We set off on our great adventure in true Vancouver style … in the rain, waving goodbye to Aunty Donna and the home we have shared for the last year! Whistler was our first stop, via the ever-beautiful Sea-to-Sky highway, to see Sam's dance show. Jerrell's 'little' sister looks so grown up and was a pleasure to watch in the show.

Then off we set!

A drive through a section of the Rocky Mountains, led us to our first over night stop; the small town of Lillooet.

Monday June 18th:
We set off early the next morning (Monday June 18th) with Jasper as our aim; passing through Cache Creek and Kamloops - surrounded by mountains. Thankfully the sun broke through the rain clouds along the way. We arrive at the Alberta border, also the entrance to Jasper National Park, around 5:30pm and we jump an hour ahead in to Mountain Time. By the time we reach Jasper town, we have just missed the information center. In beautiful, warm June sunshine we find our campground for the night. The site at Pocahontas campground is nice and sheltered; so quiet and peaceful. We plan out tomorrow and settle down to sleep. 2am the rain starts! Thankfully Jerrell is fast to pull in our mosquito nets and get the windows closed! (Emma slept through!)

Tuesday June 19th:
The heavy rain on the car made us reluctant to get up the next morning (Tuesday June 19th), but we are at least filled with enthusiasm for our first proper day in Jasper. Our first sight is Punchbowl Falls - not quite the hike we expected, more like 5 steps from the car,

but still great! Thick rain clouds everywhere - where did the beautiful lakes and mountains go?! After stopping in the town, armed with maps and advice from the information center we set off on a hike through the forest to Pyramid and Patricia Lakes. They were lovely even in the rain and with clouds covering the mountains. However, the cold rain and muddy ground slightly dampened our previously chatting, laughing, singing spirits; so we decided to run along the road instead of taking the forest route for the way back. A two and a half hour hike through the forest in the rain definitely earned us the right to warm up while watching the England - Ukraine match over a hot lunch. After the match & lunch we still had lots we wanted to see, thankfully the sun was out again! On route to Maligne Lake a black bear casually strolls across the road right in front of our car! Our first bear!! We then spot another bear along the side of the road! Stopped at Medicine Lake, although it was mostly covered in clouds. On the road again we see another black bear, this one was really big and we watched it for a while! So exciting! Once we arrived at the North end of Maligne Lake, we walked for a short distance, but were plagued by mosquitoes, so only stay an hour. On route back, mountain goats held up the road and we saw a large caribou up close, grazing by Medicine Lake - we had stopped again to see it at a quieter time and with clearer skies, as nice warm sunshine has arrived. We then also saw two more caribou, grazing in front of Jasper Lake! Feeling very lucky at our afternoon of wildlife! Driving through Jasper is just stunning - especially in the sunshine. We visit the Miette Hot Springs for the end of our day, which were just what we needed! Hot and cold pools, with fantastic views. Back to Pocahontas campground for the night.

Wednesday June 20th:
Wake up on Wednesday with the sight of a deer grazing near the car, which only gets us more excited for another day filled with adventure! Lovely clear skies today! On route to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, we see a coyote! The "lodge" was a peaceful mountain retreat set on a calm lake. Feeling slightly underdressed walking through the Fairmount lobby we choose to leave after a few pictures and make the short drive over to Lake Annette…or Edith. We're still not quite sure which one was which it all gets confusing when they both look amazing. We figure the first lake we walked around was lake Annette; beautiful and green in colour we took the trail that loops around stopping for nice photo opportunities (by this point we're both quite experienced in using the tripod). Five minutes down the road was Lake Edith(?!) where we took a short walk and dipped our feet into the water - cold, but refreshing in the warm sunshine. We decide to head back to Pyramid Lake (in the car this time!) to take the Lost Island trail that we missed out the day before. After taking in the sights of both Pyramid Lake and Lake Patricia - this time with mountains visible! - we head to town, where we fill up on gas, a few groceries and more information from the office. Our next stop was Mount Edit Cavell, which was absolutely stunning! Even with only partial trails open, due to the snow and ice, we were so glad we didn't decide to skip it. It was awe-inspiring to stand so close to the glacier mountain! The last sight of the day was the Athabasca Falls, which were amazing, although we did get soaked! On route to camp, we saw mountain goats. Jonas Creek Campground was very small and very open; we got one of the last spaces, but realized a little too late that it was on a slope! Whilst setting up for the night, we were attacked by mosquitoes! We are forced to eat our dinner in the car! This was the last of our pre-prepared pasta salad, which has been a great money saver so far. We spend the evening playing cards, getting ready for blackjack in Las Vegas! The day of clear skies made for a cold night!


