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We woke to a lousy day, drizzly rain, clouds low on the mountains and cold. At 11am it was 2C! Three days ago in Calgary it was a sunny 27C, today they're expecting snow, talk about Melbourne weather!
Half way to lake Louise we hit zeroC, along the road there was some snow that had settled over night. We opted for the lesser road vs the highway just in case the cooler weather forced some animals down to lower ground. It didn't prove to be the case but was a more pleasant, less hurried way to go.
We copped rain and some small hail here and there along the road with the odd snow flurry thrown in for good measure.
A few months ago I bought a travelzoo voucher for a half price gondola ride at the Lake Louise ski field. We left it yesterday due to it not being the best of days , today is ten times worse :-( As crazy as it seems we thought what the hell, we've paid for it so may as well use it other wise it'll just expire unused. It was actually a good trip up and down, no bears but plenty of snow from about half way up.
Back down at base level it started snowing heavily there too while we were buying some souvenirs.
Back on the road and I was taking a video of the snow falling, the trees looking like something out of a Christmas special and as I stopped I noticed two black objects up ahead on the road. At last! A mum and baby black bear!!! The baby was so cute, they didn't hang around long, Mum quickly disappearing into the forest and junior following on. So awesome :-)
The snow got heavier but at the places we stopped and played in the snow it was very powdery. The lowest temp when we checked was -2C, most of the day varied very little between -2 & +2C.
We stopped at Howse Canyon. The river there has carved out an amazing canyon, so deep it made us dizzy trying to look all the way down. We went out on an overhanging slab of rock and could feel the vibrations from the river thundering below - very scary lol
It was similar at Sunwapta Falls, icy cold water carving up the canyon. There was a bridge over these falls and again it was shaking from the might of the river.
From there the snow stopped and the sun tried to break through the thick fog. The temps rose a little for a brief time and the snow by the road and on the lower down trees slowly melted away as if it had never been. Pete loved the snow and was pretty happy to throw snow balls at any opportunity :-)
We stopped for a late DIY lunch and were visited by a squirrel who darted all over rather hoping we'd dropped something.
We walked up to the face of the Athabasca glacier, there were markers showing its gradual recession. They estimate in 100 years it'll be gone. For now it's a pretty impressive slab of ice.
Finally ten hours after leaving Canmore we arrived in Jasper, checked in, went for dinner and got to relax in our mountain view room :-) it was a big day.
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