Twenty-four hours (and a bit) of life on the road. The silence is broken with the piercing shrill of the mobile phone alarm. At 7.35am our second alarm is sounding but I have already left the warmth of the bed to put the kettle on (and quickly retreated back to it). The day starts as most do, very leisurely. Donna opts for a game of candy crush and coffee (in bed) whilst I am finishing the last chapters of Sherpa Tensing's sons account of his journey to the summit of Everest (following in his father's footsteps). I open the skylight above the bed, the light floods in along with a cold rush of air. Patches of blue can be seen above; the weather seems to be improving as forecast. Donna is first to get up and dressed and as it's so cold she puts the furnace (heater) on which previously hasn't been necessary. Donna puts the kettle back on and disappears to the toilet block. My mad dash starts, make the bed (sort of), move scrabble and the laptop to the bed and tuck them in safe for the ride, get dressed, open the blinds, move the porta-potty outside. If I'm quick enough I'm done before Donna is back and wants cooking space. I'm of to the loo to empty myself and the potty (night time pees only). I return to a laid table and soon afterwards big bowls of bear porridge are served. No bacon or sausage on a travelling day, no toast as we have no electric hook up. We call at the water station to fill up our tanks, larger RV's are queueing to empty their toilet tanks. We hit the road at 9.15am heading down the Icefields Parkway. This highway is a magnet to tourists and tourers. Some opting to park, view, selfie, drive and repeat others such as ourselves looking for hiking trails to explore and enjoy the tranquillity of the outstanding scenery. The mountains aren't looking their best, the sky is hazy with smoke from BC, but a few weeks ago the smoke totally obscured the views so let's not complain. First planned stop cancelled, the road up to the Edith Cavell trail is closed due to construction. First actual stop Athabasca pass lookout, quick photo shoot (we have joined the tourists), onto Athabasca falls. Coach parties settle for a 200-metre stroll to the first viewpoint but we venture farther and our efforts are rewarded. Another photo stop 'Goats and Glaciers' it's called but we saw neither! Sunwapta falls, very impressive. We searched out alternative viewpoints away from the crowds. Pull in to admire Mushroom & Diadem peaks and a stop to gaze upon Stutfield glacier. Another waterfall - Tangle Falls. Very pretty series of terraces & waterfalls. Then we spot Long horn sheep - blimey they're big! The mountains are getting taller the further we drive into glacier territory. We arrive at The Icefields Centre - visitor info, shop, café, restaurant, hotel, excursions and an RV park - our home for the night (the RV park not the hotel). The campground is literally a parking lot, no hook ups, no water at all, no showers, just drop loos and self-registration / payment. There are a lot of campers here already, we choose a spot on the edge whereby no one can park up and obstruct the great view. We took in that view whilst enjoying our lunch sitting in Tilly. The plan was to walk to toe of the Athabasca Glacier. There are various 'tourist' things you can do here but we had decided beforehand not to. That all changed when I could see how much Donna wanted to do the bus ride onto the Glacier - not any old bus either. Secretly I wanted to ride that bus as well once I saw it. Donna was delighted when I joined the queue and bought tickets. We were a bit miffed that you could buy tickets just for the Glacier skywalk but for the bus ride you had to buy the bus / skywalk package ticket. We were transported on a normal coach to the transfer station where we managed to get front seats on an Ice explorer bus - the tyres were almost as tall as Donna. The morning sunshine had been replaced with a grey sky and an icy wind. We were on a glacier in a bus - incredible. We disembarked at 8000 feet and had time to wander around the glacier in a secure area free from crevasses and mill holes. It was bleedin' freezing, 5 Degree C plus the wind chill. After lots of photos we were back on the bus and on our way down - very slowly. We were then bussed to the Glacier Skywalk which we weren't really bothered about. It is a steel and glass walkway projected in an arc from the mountainside. We had already driven along the highway next to it and seen the view, but how wrong we were. This amazing piece of engineering architecture cost millions to construct. Out onto the glass walkway we looked down to see the valley bottom 250 metres below our boots - what a strange feeling. We joined the other tourists sitting and lying on the glass posing for photos with nothing below but glass and a great big drop. There was no fixed time on the skywalk, the buses back were every 10 minutes and we could frighten ourselves for as long as we liked. Someone asked the question that had already come to my mind - have any or many cameras or phones been dropped over the side (accidentally). The answer was the mountainside below was 50% sandstone, 40 % limestone and 10% I-phone!! We had joined the tourist masses this afternoon but had no regrets about it - fantastic. It was around 6pm when we got back to the Icefields Centre, we made use of their nice warm flush toilets and discovered they were open 24 hours a day. The walk was further from our camper than the drop toilets but they smelt a whole lot sweeter - we would return! Where has everyone gone? The RV park had emptied not filled. There were probably a dozen campervans left at the most on a site that will fit well over a 100. The temperature was dropping, Tilly was rocking as the wind howled. We had to hold the door tight as we opened it. We weighted our steps down with rocks and retreated inside for a bowl and jug wash. Earlier in the day this place was alive with hordes of tourists and hikers now we felt quite alone but were in good company with majestic mountains all around us. The light was failing as Donna was winning at Scrabble (for a change). The wind got stronger and after evening ablutions we brought our steps inside for a change as we thought they might blow away. We were parked up at 6500 feet, that's more than twice the height of the highest mountain in England. Earplugs were needed to sleep because of the whistling and gusting wind. At times we rocked so much I was getting worried. Then the rain started. Another day starts with that mobile phone alarm shrill. The daily routine starts again. Whilst the kettle was boiling I couldn't resist to open a rear blind to take in the splendid view once more. The window was fogged up, no the window was clear, it was foggy outside, no wrong again. The scenery has changed, the snow is no longer restricted to the mountain tops 'oh my goodness, it's snowed' I declared. Despite the cold I opened the door wearing just my undies to get a better view and to show Donna (still under the duvet). The snowline had lowered itself extensively overnight. Our tailboard was iced over. Snow on the 1st of September, fortunately the road was clear and the sun was starting to peep out from the clouds. What a memorable 24 hours!