Thursday June 21st:
Our last sight in Jasper on a very sunny Thursday morning are the Sunwapta Falls, which aren't as impressive as the Athabasca Falls, but there was a lovely rainbow. We leave Jasper National Park for the sights of the Icefields Parkway. We had been told that the drive between Jasper and Banff was stunning, but we were just in awe at the glacial mountains around us - 'it looks like an Evian advert'! We arrive at the Icefields Information Center by midday, where we pick up hiking and trail tips. We were able to walk out to the base of the glacier icefield, although we couldn't walk onto it. Next we hike the Wilcox trail on the mountain opposite the icefield. We couldn't go all the way, as the end of the trail was still covered in ice, but we got pretty high and the views were just stunning. Within the hour and 45 minutes it took for us to hike up and down, we experienced very warm June sunshine (which left us sun burnt!) and very cold glacier winds! Continuing along the Icefields Parkway we were treated to more amazing views of mountains and turquoise lakes and rivers, as well as more mountain goats holding up the road! We stop at Bow Summit and Peyto Lake, which were just phenomenal. Our last stop was Bow Lake, before pulling in to Mosquito Creek campground. This was the nicest camp we have stayed in so far, surrounded by mountains and thankfully not living up to its name. We sat out in the warm evening sunshine for our picnic dinner and walked down to the creek with our glasses of wine. We sat and dipped our tired, dusty feet into the freezing creek - so refreshing! Back at camp we played cards until the clear skies started to make our fingers cold!

Friday June 22nd:

Onto Lake Louise! Looks like it will be another lovely sunny day. The Lake Louise area is so much more commercial than we have been used to so far! Even though it is still rather early when we reach Lake Louise it is already busy. The Lake is an obvious tourist attraction, with its turquoise water and stunning surrounding mountains. The Fairmont hotel is as grand as expected, making the one in Jasper look like a lodge! Morraine Lake was our next stop, it was very similar in beauty to Lake Louise but much quieter. We then headed to Banff town, which makes Jasper look very small town! After getting more maps and advice from the information center, we decide to hike Tunnel Mountain. It was pretty steep and a bit hard going on our tired bodies, but so worth it for the almost aerial view of Banff town. The Banff town Fairmont hotel looked like Hogwarts - they seem to be getting grander and grander! As we made it to the summit in under an hour, we decided that we deserved a hot meal for dinner. After three loaves of complimentary bread and a funny look from the waitress, as well as starters, we were able to save half of our dinners to take out; still having room for the included ice cream and coffee of course. We are certainly getting into the budget spirit of things! Unfortunately, as we head to camp, the rain started again; it's pretty heavy by the time we reach the Two Jack Lake campground and continues all night!

Saturday June 23rd:

Rain and thick clouds - great! Thankfully, it seems that we have managed to see and do quite a lot already and we don't feel as though we have rushed at all. We visit Lake Minniwanka in the morning, which is quite spectacular even in the clouds. We walk part of the trail around the lake and play pooh sticks on a bridge. We plan to spend the afternoon around Banff town, sheltering from the rain (we are less enthusiastic about powering through the rain, then we were in Jasper!) and stocking up on as much free electricity as possible! Budget, budget, budget! This evening we will visit the hot springs and might get in another trail or two. Tomorrow, we head to Calgary!

*The highlight for both of us so far has to be Mount Edith Cavell, with Bow Summit & Peyto Lake coming a close second!