Have Love Will Travel

We saw Jasper National park long before we reached it. The Mountains loomed ahead of us their tall peaks covered in snow.
It wasn’t too long before we found ourselves surrounded by the rocky cliff faces and endearing native forests.
The complete beauty of it all was awe inspiring.
Icy rivers weaved through the rocky terrain the Mountains towering above them and seeming endless.

Wildlife sightings grew more and more frequent and any signs of human interference disappeared. Elk littered the sides of the roads, the Bull’s impressive antlers a menacing view especially since it is currently rutting season. (Mating season were the bull’s attack each other and pretty much anything else that gets close to their woman)

For two nights we where staying just outside the small township of Jasper in the heart of the Jasper National Park. The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge was relaxing, we had our own cabin and the main lobby over looked a glassy lake and The Whistler mountain range. The Elk that were previously mentioned roamed around the Lodge freely and there were ‘ample’ droppings around the cabins in the mornings to let you know where the Elk had been. On our second day at Jasper we went for a walk around Five Lakes spotting a lone wolf on the roadside along the way.

We also got to see some amazing scenery on our walk – we both were really enjoying our final adventure in Canada! That afternoon we drank Martini’s in Big Oak Chairs looking over the lake and mountains – pure bliss :o) Once the sun had gone down we ventured to the heated ‘outdoor’ swimming pool for a splash and paddle, which was amazing with the cool air temp and the amazing view of the Rockies under a full moon.

During the drive through the ‘Ice Fields Parkway’ we stopped at the Athabasca Glacier and walked right up to the bottom of it – see below…….. Amazing scenery, but also very sad that the glacier’s are declining at such a rapid rate – within 100 years some will have disappeared.

We carried on arrived at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel which can only be described as a castle in a forest. However out first impression of the hotel was snobby – the atmosphere and the fact that there was a dress code for the hotel, but we got over this pretty quickly. That evening we dined in the one of the hotels 7 restaurants – we chose the piano bar which was nice and relaxing.

- View from our room.
While in Banff we hired mountain bikes and went for a 2 hour trail ride which was lots of fun, especially the down hill parts. It did however make us realize how unfit we actually are…………………….

The last part of our journey to the ‘Rockies’ was to the famous Lake Louise – Canada’s highest town! Also I would have to say the most picturesque scenery I have ever encountered – truly awe inspiring!!!
We were upgraded to a lake view room which was spectacular, we could lie on our king bed and look out the window at untouched glaciers.
The only view that could surpass this one was the view we got after hiking for three hours up-hill into the mouth of Victoria Glacier, which also houses 5 other glaciers.

After a night at Lake Louise we began our long drive back to Toronto and onwards to our next adventure.

Our two week journey halfway across Canada and back was the best way to say good-bye to the diverse country that had been our home for the past year. The scenery was to die for and in no way can it be truly captured in either photos or written words, the sheer size of it all was overwhelming.