July 30 Best of the Canadian Rockies

Marilynlennox1950

Anyone going on the July 30 departure

Marilynlennox1950

Is anyone else concerned about the smoke from the wild fires

gafly26482

Marilynlennox1950, we shared a similar concern prior to our June 24 BCR, but there was no wildfire impact in the area we traveled. Current information is available online, we used this Canadian site (select the province of Alberta) https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/campaigns/wildfires/prov.html
Wishing you a similar great adventure with clear skies and blue waters!

DebEllenR

We just returned from a small group Best of the Canadian Rockies June 27-July 4. No smoke or wildfire impact at all. Clear blue skies with puffy clouds. Weather was excellent; don't believe the weather forecasts! Our week predicted afternoon thunderstorms every day--there was one brief one. Temps. upper 60s to mid 70s, and 50s at night. Used our packable down jackets on glacier, wore jeans just about every day; shorts one day. Rain jackets stayed in our backpack on bus just in case. ***Do bring a reusable water bottle or buy one as a souvenir in shops at Chateau Lake Louise like I did. Tauck doesn't provide them any more. Loved cabins and relaxed atmosphere in Jasper, Lake Louise view from our room was breathtaking (construction noise ends at 5 pm), and Banff "castle" was like walking back in time. Except for the cabins, the other 2 hotels were a bit overwhelming in their size. Maps were provided, but we tried to leave extra time to get to breakfast, the bus, etc. because it is confusing. Our tour director, Tanya, was enthusiastic, caring, and informative; Edmond at the wheel of our beautiful large bus kept us safe and comfy and even took and shared a video of a bear that we were all trying to photograph. Fellow travelers were friendly and from different parts of the US, age range from mid-twenties to early 80s and everything in between. Couples, singles, and a family of 4, everyone was delightful.
Challenges of the trip were: packing and unpacking every 2 days (we're used to cruises), having luggage outside room early in morning (we're night owls and usually slow in the morning), keeping dirty clothes separate from clean, and pacing ourselves. It's easy to want to do everything but the altitude in most places is higher than at home, so we learned to walk slower, listen to our bodies, and keep sipping water. Also, while the planned activities and tours were amazing, we also enjoyed a morning on our own to have a relaxed breakfast in Banff and then walk downtown and enjoy the quaint town. Wish we had more time to fully explore our Banff castle-like hotel and the beautiful grounds at the Jasper property, but that's the sign of a great trip--wanting more time there! Next on our agenda: perhaps a European river cruise.

Marilynlennox1950

Thank you Deb for your comments. All will be very useful for us as we prepare to pack