It wouldn't be a day in Banff without our daily trip to the Cave and Basin. Mason took Theo through the Cave portion while Woodrow and I wandered around the gift shop. The overall impression was that the cave was cool, but glad they got in free with our Canadian National Parks pass.
When I was looking into our trip, the Icelandic Parkway that connects Banff and Jasper was one of the highlights of the region...which is how our trip ended up getting extended so far North. The drive was beautiful with plenty of stops along the way, but I can only imagine how amazing it looks when it's covered in snow and ice in the winter.
We accidentally missed our first turn, BUT this allowed to me meet a fun goal of the trip-a short passage into British Columbia. It was the most exciting missed turn, and only 10 minutes out of the way. There wasn't anything too exciting to see, but I was glad to add another providence to my list.
Our first stop was next to Bow Lake. The color of the water was the most pristine turquoise blue. We took some lovely pictures and Mason took Theo down along the river
bank while Woodrow stretched around the car and I cleaned up some trash and reorganized the back seat which had been a bit trashed by the kiddos.
We headed North towards the Athabaska Glacier. You could drive pretty close to the Glacier in the summer, but it was sad to see the signs along the road showing where the Glacier used to reach in past decades. There were trips that you can take out on to this Glacier in a special vehicle and you could walk around on the ice. We got out and walked out closer to the Glacier. I carried Woodrow and Mason walked ahead. These darn hikes don't look as steep as they end up feeling. Every time I carried Woodrow on my back I had more appreciation for Mason and his mad balance skills.
The rest of the ride North to Jasper was really pretty with lots of little pulloffs and great views of mountains and lakes. Jasper was a super sweet little town. We ended up staying at the Mount Robson Inn. The outside looks straight from the 50s, but the inside of the room was updated and really nice. We walked around the town a little bit and had dinner at a restaurant called "Something Else" and it was. It was not that amazing, but it filled tummies.
There were many signs all over talking about different wildlife excursions you could go on, so we decided we'd just leave the same time as those excursions and see if we would find some wildlife. Mason had done his research about where bear sightings had been in the few days prior, so we decided to take a 45 minute drive from the town to Maligne Lake. Just a short way into the drive we saw a bunch of Elk along the road. Of course some tourists got out of their cars and started forcing the Elk away from the road...urgh! But, we got some great views.
The drive to Maligne Lake was very pretty since it was nearing sunset. This was one of the only places where we noticed recently burnt trees from the forest fires. It was pretty empty by the lake when we got there. Mason and the boys went walking a little deeper into the woods, but I decided to take a moment and wait by the car...I wasn't in to seeing a bear at this point in the evening. They never saw a bear, but there were similar signs that you must travel in groups of four or more.
The drive back was quiet and pretty. The kiddos settled down pretty well in our room and everyone got a good night's rest.
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