June 3, 2013 Banff to Jasper

June 3, Monday

Today would be a travel day, from Banff to Jasper, but lots to see along the way.  We started off with a bang by seeing a Mother Bear and three cubs along the road.  Two big bull elk were on the same hillside.  Wow!

 Next stop, world famous Lake Louise.  Quite nice, but the weather really put a damper on things.  Even with grey skies, though, you could see the lovely aquamarine color of the water due to the glaciers.  Traveled a bit with Mike and Eileen from Florida and met several other Roadtrekkers throughout the day.

Lake Louise

 Moraine Lake was a smaller lake that still had ice, which was quite blue.

Moraine Lake

 From Lake Louise we started up I93 which is also known as the Icefields Parkway.  Bow Lake had quite a bit of ice and we were a little concerned that the steady light rain would turn to ice or snow, but after an hour or so of temperatures in the 30’s, we reached 40 and didn’t backslide.  Beautiful snowy mountains all around and ice fields on either side of us. Always a sucker for waterfalls, we have been getting our fill, and we added two more at Sunwapta and Athcabatha Falls.

The Icefields Parkway

Sunwapta Falls

Athcabatha Falls

Stopped at Columbia Glacier but opted not to do the tour, since it was still cold and rainy.

As we approached Jasper and our campground for the night, Whistlers, the sun began to peak through and we ended the day with much appreciated warmth and sunlight!  Beautiful campsites.