From Lake Louise our next stop was Jasper. The drive to Jasper was really good, we drove through the Icefields Parkway which was beautiful. There are so many places to stop and so many things to see but we had to be selective and only choose a few because we only had a day to drive through. We stopped at Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Summit and Peyto Lake which were both amazing. We then went to the Columbia Icefield and did a trip onto the Athabasca Glacier. We got taken onto the glacier on this bus with huge tyres, we then got to get off the bus and walk on the glacier which was really good. It was a little touristy but our guide was very informative and we actually learnt quite a bit! From the glacier we then drove a bit further and stopped at the Athabasca Falls which are on the Athabasca river which is fed from the glacier! The falls were pretty impressive, the power of the water going through was immense.

We then finally arrived in Jasper. Our hostel was a bit out of town in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. The hostel itself consisted of one huge dorm room where everyone sleeps which didn't smell so healthy when we walked in. It wouldn't have been so bad but on the first night we settled down to sleep to the tune of 3 men all snoring in succession with each other, not usually the type of sound that sends you off to sleep! And it didn't!!!!

Besides that Jasper itself was really nice, which was becoming a theme throughout the Rockies, everything is just fabulous! On our first day we did a walk at Mt Edith Cavell which took us to the Angel Glacier which was beautiful. At the bottom of the glacier there was a pond and there were huge lumps of ice that had fallen from the glacier. They warn you not to walk underneath it because apparently some of the pieces that fall are the size of houses-yikes! We were quite lucky on our first night here as well because there was a rodeo in town! We managed to get tickets and go along and it was good fun. It was a real experience and those guys who do the bull riding are officially crazy!

Also in Jasper we went on the tramway which takes you up Whistler mountain. It takes you most of the way and you can then walk to the very top (8100ft) which we did. The views were amazing from the top, you can see 6 different mountain ranges up there and the whole Jasper townsite and surrounds. After that we went to Maligne Canyon which was cool, totally different to everything else we had seen, we saw a few chipmunks and squirrels as we were walking through the woods as well.

Our wildlife adventures continued as we were driving home too, we saw quite a few Elk grazing on the side of the road. It was really nice to see them but then a ranger came and started shooting them with rubber bullets which wasn't great. They do it to try and keep them away from the roadsides and humans to try and stop them being killed which has to be a good thing I guess.

We really enjoyed Jasper, it is a lovely town, still no bear sightings though...