We left Lake Louise and headed for the Jasper Park Lodge via the Icefields Parkway.  The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks are a UNESCO World Heritage Site both because of their beauty and fossils that can be found in the area. Our drive took us into Yoho National Park, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.  The drive was one of incredible scenery with snow-covered mountains, glaciers, beautiful blue lakes colored by glacier sediment, and waterfalls.  The next pictures were taken from the bus and roadside observation points.  This was definitely not a time to catch up on sleep!  The lake pictured is Lake Peyto which is a beautiful blue color.  The picture was taken from an observation area at Bow Summit.

Early that evening, we arrived at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge which lies within Jasper National Park. Our guide told us that Jasper was famous for its elk and that we might see some on the lodge grounds.  So after dinner, my husband and I walked the grounds.  He wasn’t convinced we would see any elk, but I was more hopeful and toward the end of our walk, we turned a corner and there was an elk.  While I didn’t back away, I didn’t approach him either – and was able to get several pictures before we slowly moved away.

The next day we had the opportunity to choose from among several excursions.  I am not a water person but our tour director encouraged us to try a white water rafting adventure.  He said he had recommended it to others who were reluctant to try rafting and all had been glad they did.  I felt the same way after the trip.  It was great fun and I felt very safe. We traveled down the Athabasca River for about an hour.  The river was was used by fur traders in the 1800’s and has been named a Canadian Heritage River.  The rapids are classified as Class 2 so they provide a little excitement but in the grand scheme, they are only “beginner” rapids.  These are some pictures of our group as we enjoyed the adventure.

At Jasper Park Lodge, we stayed in cabins.  There were lots of activities available, but it is also a great place to just relax. There was a beautiful Lake, Beauvert Lake, which we hiked around – it is only about an hour walk.  And after our experience taking pictures at Lake Louise at sunrise, we set our alarm to take some early morning pictures of Lake Beauvert – we were able to get some great shots!