot of rain and now melt leading to floods. But we are out of “tornado alley.”
There are occasional historic posts along US-2 in Montana.
We got in late & stayed overnight in the back lot of a Camping World store in Rogers MN thinking they would be able to work on the exhaust pile, but at 8am service manager told us they couldn’t help us and he sent us to another RV dealer nearby and we sent off to find Pleasureland RV in Anoka. Theyi in turn send us to a muffler and brake shop in Elk River. They told us they could help us but not until the next day *but* our current configuration is perfectly safe. So we are off to Bismarck to arrive Wed 18 Jun as planned. Perhaps we will get the tailpipe improved in Bismarck.
Camping in the back lot of a Camping World store
With a tornado watch in force until 9 pm and severe thunderstorms with baseball-sized hail possible, we headed to Bismarck ND. Got there with no problems.
On the way to St Cloud we encountered a breakdown. The tailpipe broke loose and lodged between the right rear dual tires around 3 pm. Phone calls ensued trying to get roadside assistance via Good Sam and warranty coverage. After numerous circular conversations, a truck mechanic arrived at 7 pm to cut the damaged part loose and fasten the remaining tailpipe to the underbody.
We spent the night in the Rogers MN Camping World parking lot to be there at 8 am when service opened.
On the Go with John and Jessie 