Mike & Kris - Enjoying The Ride

Mike and I have begun our once in a lifetime trip to Alaska. We left California on May 22nd and after having a few hiccups with the pickup crossed into Canada on May 29th. Our first stop was the Lake Louise area of Banff National Park.

There is nothing quite like the Canadian Rockies for the sheer number of magnificent mountains which are in full view around every corner.

The weather has been very springlike with some warm, sunny breaks and some really cold weather all in the same day. Yes, it snowed on us while we were hiking around Lake Louise!

No problem though because the cafe in the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise had wonderful coffee and pastries to warm us back up. And although the views are spectacular, my favorite activity up here is looking for wildlife.

So as we left Banff and headed toward Jasper National Park, we were constantly on the lookout. And as you can see in Mike’s pictures, we have been very lucky so far. The cover picture is our first Grizzly bear sighting and it was so exciting. He/she (I have no idea) was right next to the road and right across the road from our campground! It actually killed a baby elk in our campground the day before we arrived and has been hanging around this area ever since. We have also seen mountain goats (a whole herd), big horned sheep, a moose, a lot of elk and deer, a bald eagle with babies, and of course the grizzly bear, and several black bears. It really is amazing up here.

We have been loving Jasper National Park. It is a huge park and there are many areas to explore and hike. Plus, it has the perfect size town right in the center of it all with many restaurants and shops. We have found the best little bakery to start off each morning with a scone or sticky bun. And our dinners have been terrific as well. But back to the scenery…there is a beautiful area called the Maligne Canyon with the deepest canyon I have ever seen. The power of the water is unbelievable. Another area has the warmest hot spring in the Canadian Rockies (about 130 degrees). Speaking of water-there are lakes everywhere and the turquoise-blue water can’t be beat. We didn’t get as many pictures as we wanted because we just needed a bit more blue skies! Oh well, we will have to come back. For now we are moving on north to Dawson Creek.