Rockies or Andes… Andes or Rockies? Hmmm… tough one.  We like mountains. Glaciers and snow-capped peaks reflected in crystal-clear mirror lakes will get us out for a hike anytime. A couple of years ago back in South America, we zig-zagged the whole length of the Andes including Chile’s iconic Torres del Paine, Argentina’s legendary Ruta 40 and Bolivia’s spectacular altiplano Laguna Route. The Andes are full of awesomeness, but now we’re in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are bucket-list spots and driving the Icefield Parkway between Jasper and Banff is one of the world’s Top 10 ‘Must-do Drives’. So, Andes or Rockies? Discuss…

Queuing for hot-spots

Before we tackle the highlights of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, we tackle (again) an occasional dilemma faced by the overlanding traveller: ‘Should an overlanding itinerary include the crowded and touristy but iconic and internationally famous hotspots?’ 🤔

Global tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu or the Leaning Tower of Pisa all do exactly as it says on the tin: they attract tourists. Lots of tourists. Destinations such as Banff and Jasper have some of Canada’s mega-touristy hot-spots. But aren’t we overlanders supposed to be pursuing the so-called ‘unique’ travel experience? Why would we join looong queues of tourists, simply to spend a day crowd-dodging and chasing that iconic selfie (avoiding the inadvertent photo-bomb by Fred and Wilma on their annual vacation from Bedrock)?  

Some overlanders grapple with this quandry and skip, let’s say… Machu Picchu for being ‘too touristy’. After some pontification, we decided not to skip the hot-spots. We did join the queues for the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Machu Picchu et al, and we’ll do the same for Canada’s (covidly-managed) hot-spots too.

Here’s our pontification process… these hot-spots are hot-spots for a good reason. Thousands of people don’t, in ‘normal’ times at least, spend a fortune flying in from all over the world just to see an ‘average’ mountain view or a ‘mediocre’ pile of ancient rubble. They do it to see extraordinary mountain views and exceptional piles of ancient rubble. They’re worth the hassle.

Initially we (foolishly) thought that in these ‘rona virus times, we might find Canada’s hot-spots not quite so ‘hot’. Ha, ha, ha… what were we thinking? Not. A. Chance. In the absence of international tourism, Canadians are admirably supporting their internal tourism economy and flocking to their home-grown hot-spots. So even today, you still need to be at Moraine Lake car park by 05:00hrs for a space to see a rising sun which (sensibly) stays in bed below the horizon until around 07:30hrs! Lake Louise is a popular one too. Not quite as bad as Moraine Lake, but the traffic queues are snaking miles down the road at early o’clock.

These hot-spots in the Rockies are not dissimilar from their Andean equivalents. Popular National Parks such as Torres del Paine in Chile, or Argentina’s Fitzroy and Perito Moreno Glacier also get swamped. Maybe not quite as many in number as the Rockies, but given the extent of the infrastructure there, the over-crowding is comparable and the local resources are similarly strained. And for the same reason as the Rockies hot-spots, they’re worth it.  

Hidden Gems

Having said that the mega-hot-spots are worth the hassle, we’re emphatically not saying that it’s not worth hunting around for other lesser-known spots too. The overlander with a 4×4 vehicle and a bit of time on their hands can always find hidden gems. These are often almost as hot as the mega-hot-spots and can be even better if you have them all to yourself. Scoot off the main Laguna Route in the Bolivian Andes and you’ll have the most spectacular dirt-routes and natural hot-spring rock pools all to yourself, seeing no other vehicles for days.    

The three above pics are at Elk Lakes… our best ‘hidden gem’ of the Rockies (so far)

One of our favourite ‘off the radar’ spots in the Canadian Rockies (so far) is the Elk Lakes area in BC. Hardly anyone from outside the immediate area goes there. Maybe because to reach it you have either: a tough 12km (each way) hike over a pass from the Alberta side of the mountains; or a 100km drive up a (mostly rough) dead-end road from the nearest main highway. We’re not really great fans of arduous hikes these days, so we took the cheaty, long-drive option. Sooooo chuffed that we did. It’s a gem! And we haven’t done with the Rockies yet… maybe more of these hidden gems to find.

Beef with Park Life  

Understandably Canada protects many of its hot-spots with National Park status. Over several weeks zig-zagging around both the Alberta and the British Columbia sides of the Rockies, we lost count of the number of jaw-dropping scenes in Glacier, Yoho, Jasper, Banff, Waterton and Kootenay National Parks. We had an awesome time but were constantly checking to make sure that as non-residents, we weren’t breaking any Covid rules. 

It’s not always sunny in the Rockies – but spectacular, even on a grey day 🙂

We had a slight frustration, but no real beef, with inconsistent rules across the national organisation of Canada Parks. For example: Banff said it was too Covid-risky to open an overflow camp-ground when the regular sites were full, but Jasper or Lake Louise said it was fine. Waterton said it was Covid-risky to give out the paper hiking maps, but Banff and Jasper said it was okey-doke. The same person who told us in Waterton that handing out a paper map would be Covid-risky, happily gave us a piece of paper to get a kayaking permit. Go figure.    

Our biggest beef has been with the chaps at Alberta Provincial Parks. It’s always illegal to wild-camp in parks (fine, absolutely no problem with that) so we asked about paying for a camp site. Cutting a long conversation short, it turned out that yes, despite being non-residents of Canada we could book and pay for a camp site. Hurrah. But here’s the beef… although they will take our money for camping, we could at any time be told to leave the site (without a refund). Reason? We’re not residents!! Now… call me a picky lawyer if you must… but surely there must be some clear rule about this. Are we allowed to use the camp site or not? The policy, it seems, is just that you can stay… until we decide that you can’t. So that’s that. We’ll spend our Canadian Loonies ($) elsewhere.      

Rockies or Andes Verdict

Notwithstanding the crowds at the hot-spots, or our beef with Alberta Parks, we have absolutely loved our time in the Rocky Mountains so far. The drives, the sights and the hikes more than live up to their global hype. But… you’ll be gutted to read… our verdict on ‘Andes or Rockies’ is a total and utter cop-out. The answer is… we can’t choose. They’re both spectacular mountain ranges, but that’s about where the similarity ends. They have such utterly different cultures, infrastructure and social environments. It’s like comparing bananas and pears (or rather… llamas and grizzly bears). So you can shoot us down in flames for our lack of commitment here, but if you’re wondering where to book for your post-covid overlanding/hiking holiday, Andes or Rockies? Well, do you prefer llamas or grizzly bears? 😉