Alberta Bottom to Top

Just before I headed back to work, I attended a 3 day conference in Edmonton. Taking full advantage of having to drive up north, we took the absolute most scenic route. Heading straight north from Coleman, we took the forestry road into Kananaskis country (first 3 pictures). We've spent very little time in Kananaskis and were blown away by the beauty. Also, there is wildlife everywhere. We saw two moose, a bobcat and deer (and a porcupine later in the day at Lake Louise getting all kinds of attention from the tour bus people). We detoured to Upper and Lower Kananaskis lakes and took a back road into Canmore, arriving from atop the mountains directly south of Canmore. After a nice meal, we continued to our destination for the first night, Lake Louise. Having been there several times in the past, it still is an incredible place.

We stayed at Deer Lodge which is right up by the lake, behind the fancy Chateau. When we used to go on ski trips to Lake Louise, we would sneak into Deer Lodge's outdoor jacuzzi after a day's skiing. It kind of felt weird staying there, but it was really quite nice. We went for a walk to the lake at about 10pm and got a very different perspective of the scenery. With an almost full moon in the sky, Victoria Glacier at the end of the lake was absolutely glowing.

After splurging on eggs benedict for breakfast, we headed north up the Icefields parkway towards Jasper. We had a great day for viewing the Alberta Rockies. We took our time stopping at every roadside turnoout, getting full value for our park pass. We stopped at the Columbia icefield (last picture) and briefly contemplated taking the bus tour up to the glacier. That was until we found out you could hike up for free. Being the cheapos we are, guess what we opted for. After a great day of driving, we arrived in Jasper and spent the evening checking out the town. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in town. The next day it was out of the rockies and east to Edmonton. Between this little trip and our visit to Waterton earlier, we really got a great taste of the beautiful province of Alberta.