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  • Skyline of Calgary viewed from Bow River. Calgary was the starting point of my two months journey through Western Canada. It is located in the prairie but the Rocky Mountains are very close to the city. Altogether Calgary was a nice city, especially the downtown looked very harmonious. width:640;;height:414
  • A 3-story skywalk at The Core Shopping Centre in Calgary.<br/> The skywalk is a kind of bridge connecting two skyscrapers. It is especially useful in the long and very cold winters in Calgary: it makes possible to go from the office building to the restaurant building without putting on warm cloths. width:640;;height:413
  • The Bow River valley in the Rocky Mountains near Banff.<br/>The small, touristic town Banff is located only 120 km west of Calgary. It is the commercial and administrative center of the oldest canadian national park, the Banff National Park, established 1885. width:640;;height:414
  • A typical Rocky Mountains landscape in Banff National Park.<br />Other than in european mountains the Rockies were never a subject to human settlement, except of some nomadic Indian tribes, which however didn't alter the landscape. Thus there are no mountain pastures on the slopes and no villages in the Rocky Mountains valleys, only pristine forests stretching from the bottom of the valley to the tree line. width:640;;height:414
  • The mighty elk bulls by grassing.<br/>Well protected in the national parks many animals lost their fear of humans. Some of them could be even dangerous to people, especially the elks are very aggressive, so that it is important to always keep distance to the animals. width:640;;height:424
  • At times the forest opened by trekking and made deep view into the valleys possible.<br/>The summer 1999 came late and was unusual cold. Many meadows over the tree line were in July still covered with snow, instead with flowers, as in normal years. This hindered the bears by feeding making them fewer tolerant to humans. For safety reason the national park administration closed a lot of trails in the Rocky Mountains, especially the trekking trails with overnight camping. width:640;;height:403
  • Tourists at the scenic Lake Louise.<br/>In the summer months the most popular destinations in the Rocky Mountains, like Lake Louise, are crowded with visitors. There is almost no public transportation in the mountains, the most north americans travel with big camping cars. width:640;;height:420
  • The Château Lake Louise is a luxury hotel beautiful situated on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, with the Victoria glacier towering over it. The hotel is opened all the year round, even in winter, because the mountains around Lake Louise are home to the biggest skiing area in Canada.<br/>The Canadians love such castle-like, monumental buildings. You can see them not only in the Rocky Mountains, but in the big cities too. width:640;;height:420
  • The blue-green Moraine Lake is one of the many glacially fed lakes in Rocky Mountains.<br/>The beautiful color of the water is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake by glacier on a continual basis. width:322;;height:480
  • The turquoise color of the Peyto Lake is one of the most photographed themes in the Canadian Rockies, because it is situated very close to the highway. width:640;;height:426
  • The Paint Pots in Kootenay National Park are a group of iron-rich cold mineral springs which bubble up through several small pools and stain the earth a dark red-orange color.<br/>The Paint Pots were a major source of the ochre paint pigment for a Kootenay-Indians, who lived in this area. They traded it with the tribes in the plains. width:320;;height:480
  • The craggy and cold beauty: the Lake Kaufmann filling a cirque in Kootenay National Park. width:640;;height:415
  • The winter landscape in July at Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park.<br/>The mountain ridges forms often the boundary between two countries or two parts of a country. The Rocky Mountains are the natural boundary between two Canadian provinces: Alberta in the east (with Banff National Park) and British Columbia in the west (Yoho and Kootenay National Parks). width:310;;height:480
  • Twin Falls from the Yoho Valley trail.<br/>Twin Falls Creek is forced in two by a large block, and then shot over a massive cathedral Limestone cliff, plunging 180 meters before cascading down a narrow gorge. width:640;;height:419
  • The milky water of the Atabasca River is typical for streams with glacier origin. In fact it originates from the Columbia Glacier of the big Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park. width:640;;height:414
  • View from the Skyline Trail over the Rocky Mountains.<br/>The 3-days Skyline Trail was the only overnight trail I made in the Rocky Mountains. The 25kms of the trail at or above treeline is the prime mountain caribous habitat. I was lucky to see there one of these endangered animals. width:640;;height:412
  • My former fellow worker Michel and his property at Canim Lake in British Columbia.<br/>After a severe car accident emigrated Michel from Germany to Canada and bought this 50 ha forest and meadows farm in the middle of British Columbia. At Canim Lake settled a whole german speaking colony with people from Switzerland and Germany, most of them running a tourist resort. width:640;;height:414
  • Such syrup feeders for hummingbirds are very common in gardens in British Columbia.<br/>The breeding habitat of this Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is open areas and forest edges in western North America from southern Alaska to California. This bird nests further north than any other hummingbird. width:640;;height:427
  • Canim Falls in western Canada look a little bit like the famous Niagara Falls in the eastern part of the country. width:640;;height:414
  • An abandoned shipwreck on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Typical for the Canadians: they drive everywhere with their pick-ups, even on the beach.<br/>The Queen Charlotte Islands are home to the indigenous Haida people, which are famous for their artworks, especially the imposing totem poles. width:640;;height:414
  • The deforestation threatens the temperate rain forest on Queen Charlotte Islands and in other parts of West Canada. The environmental groups and the first nations are at war with the timber industry.<br/>Distinct island flora and fauna have evolved over thousands of years. Species on the Queen Charlotte Islands often differ from those found on the mainland, e.g. the biggest subspecies of the american black bear are living here. Because of open winters (no hibernation) and a lot of salmons in the rivers they tend to be larger than on the mainland. width:640;;height:427
  • The ferry from Prince Rupert to Vancouver Island goes through countless scenic fjords of the Pacific coast. width:640;;height:414
  • The fog is common during the morning on the West Coast Trail, the nearer the Pacific coast the thicker.<br/>The West Coast Trail is a 75 km long backpacking trail following the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island. It was built in 1907 to facilitate the rescue of survivors of shipwrecks along the coast, part of the treacherous Graveyard of the Pacific. Many survivors died, because they were not able to found the way out from the thick forest to the civilization. The West Coast Trail is often rated as one of the world’s top hiking trails. width:640;;height:415
  • The West Coast Trail winds through forests, bogs and beaches. The path through forest is usually more interesting as the path on the beach. On the boggy places boardwalks were built, some of them were kilometers long. width:640;;height:416
  • Because the trees in the temperate rain forest of Pacific Rim National Park, where the West Coast Trail is going through, receive high rainfall and could grow the whole year round they rich huge sizes, like the Sitka Spruce on the photo. width:640;;height:415
  • The crossing of Klanawa River on the West Coast Trail via a cable car was a quite fun.<br/>To cross the river, you have to let the rope go and gravity will move the car down the rope to the middle of the river. You must then pull the rope hand-over-hand to reach the platform on the other side. width:640;;height:414
  • The British Columbia Parliament Building in Victoria, the capital city of the province. The english style architecture contrasts here with the first nations art in form of a totem pole. width:640;;height:417
  • Ist das hier nicht London? Die Architektur und die roten Doppeldecker-Busse scheinen darauf hinzuweisen. Es ist jedoch das sündhaft teure Empress Hotel in Victoria, der britischsten Stadt in Kanada. width:640;;height:414
  • The skyline of Vancouver, the metropolis of British Columbia. The location of the city between ocean and the high mountains is hard to top. width:640;;height:440
  • The Canada Gooses grass between rose shrubs in Stanley Park in Vancouver. It is one of the largest urban parks in North America, which covers over 400 hectares. width:640;;height:421
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