Jasper/Banff

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Jeff disagrees, but if I could only go back to one place we’ve been this trip, it would be Jasper National Park. If truth be told, I’m trying to figure out how we can back here sooner rather than later, like August.

Jasper is stunningly, consistently beautiful. We could have stopped every half mile to take photos. We had absolutely perfect weather—blue skies, occasional clouds. There weren’t even that many people. I loved that the viewpoints have signs that name the mountain, the height, and point directly to it. We got out to see Athabasca Falls. It certainly is not the highest or widest we’ve seen, but it comes through a very narrow channel and is thus impressive. I loved how many glaciers we could see from Icefields Parkway.

Banff is a continuation of the views, of course, but the park road meets/becomes the Trans-Canadian Highway halfway through the park, so you can’t stop, see wildlife, etcetera. We are spending the night at Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court and our view is great. We had talked about going back out again after getting here, but it’s raining every 5 minutes and the boys are restless, so we’re tucked in. We did get lucky and have a huge, bright rainbow show for us.

We also are parked next to a ground squirrel colony, so they are popping up watching us. One came right up on to our rug, but didn’t stick around for a chat.


Conversation of the Day (after Jeff turned to find a bird, only to find a ground squirrel squawking at us while we waited to check in at Tunnel Mountain):

M: Guys, do you see the ground squirrel?
L: I can’t see him, but I can hear him. It sounds like he’s saying hi.
D: Maybe he’s the greeter.

Animals Noticed (unique to the trip):
Mule deer
Columbia ground squirrel

License Plates Noticed: Newfoundland/Labrador, NWT, AB, SK, MB, MI, BC, NS, CA, IN, FL, NH, QB, AZ, WA, CO, Denmark

High Temperature: 67o (Banff National Park, AB)
Low Temperature: 47o (Hinton, AB)

Miles: 235.1 (6717.4)

Total Time on the Road: 7:49

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Photos

Jasper National Park
We stopped at many viewpoints at first, but then realized it may take us the entire day just to get through Jasper.

I
Jasper
We were at the viewpoint for Mt Kitchener, but I don't think this is it. The cloud is cool, though.

Snore
Cole is pretending to be asleep.

Banff
This picture isn't about the mountains, but again the clouds. There were some very cool clouds today.

Large animal overpass
Yes, these are bridges for big things--moose, bear, caribou (not there they exist in Banff anymore). This is the Trans-Canada Highway, and they prefer their animals not be on it.