Banff - Jasper - Athabasca Falls

Day three started off as day two had finished, with a beautiful glacial lake. Lake Louise is probably the most famous lake in the Rockies, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. We were lucky enough to get here early before the tourist coaches arrived, so we had the opportunity to experience the serenity and beauty of our surroundings.

As we drove along the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper, we stopped off at a number of 'beauty spots' including Mistaya Canyon (below), the Columbia Icefield, and Bow Summit/Peyto Lake. In between stops we were kept busy marvelling at the scenery and hunting for bears. By this time we had got to know the people on our bus quite well, so we'd like to say a big hello to Jason (our Essex-boy tour guide), Patricia, Keiko, and the singing Irish sisters!

The highlight of day three was our unplanned stop at Bow Summit as the clouds broke away, giving us the best views of the Rockies so far. Peyto Lake (below) was an unbelieveable 'block of colour' (J.P. '08) and in hindsight definitely one of our favourite stops in the Rockies.

After an hour long bear-hunt detour to Maligne Lake (on which Joe was adamant he had seen a bear - it was a black bush) we finally arrived at our rustic hostel at Athabasca Falls. We instantly fell in love with the place, although it did take some time to get used to pumping water from a well, not showering, and relieving ourselves in a 'long-drop' outhouse. We had planned to jump off the bus for one extra night, but this soon turned into four extra nights as we were lucky enough to meet up with Jamie, Rachel, and Bjorn who invited us to join them for the rest of their stay. Once you enter our host Sasha's house its quite hard to leave!

We had two great days of hiking with our new friends including the Sulphur Ridge and Bald Hills. Both walks rewarded us with incredible 360 deg. views of the best Jasper National Park has to offer. In between these great hikes we indulged in a rest day and cooked a Sunday roast - the taste of home! We also shared stories and Bjorn shared his 'German' jokes in front of the log burner during several evenings.

A big thanks to Jamie, Rachel, Bjorn, and Sasha for a great few days in which we learnt that the Germans' nickname for the English translates to 'Island Monkeys' - bloody Wagon Counters!