Which other lens for Rocky Mountains

I will likely be visiting the Rocky Mountains in July for the first time. The idea is to go to Banff and from there to lake Louise and lake Moraine (advise about where to go for best views of bears and mooses are welcome). At the present I have a D70, F100 (my main camera because I still prefer slides), 20 AF, 18-70 AFS, 28-105 AF, 180 AF, and 300 f4 AFS, plus TC 14EII and TC20EII and AIS 105 2.5 and 50 1.8. Therefore, my gear is not very flexible in the 100-300 range (in the past I had the 70-300 EDAF, but after getting and seeing the pictures of the 300 AFS, I sold it almost immediately). Therefore, I was thinking about getting either the two touch 80-200 2.8 or the new 70-300 VR (sorry, no budget for the 70-200). Although I prefer fast lenses, I heard a lot of people speaking great about the new zoom. Is the "old" 80-200 tack sharp and better than the "new" 70-300?. I normally use a tripod with Kirk ballheads, so I think that VR would not be very important. I also thought about the 135 AFDC in order to have something filling the gap between 105 and 180, but I guess a zoom will be a better tool for my travel. Thanks in advance for any suggestion or advice.

I don't have a 70-300 for comparison, but I can verify that the 80-200 is tack sharp. We've got three of the models ranging back to the one without a tripod collar, and all are superb. They're among the sharpest lenses we own.

I do have the 70-300mm with VR and I have had very good results with it, it was usually the primary lens on my camera.

Side note: For animals in the Rockies, I wish I had purchased the 80-400mm lens with VR for that trip. Now I have it so I look forward to my next trip out there.

I used to have the old 80-200mm without a tripod collar, then had the newer version with a collar - it was tack sharp! I now use the 70-200mm simply because it has VR but its heavier than the 80-200mm.