Another view of the country near Merritt, you can gather how spring is much more advanced here than higher up. I'm not sure what the river is, maybe 'Crazy Creek'?
Although now out of the true Rockies, we were still passing over and through various lower mountain ranges, each with their own distinct atmosphere. We started also getting a bit of rain, and the highway had patches of ice.
After Revelstoke we passed into more inhabited country, where mines and logging concerns dot the landscape. Still high up, the nature of the land also changes. Perhaps the largest of the upland towns was Kamploops, where the bus pulled in a couple hours after Revelstoke and we had our 'supper' break. Me being me, I took the opportunity to go for a walk through the city, though not with the camera.
After leaving Golden heading West you soon find yourself in Glacier National Park, shortly followed by Revelstoke NP. I believe this photo was taken out over the first of these. Shortly after the bus pulled over into a 'homely' roadhouse on the bypass for Revelstoke (where I left the camera in the bus to give it and me a break).
Another view over the Highway from the Roadhouse. I think this was a better view of Kicking Horse Mountain than I'd seen on my earlier stay (the clouds had tended to be lower then).
The bus pulled into the Husky Roadhouse at Golden for a half hour. This was our lunch break. I grabbed a coffee and an oatmeal biscuit and went to sit outside. Before long I heard a sound that made me think of a young bird stranded on the ground so I went for a stroll to find it.
The Highway often finds itself alongside the various rivers that feed off the snowmelt of the highlands. Similarly, so does the rail system.
From Jasper National Park, one soon finds oneself descending off the high plateau into the Yoho Valley, with this magnificient river carving its way through the rock and ice. Gradients were around 6% in some of these sections, with frequent 'brake check' layovers and 'runaways' tracks for the many heavy rigs that use the highway.
To give you an idea of the intensity of the experience, this photo was taken within a minute of the previous one, showing a whole new vista looking towards wholly new country.
Technically, Lake Louise is in Jasper National Park. This mountain lay further to the North of the Highway, just before we travelled into Yoho National Park.
The cloud ceiling was generally above me but below the high peaks as we went across the top valley of the ranges. Occasionally the sun was almost visible, lighting the snowscape of rock sky and cloud in a cold clear light.
One of the impressions that seized hold of me on my passage on Highway One was the sheer immensity of what I was seeing. Not just its size, height and grandeur, but the incredible 'mass'. It bore down on one as it rocketed past the window.
The bus having discharged a few passengers in Banf, I was fortunate enough to find myself in a window seat when we pulled out of town. Seeing the mountains peeking through the trees at me as the cloud ceiling raised, I settled back to try and balance my camera battery conservation with my urge to photograph everything. As you'll see later, I succeeded pretty well at this difficult act - and managed to stay glued to the window for the next several hours as we traversed some of the world's great highlands.
The bus pulled into Banf for a few minutes, giving opportunity to get out into the fresh air for a few minutes. It had recently snowed, and you can see the winter wonderland effect in this picture.
The Bow River is Calgary's main waterway. It flows from the mountains and is quite a torrent when the snow melts. I last recall it from over 30 years ago in high summer. As you can see, this picture was taken whilst I was still being driven through the snow on the plains, though getting close to Canmore.
For my Westerly trip over the Rocky Mountains I went by Greyhound bus, departing from Calgary before 8 in the morning. It was snowing moderately, and that kept up until I entered the mountains proper at Canmore. 
This is the vehicle to which I entrusted my life for about 14 hours for my passage across the mountains. The drivers were great and the ride was pretty smooth. The threat of some of the most difficult driving conditions you could imagine did not prevent me being delivered to my destination within a minute of the scheduled time.
The trains of the Canadian Pacific are rather impressive affairs. Here is one of their work horse diesels, waiting for its load at Banf.
For most of its length (at least through the mountains) Highway One shares its route with the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Here are part of the marshalling yards just outside of Banf.
Highway One above Golden. Just past the top of the incline (top centre of picture) I saw some bighorn sheep when I traversed the mountains towards the East three weeks earlier.
Highway 1 covers some amazing country, requires some impressive engineering. Here a bridge carries it over a deep ravine as the road descends into / climbs out of the Yoho Valley.
This is Highway 1, the 'Transcanadian'. It extends over 6000 miles from one end of the country to the other. This picture was taken outside of Lake Louise. Shortly after this point it narrows to one lane each way as it transits the high mountains (avalanche country) around Rogers Pass (Alt 1400 metres approx).
Lest you think that Calgary is all about cute artworks in sensitively designed suburbs, I trust that this picture will remind you that it is a prosperous city of over a million people. That makes it the second largest city in Canada - only smaller than Toronto. In saying this, I recognise that 'Greater' Edmonton and Vancouver, etc are more populous, but they are actually connurbations of distinct and separate satelite suburbs. Unlike Calgary, which is one unified sprawl connected by busy and well made road networks such as this.
I'm not quite sure what these guys are meant to represent, but they greeted visitors to one of the homes I walked past in Hidden Valley. They stood about a foot high and appear to be made from odds and ends.
Eventually my cousin took me home, after a snapshot tour of downtown (without my camera, ironically). True to form, I went for a walk through the local neighborhood.
After managing to catch the bus from Red Deer I was met by a(nother) cousin. He took me out to lunch at a place recommended him by his uni student kids. This was the first Canadian hot dog I've had and I must admit I was a bit concerned when I saw the volume of stuff they were adding to my 'Yogi Dog'.
One of these sets of footprints is mine, taken at the bottom of the steps that led up the promintory. Can you guess which set it is?
After I'd been wandering around the back of central Red Deer I came across the Rotary recreation park. It had a walk which led up the hill. The challenge for me was whether I could get up and back in time to catch the bus which was shortly to depart. Typical of me to find the interesting walk at the last minute. Needless to say, risk taker that I am, I climbed the trail.
From Innisfail I got a lift into Red Deer, from where I eventually caught the bus to Calgary. I had a number of hours to kill in the morning between being dropped off and the bus departing. After drinking my limit of coffee, I braved a walk in the falling snow. I always was a risk taker...
This is a picture of some of my cousin's artwork. It is composed of a large number of pieces of wood, each individually selected and worked and then put together jigsaw fashion to create the finished picture. The colours and grains and rounding of the pieces together lead to a quite strong 3rd dimension impression. The craft has a name which I can't remember.