And in to Jasper

 Well that might have been a great last night OUT in and but not a great last night for wellness!

Dan was up half the night coughing and spluttering feeling like his chest was really tight. 

I was awake with bad stomach and back pain. 

Hey ho, the journey must continue. 

Given the night we’d had we slowed down our morning escape and accepted not everything could be achieved. 

I pootled off for my favourite breakfast wrap from ‘Downtown Sally’ whilst Dan attempted to get himself in shape and cough up a partial lung! 

Packing was already mostly sorted so it was fairly quick after our assorted painkillers kicked in and we felt fit to go. But still at least an hour later than intended.

We went to top up the car which ended up taking nearly 25 minutes as there was an issue with their card readers so all cards were being declined at the pump which caused a right queue at the till.. 

Finally on our way to do the full Icefields Parkway and land in Jasper.

Seemed weird whizzing past all the amazing places we’d seen the other day. The weather was lovely and sunny again so it felt like we should see them but no, we had to be time conscious today as the car HAD to be dropped off by 5pm in Jasper.

Looked again to go to Mistoya Canyon but the car parking looked full plus Dan had said he would struggle to do it given we knew there were inclines to walk. 

Before we knew it we were back at Saskatchewan Crossing where we stopped to buy some tat and off we went again! 

This stretch of the Icelandic Parkway does not have quite the same drop dead gorgeous lakes but does have some amazing views. 

Our first little stop was at ‘Big Bend’! It was just that, a big bend in the road after we’d climbed up to almost 7000 feet. It meant you could look back on where you’d come which was quite spectacular really (still want as big a frickin bend as the one trying to get up to Takakkaw Falls believe me!!) 

After here we venture on, comfortably escorted by our Guide Along app man telling us the tales of the years before the Parkway and the infamous people of the area.

Like before, around every bend was another amazing view and before we knew it we were approaching the Columbia Icefields which are quite famous really. It’s a massive glacier that you can actually walk up to or take a tour in a specialist bus thing to drive on it and then have a little walk. 

This was never really on my list of must do’s but we decided to stop and have a look as the man on the app made it sound ACE!

Parked up, got out and started to walk towards it. 

What a bad decision! It was SO windy and bloody ice cold wind too that moving forward was not easy.

Before long I had the earache from hell as I’d left my hat in the car (which was parked in a massive puddle btw as it was the only space left) and we were both struggling to breathe as we pushed on.

We then realised, whilst fighting to walk on basically piles of rubble, that we were on the wrong fecking path and the correct one meant we had to go back some way to get on it. On we pushed and finally joined it. 

I’m not going to lie, it was a particularly boring pathway and even worse, the bloody toilets along the way were closed and I was getting quite desperate! 

We battled on against the wind and as we neared it and started the quite steep incline to reach the edge of the icefield, Dan said he was struggling to breathe and I was simultaneously shouting, over the wind, that we were going to really struggle for time now as this was taking FOREVER! 

We stopped there, turned back around and marched back to the car!! 

Not everything goes to plan on these trips! 

We did manage to get some photos though from the first wrong path! 

That white splodge in the middle is the icefield!!! 

Finally back in the car and warming up, we really pushed on. Quite a bit to go still and we were on a deadline to get the car back. 

Still we managed to find time to stop at Tangle Falls and then Sunwapta Falls.. 

We took a seat on a fallen tree at Sunwapta falls to eat some lunch which was lovely and chilled listening to the water thundering through the rocks..until we both realised we were sat on the edge of the woods in proper bear country. We were officially in Jasper National Park now and it’s well known for its wildlife.

I have never eaten a sandwich so fast in my life! Well, Dan still beat me so he stood up and went on bear watch as our back were to the forest! 

This was our chosen last stop and so from here it was straight on into Jasper. 

There were huge wild fires last year in Jasper which devastated massive areas and we could see the remnants of it. So sad..

We checked into our motel ‘Tonquin Inn’ which is actually the furthest out from downtown that we’ve been all trip.. but it’s still only max 10mins walk so it’s all great! 

Very rapid check in, suitcase dump and clothing change and we were back out to get the car dropped back off.

Turns out we’ve done just under 2000km driving. Well I have… oh bar about 30miles that D did 😉😂!  

After here we went to pick up our welcome pack for the Rocky Mountaineer train!! Super excited about that.. like beside ourselves with excitement!! 

All done and we went for a couple of beers at Jasper Brewing (which is the sister brewing place to Banff Ave brewing).

Jasper is a lovely town but so different to Banff. It feels/looks more ‘one horse town’ but really isn’t as it an a very popular place. 

Banff is very purpose built, tourist and ski dude. Jasper seems more natural / older world and chill. 

Got chatting to a lovely Canadian couple in there who are looking to go to Scotland next year on a canal barge holiday! 

Dan learned more about baseball as there’s some major playoffs going on right now in which Toronto are doing really well but it’s their only Canadian team in the baseball league so everyone is going bonkers!! 

I had a great chat about what an arsehole the US president is (which had started off so tentatively as no-one wanted to come across / upset a MAGA fan so you had to carefully find out which way they leaned!!).

Anyway, we finally bid our farewell but not after Dan decided he now wants to be a tour guide (post retirement) given that is what the fella does that we met.

I think the jury is out on that life choice! 

We had a fabulous Italian meal then (Gamberoni Linguine for me) after which we decided it was time to call it a night. 

An actual planned/guided tour for us tomorrow seeing the wildlife of Jasper and then a boat trip on Maligne Lake incl Spirit Island. Exciting.