Its so Cold Here!

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As you can see form the entries from Flirty and Fabulous we have had a very cold but interesting few days here in the Rockies. I will leave with strong memories of the low temperature (regularly minus 17 degrees) and stunning scenery.
As you drive toward the rockies from Calgary you can see them looming ahead of you and as they got higher and higher in your sights so the temperature got lower and lower. When we arrived in Banff it was already minus 12 so we headed off to a local store and gave the credit card a work out on thermals,gloves and fleeces etc - but well worth it!!
The next morning we went to Lake Louise. The views there really are stunning. There was plenty of snow to keep the kids happy and walking on the lake ice thrilled all three - in fact Fiendish has been heard to mutter the following words more than once over the last few days - fantastic,awesome and stunning - makes a change from watever and ok!
We went back to Banff on the Bow Parkway and (dont worry Mum we were in the car at the time) we saw some wolves wandering down the roadway - apparently there is a pack that lives in that area. We were thrilled to see wildlife like that but despite lots of further forays into other parts of the National Parks we failed to see Caribou or other large mammals - lots of footprints but not the real thing!
We visited the original hot springs at Banff briefly (phew what a stink - and a good opportunity for a chemistry lesson) before going on the cable car to the top of Sulphur Mountain. The views from the top wee really fantastic but it was REALLY REALLY cold up there.

Having got thoroughly frozen during the day we visited a local hotel where we could access their hot tub whch warmed us up nicely.

The next day we set off as soon as we could to drive along the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. This is a 230km drive along one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen. We were a little short of time as the drive takes abut 4-5 hours from Banff to Jasper and we wanted to get there before it got dark. We were amazed at the roads we were driving on - they were covered in ice and snow for most of the way but the combination of the tyres/4WD and ABS made the journey straightforward. On the way we took a short stroll to see the Peyto Lake at the Bow summit - the scenery on the walk back was something out of winter wonderland, and also stopped at the Athabasca Glacier. The glacier was covered in snow but it was clear how much it has retreated over the last 100 years or so. The circles of moraine dumped by the glacier brought all my geography A level back to me!
There was nothing at all open on the Icefields Parkway so we had no opportunity to buy coffee/food or fuel en route. It was for this reason that we were keen to get to Jasper before sunset.
We paid a short visit to the Athabasca falls (which were very pretty and had lots of icicles) before arriving in Jasper just before sunset - what a fantastic journey.

While here in Jasper we had a quiet day yesterday and took a short journey out to Maligne Lake - to cries of "not another lake/glacier" from the back seats. We didnt see any wildlife en route but when we got there the kids found another good game involving writing in the snow with icicles - not played that one at home!

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