Roaming Brood

We had a beautiful day to drive one of the world's best drives- the Icefields Parkway through both Jasper and Banff National Parks.  The distance of ~250km can take all day because of all of the stops along the way. In addition to all of the stunning scenery and mountain peaks, we were lucky enough to spot a black bear and mountain goats roadside. We stopped at the Athabasca Falls and Sunwupta Falls to see and hear the water roar. Athabasca Falls Sunwupta Falls Unfortunately, one of the most striking differences from our visit 15 years ago is the amount of dead coniferous trees in Jasper National Park.  After speaking with the park ranger, we learned that this is due to the invasive mountain pine beetle. Hard to believe an insect 5mm long can cause such damage. As we moved south to Banff National Park, the devastation did not appear to be as dramatic. Waterfowl Lake  Our first family photo in awhile

Glacial under flows There's nothing quite like walking on a glacier... listening to its gurgling over and under-ice flows and its occasional rumbling crack - you feel simultaneously the power of history and the temporaryness of now. The Athabasca glacier is receding at an alarming rate - 5m/yr.  The Angel Glacier at Edith Cavell had also receded a lot since our last visit in 2004.  Seeing these changes in Alberta - Canada's energy juggernaut - is all the more poignant. Here we all (literally) are, on a runaway train, and Alberta is clamoring to stoke the fire - and if you try to stop us, we'll separate from Canada and thereby legally force BC to give us our pipeline (no land-locked sovereign nation can be prevented from accessing a major shipping route). Rant done.  Sorry.  Sort of. We parked our vehicle in the icefields visitors center parking lot across the HWY from the glacier and walked over - we needed the exercise and fresh air.  ...

It only takes a drive 10min into Jasper National park to be awe-struck.  We entered on HWY16 coming from Edmonton. The roads offer increasingly grandiose views - from rugged peaks to emerald lakes to silty-green-gray snaking river valleys... it cannot be beat by New Zealand or the EU... its rivals are few and far between. Elk crossing a 90KM/H Highway Emerald lakes Lightplay  As cliche as it may sound, photos simply cannot do justice to Jasper's overwhelming beauty - if we could bottle it, we'd be millionaires! Parks Canada has done an excellent job of 'keeping it real' in Jasper.  Their iconic brown and yellow signage is reminiscent of the 1920's and leaves you feeling simultaneously exposed and comforted. Be prepared for frequent stops to soak up mother nature's magnificence or ogle all the wildlife.   we suggest you read-up on wildlife concerns pertaining the season of your visit  - we arrived in Elk rutting season,  so w...

On our way to Edmonton, we stopped at Elk Island National Park to try and see some bison.  We saw some at a distance but none up close.  We were unlucky but we know we were in the right place because we saw giant hoof marks.  Maybe next time! In Edmonton, we rode an old-fashioned streetcar over the 100 year-old High Level Bridge, making it the highest streetcar river crossing in the world.  A group of volunteers runs the street cars.  We rode one car that was built in Osaka, Japan in 1921 and a much newer (and bigger) car from Melbourne, Australia.  The streetcar took us downtown to Jasper Avenue where there was an Open Street Festival.  We watched dog performers and it was really fun.  We then took the streetcar back to Old Strathcona to the Fringe Featival.  We watched street performers and I bought a soapstone carving kit.  Sven from Sweden was funny.  Two festivals in one day and they were huge!