Our goal for today was to get to Calgary for a visit with Nina's cousin, so we got an uncharacteristically early start.

The day started with another clear blue sky and bright sun. The Icefield Hwy lived up to our memory of it with wonderful vistas of mountains, rivers and lakes. South of the Columbia Icefield the air was hazy with thick wood smoke, apparently Parks Canada was undertaking some controlled burning in preparation for the summer. The smoke detracted from the view for much of the southern leg of the highway, but the sky was again clear by the time we got to Lake Louise. The lake and its environs were as beautiful as we remembered.

We did not spend much time in Banff as we will be back in a few days and we learned from email that we had some unexpected business to take care of in Calgary. After a quick stop in Canmore to wash the Tiger - at a place called Big Dog, it had the most ferocious pressure washer that I have ever used, really ripped of the dirt - we were back on Canada Highway 1 to Calgary.