D28 - 05/26/24 MALIGNE CANYON HIKE AND ATHABASCA FALLS

What a day! Our morning was spent hiking in the Maligne Canyon. Just as we started hiking into the canyon there she was! A small brown bear and her cub. Wow. What an amazing site to see! We were so very fortunate to see them both. 

Then down into the canyon we went exploring the main trail to a number of the bridges. On our way back out we took the higher less traveled trail to get a different perspective of this beautiful work of nature. Half the time we cannot believe what Mother Nature has presented us with. 

Athabasca Falls was next on our list for today. Tim and I first stopped by the Airstream, had a quick lunch then loaded Jett up for the ride. We had found an alternative drive there on 93A back into the Icefields. It turned out to be just as an amazing drive as the Icefields Parkway. Glad we discovered it! 

Athabasca Falls we found to be a natural work of art. It was sculpted by glacial ice and the river water. There are a number of overlooks with amazing views from different directions. There is even a section of trail that goes back under the road. This interesting path allows for a view of the river below the falls. What a brilliant color sea foam green! And what a difference in the water color from above the falls. 

In returning to basecamp for the evening Tim built another campfire for us and I was able to do our regularly scheduled family zoom meeting. Thank you all for joining. Love you! 

So excited! Tomorrow brings both a different adventure and perspective for us to view this very special place. We will be soaring to new heights! The last picture is a little hint! 

Sunset: 10:00 pm 

Sunrise: 5:38 am

Wildlife viewing:

Elk

Big Horn Sheep

Deer

Squirrel 

Mama Bear and cub! 

D27 - 05/25/24 GTKtLotL

 

Getting To Know The Lay of The Land! That’s what we did today. Started with downtown Jasper. Found the National Park sign and grocery, laundromat, fuel stations and information center. 

Next up was to drive out through the Maligne Canyon. The road was long (44 km) and what beautiful scenery even in the … rain! Tim and I enjoyed exploring this amazing area making many stops along the way. At the very end and last stop/turn around was Maligne Lake. Gorgeous area surrounding the lake. Just spectacular scenery! Especially the historic boat house on this frozen lake. 

Once back through town we made one last stop near our campground. We wanted to secure a reservation for an outing later in the week when the weather gets nicer. 

Then finally. Fire!🔥 The weather had cleared enough for us to enjoy an evening outside. I believe this is our first campfire during this Epic Adventure. If it was up to us we would have one every night. But due to weather or fire bans or no firewood it was never possible until tonight. This change in sunset thing we will get use to. The daylight will only continue to lengthen as we move north. The last two campfire pictures were taken at 9pm

and then at 10pm. I started wearing my eye mask two nights ago. 

Sunset: 9:59 pm

Sunrise: 5:39 am

Wildlife sightings:

Elk

Deer

Mountain Goats 

Columbian Ground Squirrels

D26 - 05/24/24 GOOD BYE BANFF. HELLO JASPER!!

 

Although we didn’t even come close to seeing the 101 things to do in Banff it only gives us that much more of a reason to come back again for another visit. The Bow River Valley is a beautiful place and we can see why it’s one of the world’s premier destinations. Byeee! 

I drove the entire day. Taking us along the Icefields Parkway!! This Parkway links Lake Louise with Jasper, Alberta and is rated one of the top drives in the world. It winds along the Continental Divide, through majestic mountain

peaks, icefields and gorgeous valleys. We made a few stops. Having lunch along the way. 

Our destination was Whistlers Campground here in Jasper National Park. It’s warmer! Sixty degrees! It’s the first day we have had not in the 40’s since Montana. The site we have is on the backside of the campground and is very nice. There have been grizzly bears reported in this campground over the past week. Heads still on swivels! 

Currently we are not sure how long we will stay here. It all depends on the wildfire reports over the next few days. Highway 97 at Ft. Nelson still remains closed. 

Elthree-37 is now pointing south. (crazy)

Sunset: 9:58 pm

Sunrise: 5:40 am

4,790 km from home!

(Who said we didn’t need to know the metric system? 😂) (2,976.4 miles)

Wildlife viewing:

Deer 

Elk

Moose

Mountain Goats 

Prairie Dogs