Chateau Jasper Hotel Jasper

... which Shelley, our driver/guide, identified as a Whiskey Jack - the real name is a Gray Jay; took me a while to identify in the bird book. <br><br>Usually on this leg of the Moose tour they stop at Mistaya Canyon for lunch but it was so cold that we decided to eat in the van and just walk to the Canyon. It was a really pretty walk and I think the snow made it even prettier but it was hard to take good photos ...

... swimming pools and were soon racing each other and bombing others until the lifeguards regained control much to the relief of the more elderly bathers! We returned back to the RV camp to a well-earned rest.<br><br>Next day we were up to ride the Whistlers Mountain cable car to the top overlooking Jasper. Luckily for us we picked the clearest day of the year to enjoy the amazing views of the whole of this amazing area of the Rockies.<br><br>The ...

... before we had to get back onto the train. We went into one shop where, while I posed in Elvis-type glasses, we got told off for taking photos! I threw snowballs at David, Ashley kicked snow at me and then David pushed me over into very deep snow!! It was fabulous!!! However, absolutely freeezzzzzzzzing! The temperature being -30!!! Yes minus 30!!! David and I had no hat, David had no gloves or scarf, I had gloves and a scarf, both had jeans and our walking shoes and anoraks ...

... ominious nature of it all. Of course, the actual fact, is that these sights get hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, that I'm sure feel exactly like us. We saw many, many amazing sights today, ice-blue rivers, the deepest canyons, the roaring waterfalls, wildlife roaming free... I don't really have the words to explain it, and so, will let the photographs tell the story, unfortunately, even they don't tell this story loud enough.

... providing a perfect backdrop, again we had a paddle, not as cold as Louise, more sunlight, but still freezing. We took stacks of photos before moving on! We stopped at Mistaya Canyon for lunch, a deep gorge carved out by the river, we took photos and just chilled on the riverside, taking in the river, the trees and the soaring snow capped peaks, breathing the fresh air, stunning! We stayed there about 45 minutes. We then continued along the IFPW to a stop at ...

... encounter. Of course, you are meant to keep five bus-lengths away from moose (park-speak for 50 m), but once again we figured that since we either had to head off trail up an embankment to get out of its way we were better off staying still, enjoying the show. So we did. What a day: coyote, large male elk, big horn sheep, mule deer and now a moose. Needless to say Jasper was now Mark's favourite national park. The next morning we went back to Maligne Lake and ...

... sunny again, which seemed crazy. We went for a walk to Mistaya Canyon, where the river had created fascinating potholes in the rock. There weren't many people around so it was nice to just take in the surroundings. Just past Saskatchewan Crossing we saw another two bears feeding near the side of the road, very exciting again and an easier place to pull over and look this time. The road got quite windy near Mt Cirrus viewpoint but there were amazing views of the valley and ...