Day 36 (Wednesday): August 14, 2019
Got up before sunrise, cloudy rainy early morning. After my freshly made espresso and tea, we ate a good breakfast, then packed our dirty clothes and drove to Lake Louise Inn, where we were able to use their washeteria and luckily we got WiFi access there. My lovely wife surprised me with a metal mug, written on it: “Unstressed, Refreshed, Inspired, Retired”. All words are true. Early afternoon we drove on Canada Hwy 1 to Yoho Valley Road in British Columbia and drove on it up to Takakkaw Falls. The Falls was strong, supplied from the upper glacier lake. We finished our photography when a quick storm hit that area. We packed and left Yoho Valley and drove back to Lake Louise then up to Moraine Lake. We saw a busy to dig black bear near to the road. That part of the Land is breathtakingly beautiful, the view from the lake to the 9 peaks was outstanding. Drove back to Lake Louise Village, ate dinner at the nearby Cafe-Restaurant, then back to camp. Rained again, but later stopped, and next to our campfire we enjoyed the peace of nature. We had a clear sky, starry night, full moon, 38 oF. We had a great day again.
Day 37 (Thursday): August 15, 2019
Got up early again, cloudy, overcast, but later the Sun came out behind the clouds. After the morning routines and breakfast, we drove through the scenic Bow Valley Park road to Banff. The view from all of the pullouts, overlooks, trailheads, campgrounds, or picnic areas was spectacular. We stopped almost at all of them and enjoyed and photographed the scenery at Morant’s Curve, Baker Creek, Castle Mountains, Hillsdale Meadow, Muleshoe Lake, just to name a few. We slowly drove then finally arrived at Banff Village, where finding a parking spot was a great challenge, but we had a great time there, enjoyed the Blackfeet Indians dance, enjoyed the town as is, drank a beer at Tommy’s Neighbourhood Pub. Before we left the town, bought few groceries for cooking then drove back to Lake Louis on the scenic Bow Valley Park road, and enjoyed again the scenery and the huge bull elk in the roadside forest. Got gas, ate a good dinner, and used the WiFi access in the Mountain Restaurant, then came back to camp at dark. Another fantastic day passed.
Day 38 (Friday): August 16, 2019
Got up way before sunrise, rained again and heavy storm clouds covered the sky. After our morning routines and coffee, tea, and breakfast, we packed everything and made our trailer ready to leave. We drove on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park’s Wabasso camp. We planned to stop at many scenic overlooks but pulling the trailer in the wind and heavy rain was not too much fun and many outlooks were on the left side. We got heavy storms and rain two times and in between was light rain, but we were able to stop few nice scenic places and enjoyed the storm clouded covered mountain scenery. Finally, we were able to enter from south to 93A and drove to Wabasso camp where we set up, Lexi cooked, I made a campfire and enjoyed Gergo and Emily’s arrival around 8:30 PM. After a good dinner, we chat a lot at the campfire. We received a nice thoughtful gift, an Emily designed, customized, “Through the Rockies to Alaska” good luck bandana. We had a tiring, but good day, clear sky and starry night freezing cold.
Day 39 (Saturday): August 17, 2019
Early morning was 31oF, the Sun showed up behind the mountains at 7:30 AM, hopefully, will warm us up. After breakfast, we packed Gergo’s Jeep Wrangler and drove to Jasper then on Maligne Road to Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake at 5700 ft elevation. Hiked to Moose lake where we got not just a nice landscape with mirroring, but saw a moose cow at the end of the lake. Hiked back then stopped at a scenic pullout after the Lower Maligne picnic area and photographed the roaring Maligne River with large boulders and pine trees, then drove to Maligne Canyon trailhead and hiked to bridges No1 and No2. We all enjoyed the powerful roaring water, running between the narrow canyon walls. Back to the camp in the evening, where Lexi made good dinner and we had a good time at the campfire. We got rapidly passing rain at night. We had a great day, filled with good memories.
Day 40 (Sunday): August 18, 2019
After breakfast with Gergo’s Jeep, we drove on 93A to Cawell Road then on it Cawell Lake and to the trailhead parking, where we started our hike to Cawell Pond. We got a nice view of Mount Edith Cawell and Cawell Glacier and Angel Glacier. That was a nice hike, then hiked to Cawell Lake, where we enjoyed the play of light on the Lake and its outflow area, where Cawell River originates. Drove down to 93A and continued our day trip to Athabasca Falls, where we hiked then drove on Icefields Parkway to Columbia Icefield, and to Athabasca Forefield, then hiked from there to Athabasca Toe of the Glacier, where we had an amazing view to Athabasca Glacier. Drove back on Icefields Parkway, we stopped few scenic viewpoints like Tangle Falls, Stuttfield Glacier, Jonas camp, Sumwapta Falls, we hiked there and at Honeymoon Lake, where we got few nice photographs. Drove back to Jasper, where we got gas and celebrated with Gergo and Emily their visit and our 41stAnniversary at the local Brewery. The rain started at the evening, then rained all night… no campfire.
Day 41 (Monday): August 19, 2019
The rain stopped in the early morning and fog covered the rain-loaded pine trees and the forest showed its mysterious form. After breakfast, we said goodbye to Gergo and Emily then I photographed a nice scenic spot in fog at the Athabasca River. Today is our Anniversary day, we visited Jasper, explored the city, then used the public hot showers and washeteria to clean ourselves and our dirty clothes. We drank good Macchiato, had a WiFi connection, and organized a bit our trip continuation. Bought few fresh groceries, walked more on the streets, and enjoyed Jasper street life and the mountain views from every corner. Ate a good dinner at the highly-rated Jasper China Restaurant, then walked more and drove back on 93 and 93A to Marmot road and checked out the Tonquin Valley trailhead, then back to camp, where we celebrated our 41stAnniversary at the campfire under the clear, starry sky. The temperature dropped at night, but we had a cold but memory-filled night.
Day 42 (Tuesday): August 20, 2019
The early morning temperature was 34 oF, slept well in our warm sleeping bags till 6:30 AM. After the morning routines and hearty breakfast, we drove to Jasper, got gas and propane at Petro Canada gas station, stopped at the Canada Post Station, and worked on our journals and more on our trip at Jasper Municipal Library. Late afternoon we drove to the Valley of Five Lakes trailhead, hiked from there to halfway of the lakes, and photographed the beauty of nature in the valley. Drove back to Wabasso camp, worked on few repairs, packed, and enjoyed yesterday’s leftovers for dinner at the campfire. Clear sky, starry night, fought with the mosquitos, but we had a good day and good night’s sleep.
