Banff National Park

Maligne lake i think!!
see all photos »

After we arrived in Calgary airport we took a bus to Banff. it took about 90 mins which was more than enough in the high temperatures!! Calgary was very flat so you could clearly see when we were getting closer to Banff as mountains appear and they get bigger and bigger!!

Banff was great, neil and i both liked it very much. We stayed in the Banff Alpine Hostel which had great views of the town as it was situated up tunnel mountain. Neil said banff reminded him of Switzerland as the houses were very alpiny and woody....if that makes sense!! Banff is a very rich townsite in the national park and the government regulates the buying/selling of properties so that developers do not take over!! if you live there you have to contribute to the community by either working in Banff or volunteering etc!! it certainly makes a difference.

We loved it here and it was refreshing seeing nature at its best untouched by humans

The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel....nice if you can afford it!!
see all photos »

We were quite tired after all the travelling but we walked into town from the hostel and looked around the shops etc! it was still 30 degrees at 8pm, so we were melting somewhat!!

We had an early start the next morning so we tried to have an early night. we were picked up outside the hostel at 8am by Liam (our Moose Travel Network driver) and after we had met the other travellers we were on our way to Jasper with many stops along the way! There were 10 of us in the minibus so it was very intimate and enabled us to get to know the other people. Apparently i was talking for England......not me!! There were three asian girls, a couple from Scotland on their honeymoon and a girl and boy from Bath who were backpacking. We all got on very well and we are meeting up with the scottish couple tonight in Vancouver!!

Neils massive ice cream in Banff!
see all photos »

Our first stop was Lake Louise. We got there early so there werent many people there which was great as the lake is on of the most famous in the world!! it was lovely and the scenery didnt look real!! We then mad our way to Mystia Canyon and did a little hike. evrything is so untouched by humans and so natural it was just amazing to see something like that. the water was so fierce running through the canyon and eroding the limestone.

We stopped off at a picnic site for lunch after visiting a few more lakes on the way.  We played some footi nothing too strenuous though!! We then drove to the Columbia icefields. We hiked up to the tip of the Athabascar glacier and it was quite sad seeing how quickly the glacier has melted due to global warming etc. there were markers showing the years where the glacier used to be. it really made u realise how much damage us humans are doing to the worlds natural resources. Neil and i  will be making a concerted effort to do more than just recycling and after living over here for 8 months without a car it is obvious we CAN live without them!!

Neil at Lake Lousie
see all photos »

We then made our way to Jasper after stopping at some viewing points. Jasper is like a smaller version of Banff but is not as scenic in our opinions. we still liked it here though. We ate dinner in Jasper with the tour group and the meal and alcohol was very pleasant.