Rocky Mountain Way

Back on the road again - this time to make the traverse of the Rockies from Jasper towards Banff.  First off Mount Kerkeslin looking good with its snowy top.



At the roadside below were the Athabasca Falls with thunderous waterflows.  Below the falls 14 species of fish exist - above just one, the bull trout and you're not allowed to keep them if you catch one. 
By the way, have you all worked out who is doing the writing today?

Mum and Dad getting wet at the Falls.

Alberta is known as the Wild Rose State -we are left in no uncertainty about why at every term.

Dad purchased this tee shirt in Cowes just to cross the Rockies in.  His choice was fully justified when the Manager of this roadside cafe wanted to have it as a perfect link to the new motto for Jasper "Altitude not Attitude"

We had moved on to Sunwapta Falls by this time and it was Sophie's turn to pose.

Smile - you are on candid camera

Snaps from the car as we approached more of the Rockies range

The Icefield Centre and one of the ice trucks that drive out onto the Athabasca glacier

The glacier itself.  In 1844 the glacier ended where this picture was taken from - just goes to show what effect we have on climate.  Must be something to do with the big diesel trucks that set out onto the glacier every 15 minutes.  That said, this glacier is as deep as the Eiffel Tower is tall.
We wanted the direction sign in this one to mark our progress (halfway there).

Mum just had to show off her new dog walking hat and gloves as the fog, sleet, snow and general bad weather descended and put an end to any thoughts of a truck ride.  Onwards to Lake Louise.

Bighorn sheep by the side of the road.  Three of them started butting heads in front of Dad which got him back in the car fairly fast!

Stopping for the night halfway between Lake Louise and Banff we found these Elk just off the site (and have met them two or three times since).

Tea time for both us and this chipmunk. He would'nt stop bouncing around our table.

Sophie just had to find out how cold ice melt streams water was.



Another Gorgeous Snap Happy Day

After celebrating Canada Day in Jasper, we were glad to go into the wild again. Within 5 minutes we saw a herd of elk and 10 minutes later we arrived at Sixth Bridge.

This is our silly picture of the day. Dad and Sophie were teasing Mum and it took a while to realise that we weren't pointing at anything.

As we left Sixth Bridge, a lady stopped us and told us two coyotes had attacked her dog. Luckily the dog was larger and able to defend itself but as you can see, they still had their eye on it.

This is the Fifth Bridge. It's a tame suspension bridge compared to the one in Vancouver.

We went to Maligne Canyon because we felt that the Forth Bridge might just be a rotten plank of wood. It was very deep here and beautiful!

There were steps down into the Canyon and we were a bit worried about how steep it was for climbing back up.

The rushing water ran past remaining ice from the big freeze over Winter. They do guided tours down the gorge when it's iced over and the pictures we saw looked fantastic. We'd love to come back to see it.

This is Dad and Sophie on the bridge over Maligne Gorge.

Almost at river level.

Dad at the start of the steep climb up.

Phew! Sophie's not hot and sweaty really :o) Welcoming the photo just for a breather.

There is a boulder lodged at the top of the gorge. There was a tree growing out of it and everything!

More rushing water on the way up to the Teahouse for well deserved refreshments.

At the top.

The water is flowing gently because it's on a level just before it reaches a downhill rush.

A mountain scene from the car as we drove.

Picnic by the river, shame about the insects.

We caused a traffic jam because we saw this lovely deer across the lake.

This bear was feeding by Medicine Lake.

Leaving Jasper tomorrow and heading down the road towards Banff. Getting closer to the Calgary Stampede; we'll let you know if we see Will and Kate.

Happy Canada Day!!!

This is us waiting outside the Information Centre for the flag raising ceremony to begin.

Canada is celebrating it's 144th birthday of being a nation. The theme in Jasper this year was Exploration.

The little Mounties had the aww factor.

It's not a birthday party without cake! In the blink of an eye, there was a queue up the street for this cake.

The beaver was on top of the cake. This is the closest we've come to actually seeing a beaver.

This lady slicing the cake is the local baker that made it.

While we waited for the parade to start we watched a lady making giant bubbles and all the children had a great time popping them.

The beginning of the parade.

The local school orchestra.

This couple didn't seem to mind sitting in a canoe on the back of a lorry, they threw themselves into it.

We just had to take a picture of the beautiful horses.

I bet it was hot in there!

Caught Dad enjoying himself.

Large crowds enjoyed the parade. All the floats threw sweets and badges for the kids to pick up.

We went to Centennial Park to join in the BBQ and watched the tug of war and other family activities. We hope to go back later to watch some live bands, drink some beer and see the firework display.

We loved this barbequer with his fire department hat on. We think we're going to get Dad one for when he does BBQs.

The great delight on Sophie's face; not only were they giving slush puppies away but you could make them yourself.

We watched all the kids making multi coloured drinks so followed their lead.

Just a few sweets that were thrown into the crowd during the parade.