Two Years of Covid-19 Restrictions

 With the pandemic looming in March of 2021 travel was restricted to the province where you lived.  Restaurants, hotels, and air travel was shut down. No one was going anywhere.  We thought that it would only last a few months but after two years we are still waiting to take our trip to Africa

So what did we do for the last two years???  Lots of walking!!!!

In late September we booked a two-bedroom accommodation at Pine Bungalows in Jasper National Park.  Fall is a beautiful time to be in the mountains. The leaves are changing colour and the Elk are calling.

The fall and winter were fairly mild and we spent a lot of time in Elk Island National Park.

We had picnics and cooked hot dogs over an open fire. During the winter we continued to hike a variety of trails.

Hoodoo Trail

In early December we rented a unit at Tunnel Mountain Resort in Banff National Park so we could cook meals and remain safe from covid. The accommodation was great and with covid-19 no one entered the unit while we were staying. This helped us feel safe. We cooked all our meals and the wood fireplace was a welcome addition. Our unit was larger than we needed but it did not matter.

The weather was great so we could easily hike around Banff. We skated on the pond that the locals used. Cross-country skiing was great up near Lake Louise. There was not enough snow in Banff.

Frozen Bow Falls Banff

The next trip was to Jasper National Park in January 2021. We again rented a unit with a kitchen at Pyramid Lake  Resort.  The purpose of this trip was to do the Maline Canyon Ice Walk and some cross-country skiing.  

Main Lodge

The room was on the top floor and had a loft area as well as a bedroom on the main floor. Skating on Pyramid lake was a nice addition to this trip.

Touring around Jasper we visited the usual spots like Lake Edith, Maligne Lake, and Athabasca River, and skated on Beauvert Lake across from Jasper Park Lodge. Someone had built a snowman on one of the lakes.

Boat House at Maligne Lake

Moose Brothers

Maligne Canyon Walk

Elk

The winter passed quickly and we were very fortunate not to have an extremely cold winter. The pools were finally open again and we started swimming again. Things began to relax and everyone was hopeful that covid would be over soon. But we were not that fortunate as we had another year to go.