Sunday 2 June 2013

Long weekend road trip ...

The long weekend seems like it was forever ago but it's only now that I'm getting around to sharing photos.  A colleague and I took off on a girls weekend to Jasper, enjoying the sights along the way.  On the Friday night we drove to Lake Louise where we stopped for the night, getting up super early on Saturday morning to watch the sun rise over Lake Louise. 

Thawing Lake Louise (Friday pm)

Same view but early Sat am

Lovely reflections and clear water


Later that morning,  we began the drive up the Icefield Parkway which Lonely Planet named the number one thing to do in Canada.  The views were okay (!) ...








Along the way, we stopped at a number of 'must see' spots, including Peyto Lake where the snow was still very deep ... 

Fence post sticks out of the super deep snow

Peyto Lake





We took the scenic route back to the car park and got stuck in the snow along with these other ladies!

... and Columbia Icefield which is actually more impressive than the photos suggest ...

Athabasca Glacier (forefront) and Columbia Icefield (way at the back)

The frigid waters at the bottom of the glacier

We didn't see as much wildlife as we thought we might have but a highlight was seeing a black bear cub on the side of the road.  Well, it was actually hard to see it from the impressive crowd that had gathered, most of whom were standing only 3-4 metres away from the bear which is incredibly stupid - where there is a baby bear, mamma bear is not far away!  And I know I wouldn't want to be standing that close to a mamma bear with babies to protect!

Moulting elk on the side of the road

Maligne Lake

Looking down into Maligne Canyon

Ice clings to the side of Maligne Canyon

We also did a short hike (most of the trails are still snow covered ... yes, in mid-May!) which wasn't a super challenging hike but the reward at the end was quite satisfying ...

Summit Lake

On the drive home on Monday, we hit some of the other attractions that we missed on the way up ...

Athabasca Falls ... lots and lots of water

Mistaya Canyon

Another beautiful lake!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I actually live so close to all of this.  I truly do feel grateful for having these amazing experiences.