Road Trippin' - Part 4 - Ooooh Aaaah Ohhhhhh Wowwwwww!!!

Aaaaaahhhhh! There is nothing like a warm, comfortable bed to help revitalise a tired body.  That and a few cups of strong coffee.  After breakfast and with snow still lightly falling we left the unplowed streets of Edmonton for Jasper. 

Along the way eagle eyed Mum spotted an Elk sitting nonchalantly in deep snow about 20 metres off the side of the highway.  The wildlife photographer in me just ‘had’ to get the shot.  With a bit of trepidation I inched closer to the Elk making certain that I was within ‘dashing  quickly back to the car’ distance just in case said Elk decided I looked a bit menacing and wanted to charge.   I must say that I am now in love with my 70-200mm telephoto lens more than ever. 

A few km down the road Mum’s keen eyes spotted another group of Elk .  This time there were no alpha males but the more gentile female of the species.  Again my 70-200mm lens came to the fore and I was able to capture these pretty creatures from a comfortable distance.  They didn’t seem to mind my presence but I wasn’t pushing it so hopped back in the car satisfied that I got the shots I wanted without freaking out the wildlife (or me!!!)

Jasper was as quaint and beautiful as I remembered it.  It is a small town nestled between magnificent mountains, clear blue lakes and an abundance of wildlife.  There are a vast number of trails to hike  which take you through some incredibly pristine landscapes.   We wanted to hike the Maligne Canyon where the water that normally flows through its valley freezes in winter.  This would allow us to walk along its base.  However without the safety of cleats for our boots or hiking poles we decided against doing the entire hike.  We did though walk a small portion of the canyon to get a taste  of what it would look like.  WOW. How special it was to be able to walk over what would be a rushing, bubbling creek in Summer, to walk through high walled canyons and to see frozen waterfalls (albeit small) either side of us.   I just wish we had those cleats and poles so that we could have walked the entire canyon.

                         

We could not leave Jasper without visiting the Bear's Paw Bakery.  It has some of the most delicious bakery treats you are ever likely to try.  This bakery has become so popular they have had to open a second store in town which has been named “The Other Paw”.  In a town of "not that many people"  that certainly says something about the quality of food and coffee it serves up.

With our bellies full we started travelling southwest along the Icefields Parkway.  This drive takes you through a valley that meanders its way through the Rocky Mountains.  At this time of year the mountains are covered in snow and it is difficult to describe in words how truly beautiful and awe inspiring they are.  Every time we turned a corner you could hear ‘ooohs and aaaahs’ and ‘oh look at that’ as new perspectives came into view. 

At the half way point we came to Athabasca Glacier.  Unfortunately for us the tours that enable you to get out onto the glacier were closed for the season.  We did however get to see this monstrous wonder from a short distance away.  The wind that whipped off of it was extremely chilly so we didn’t stay and view it for too long.  Needless to say it too was a sight to behold.

Surprisingly we did not see any animals on the drive.  We even had the boys looking with the promise of a few dollars if they were able to spot some! 

Our stop for the night was Lake Louise once again.  We went out for dinner at a wonderful restaurant called the Station House.  If you ever need a place to eat (lunch or dinner) in Lake Louise go there.  The food is wonderful, the ambience terrific and service excellent.  It is housed in an original Canadian Pacific Railway station house that has been lovingly restored and trains still run past it at regular intervals.  Not only that but a roaring, crackling fire was lit that smelled delicious and was toasty warm. 

Did I mention that the food was wonderful???

Road Trippin - Part 2 - A large Serve of Winter Please

Part 2

Mum and Dad were keen to experience wintery conditions and on this trip to Canada they certainly got what they ordered. The temperature on day two in Lake Louise was a  cold -11c and about 14cm of snow had fallen overnight.  Our first stop on day two of our road trip was to see Lake Louise and Mount Victoria in all their wintery glory. 

There's a chair in there.....

As fortune would have it not long after we arrived the clouds parted and the sun shone gently down on us.  The opportunity to view a frozen waterfall at the end of the lake beckoned us to walk along a snowy trail.  Here the boys collected icicles, trudged through thick mounds of fluffy snow and asked “are we there yet?” more than a few times.  After about an hour or so we did  “get to” the end of the lake only to be disappointed that the frozen waterfall wasn’t there.  That was until we turned around and there it was; a massive body of blueish water frozen in time.  It loomed above us and the urge to climb up the steep hill at its base to get a little bit closer was too difficult to resist.   It was not an easy climb in the least.  It took a lot of physical effort to inch our way up by digging footholds into the snow.  At the top we were afforded not only close up views of the frozen water but tremendous views of the surrounding area.  Climbing to the top was fun but sliding down was even better!  It was like sliding down a very long, very steep, very frozen and very cold slippery slide.  Although fun the desire to do it again was non-existant.  Instead we made our way back to the Chateau for a warm drink and rest. 

Seth hitched a ride for a short time on the back
of another visitor's cross country skis.  

Leaving Calgary

After leaving Lake Louise we drove South to Banff, only stopping for a quick bite to eat then headed out of the Rocky Mountains towards Calgary.  Nifty navigation on my part allowed us to avoid this monstrous city.  





Our destination today was the badland city of Drumheller on the Eastern side of Alberta.  Brendan, Caleb and I visited Drumheller in the summer time during our last exchange in 2004 and it intrigued us so much that we vowed to return at some point. This time around winter gave the landscape a duller hue. However the eroded mudstone hills with their layers of coloured sediment still contrasted magnificently with the white, flat, almost endless plains that bordered the town. 

A random click of my camera and I get this funny
photo of Caleb and Seth in from of
Horseshoe Canyon near Drumheller.

Drumheller was cold.  Chillingly cold.  Getting out of the car to take photos of various landmarks like the hoodoos, or Horshoe Canyon required rugging completely up (except for the boys who don't seem to feel the cold anymore!!)

Thankfully the main reason for our visit here apart from the eerie landscape was to go to the Royal Tyrell Museum which was delightfully warm.  This museum is well worth a visit.  It features superb displays featuring life size versions of dinosaurs and fossils.  We even watched as two paleontologists went about their work in a lab.  As with all things scientific Caleb marveled at it all.  He read everything he could and played with all the hands on displays.  Seth too enjoyed the museum and with camera in hand snapped pictures of the things that intrigued him.  Having just finished a unit of work on dinosaurs at school meant that he too got a great deal out of his visit.

Sitting on the World's Largest Dinosaur
in Drumheller

A lot of the roads in Alberta seem to go on
forever and ever.  

We left Drumheller and ascended up onto the flat plains of Alberta in the direction of Edmonton.  All we saw apart from the black bitument of the road and occasional fence line was white snow.  The further north we headed the whiter and colder  it got.  As we entered Edmonton conditions became even more treacherous.  Roads that would normally be clear of snow were covered in about 15cm of the stuff.  Dad as our driver took extra caution with his driving unlike a few Edmonton locals who slid around corners or skidded to a stop just in time. Navigating without a local area map also proved to be difficult but we eventually got to the safety of our accommodation, a good meal and a warm comfortable bed. 

Edmonton Roads