Alberta, Northern BC, Yukon

We didn't have very good internet access for the last while, so I have some catching up to do. We're in Whitehorse Yukon now, staying with friends, so we have good internet and a real bed for a few days :)

Here's a photo I forgot to post earlier--it's a pine cone from the large pines in Northern California (this wasn't even the largest one I saw)

And here's a nice lizard from Tahoe

OK, so once we left Helena Montana we drove up to Calgary (and dealt with the shock of the large increase in gas prices in Canada). Then we headed up to Banff (we just drove through so I could have a look), Canmore (we did some biking there) and Lake Louise. I must say that after the beautiful photos I've seen and all the talk I've heard about how great it is, I was a little underwhelmed by Lake Louise.
It was smaller/less epic than I expected. I took a photo anyway :)

We also did a bike ride along an old abandoned grown-over road that Luke knew about that goes up to a glacier. You wouldn't even know it used to be a road for the first section, but further on it had some cool bridges (built in 1938) over deep crevasses. There was also a super rusted upside-down car in the middle of the trees that must have driven off the road many years ago. The trail didn't lead right up to the glacier, presumably because the glacier is quite a bit smaller than it used to be. Even though I got Luke to bike my camera out there, I completely forgot to take photos. So here's the glacier off in the distance, taken from the road after our ride. You'll have to use your imagination regarding the rest.

We kept going north and stopped to see the Athabasca Falls. The falls are pretty amazing. The water rushing down the falls was quite violent and the erosion of the rocks is very beautiful.

You can see a trapped large log that is getting knocked around in this cave.

And here's Luke posing like a goof.

We spent a few days in Jasper. Luke lived there for a couple of years in his early 20s and it was fun to hear about how much things have changed and to have his expertise of the trails. We did some good hikes and bike rides. Here's the view from one of our campsites:

I've fallen in love with Jasper. Being surrounded by mountains and nature is wonderful and addictive! I don't think I can go back to not having regular access to this kind of nature.

We saw piles of wildlife in Jasper and along the Alaska Highway through northern BC and the Yukon. Here's the list:
Grizzly, brown and cinnamon bears, elk, caribou, moose, owls, wolverines, mule deer, white tail deer, bunnies, golden eagle, bison, big horn sheep, mountain goats.

 Mountain goats

More bison--with a little baby bison

The drive from Jasper to Whitehorse was about 30 hours....so many hours in the car! The landscape is gorgeous though so there was lots to entertain us. We stopped at the Liard Hot Springs which was fantastic! There were so few people in that whole drive too, which is kind of unique. There were hoards of mosquitoes though--it felt like a GTA of them :P

After our stay in Whitehorse we'll be heading off to Alaska!