Follow our travel adventures as we explore the amazing planet we call earth.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Day 8 (Morning) - Yoho National Park
After a bit of a rough night with the poor standard of accomodation (including a neighbour snoring on the other side of the very thin room wall) we had breakfast at the hotel & set off for Yoho National Park just over the border in BC.
The weather was cloudy with a few spots of rain but we were determined to walk around Emerald Lake. En-route to the lake we stopped briefly at Natural Bridge (above). We've been there a few times before & the Kickinghorse River seems to have a different mood each time. We've seen the water anything from milky grey when it's a raging torrent to the blue relative tranquility on this day. Having taken the tourist shot (above) it was time to excercise the arty long exposure settings on the camera (below).
Emerald Lake lived up to it's name. The overcast conditions made the green an even deeper green.
The fall colours were out in a big way in the mountains, but mainly the yellows. The Emerald lake seemed to have more plants with the rich red leaves & berries.
Time for more arty photography (below). I like the way the light shines of the beads of water.
Oddly there were still a number of wildflowers still in bloom including small daisies & thistles.
The quaint town of Field is more a rail head than anything else but also has some craft shops & boutique lunch/coffee shops.
The Spiral Tunnels. I've tried to take the photo above on a number of occasions. For whatever reason we seem to catch the train decending through the tunnels rather than ascending. This would be the last chance maybe for a number of years & luck was on my side. Yes, the two trains in shot are in fact the same train.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Day 7 - Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise
The next morning the cloud was back. After breakfast we headed for Angel Glacier (below). We have some great photos of this glacier from previous visits. Nothing spectacular but not too bad.
This was the first time we'd seen the berg lake at the foot of the glacier frozen over (below). The floating bergs were still there but were locked in by the ice sheet.
We said our good-byes to Shawn who was headed back to Grande Prairie & went our separate ways. We took a couple of photos at a random lake along Hwy 93A (above) before stopping at Athabasca Falls (below).
The weather didn't get much better for the rest of the drive to Lake Louise. In fact it seemed to get colder. The cloud cleared breifly at Tangle Falls (below) so we stopped to eat our lunch & take a few photos of the falls. The wind was howling & there was no standing around out in the open despite the sun.
A couple of mountain sheep on the road were about the only other interesting thing for the drive.
We arrived at our hotel in Lake Louise (the Deer Lodge) only to find out that we couldn't check into our room because it wasn't ready yet. It was a sign of things to come. The room was tiny, the bed was collapsing on one side & the heating in the room was about 5 degrees too hot.
In disgust, we set off to Banff for dinner. The drive back was made difficult by no line markings on the road works & no moon thanks to the cloud cover. The oncoming traffic made it difficult to look for animals on the road.
Day 6 (Evening) - Wildlife Spotting
By the time we'd come down off the Whistlers the sun was getting pretty low in the sky. Being late in September, the days were already getting pretty short. I figured we had about an hour to drive around looking for animals before it was too dark.
Our most successful hunting ground in the past has been Maligne Lake road. It's always been better in the mornings, but we thought we'd give it a shot. Not a thing. Not even an elk. There was lots of traffic, so no surprises there. We did see a few pikas (above) at Medicine Lake.
Our second plan was to head along the highway toward Hinton. We got as far as the Miette Hot Springs road having seen nothing so we turned around & headed back to Jasper. About half way back we found a mob of Rocky Mountain Sheep (above). They're no smarter than your garden variety domestic sheep & have no road sense what so ever.
Right on sunset the scenery took on a different look including the rise of the full moon.
Just as we'd about given in on seeing any more animals, we spotted a huge bull elk (below) at the side of the road. For the uninitiated, a good sized trophy elk has at least 6 points on each of his antlers (i.e. a 6 point buck). This guy has 7.
He wasn't alone. Just along the road a bit on the edge of town there were six bulls of varying sizes chasing a herdof about 20 females. A park ranger was trying to scare them away from the township to avoid conflict with people during the rut. He was using rubber bullets to scare off the more stubborn ones. One "member of the public" wearing a white shirt got out of his car & started yelling at the ranger to leave the elk alone. He was about as smart as the sheep. Bull elk are incedibly hostile during the rut & wandering around in a herd with a white shirt is asking for trouble. The ranger was not impressed & while they were arguing, one of the bulls made a charge at the man in the white shirt. The ranger waved off the elk just in time. Shawn & Rob were egging the ranger on to shoot the guy with the rubber bullets. He'd shut up & get back in his car then we thought.....
Labels:
2010 World Trip,
Alberta,
Canada,
Jasper National Park,
North America
Day 6 (Afternoon) - Jasper Tramway
Labels:
2010 World Trip,
Alberta,
Canada,
Jasper National Park,
North America
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Day 6 (Mid Morning) - The Valley of Five Lakes
Heading back into Jasper we stopped for a good Canadian breakfast including local favourites like bacon, pancakes & home fries.
Our target for the next few hours was to walk the Valley of Five Lakes circuit (above). The trail head is only a few kilometres south of Jasper along the Icefields Parkway.
The three of us set off as it was just starting to warm up. Armed with backpacks filled with water & snacks, we set off through the open forest & down into a valley (above). The marshy area looked to be prime moose country, but unfortunately they were hiding.
After crossing the little timber bridge that spans the valley (above), we followed the trail up into more forest.
Before long we arrived at 1st Lake (above). 1st Lake is the most Northern of the five. The trail runs between 1st & 2nd Lakes before swinging south alongside 2nd Lake (below).
The middle 3 lakes aren't especially large, but all have the typical Rockies turquoise tinge. 3rd Lake (below) was the longest of the smaller lakes.
The lakes are all very close together with small creeks or channels joining them. 4th Lake (below) was probably the most picturesque.
When we reached the land bridge between 4th & 5th Lakes we had to make the decision whether to follow the trail back to the car park or walk around 5th Lake.
Shawn (above) opted to head back to the car, but Kerri & I made the decision to walk around the lake. Not the smartest decision of the trip. The trail is reasonable for just long enough to make you think it's a good idea. After that it gets plain ugly with the trail getting narrow & blocked by fallen trees.
We persevered with it & took a couple of photos (above) but decided that we should have taken the other trail with Shawn. No harm done although a couple of twisted ankles were narrowly avoided.

The Valley of 5 Lakes trail is well worth doing if you are looking for something leisurely without too much elevation gain.
Labels:
2010 World Trip,
Alberta,
Canada,
Jasper National Park,
North America
Day 6 (Early Morning) - Jasper Surrounds
The clear skies the night before indicated a weather change alright. It was about -5C when we got up in the morning. The car was covered in ice & it took some work with the windscreen wipers to allow me to see out the front to drive!
Before breakfast we picked up Shawn & drove to the two lakes behind the Jasper township. It may have been cold, the the sky was pristine & the air was still. Add a little early morning mist & the photos came out a treat.
Patricia Lake (above & below).
The moisture from the air the previous day had been frozen to every surface (below).


Pyramid Lake was even more spectacular than Patricia Lake. The red mountain in the background is Pyramid Mountain that can be seen from most parts of the park.
Many of the main attractions in Jasper national Park can be seen from Pyramid Lake. Above & below is the range called The Whistlers. The top hut of the Jasper Tramway can be seen below. We would visit that very spot later that afternoon.
The sky was so clear that I could take the photos below of Mt Edith Cavell. I would guess it would be 15-20 kms away.

Labels:
2010 World Trip,
Alberta,
Canada,
Jasper National Park,
North America
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