As I write this blog the weather has taken a dramatic turn - having enjoyed temperatures of 27 degrees for most of the week, it has now dropped to 7 degrees and has been raining for two days. This is not dampening our spirits and we are still getting out and about but perhaps not scaling the heights we were a couple of days back. I think Stuart is secretly relieved as it means that he will probably get out of going up in the Gondola, in Banff at least! ...

Karen got the exciting bit to talk about - leaving me with the walks and everything else here in Banff Park except the YWCA which she has bagged for her next blog. All I will say is that I fail the YWCA test on all levels: I am not young; am not a woman; whilst moral I am not Christian and I don't know anyone that would publicly associate with me. Feelings From my point of view the bear incident was exhilarating but not frightening. After all I was armed....

As has now become the norm when we arrive in a new place we decided to explore the town trails on our first day in Banff. We started out on what looked to be a fairly uneventful walk along the bow river and around the Fenland Trail. We were both tired and subdued after our long drive the day before and I even commented to Stuart that this walk was unlikely to make it into the blog. The one thing I love about travelling is that it is un-predictable a...

Apart from the forward planning and a little bit of cost management, the first few weeks have been like a small hiking and driving holiday. I am sure that everyone reading the blog will soon be tired of reading about day after day of rock, alpine meadows and treelines so I am wrapping up our final few days in Jasper Park and the drive down to Banff in one blog. If anyone has any adjectives or adverbs that might add to my limited vocabulary please send me idea...

"Here we go loop de loop" I still chuckle as I think about our 'stroll' up Edith Cavell Meadows. After two strenuous walks the previous days we thought it sounded like a nice Sunday afternoon potter. How wrong we could be! I really enjoyed the climb up as it brought back memories of climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco six years ago. Whereas Stuart struggles with the 'up' bits my fear kicks in when descending a climb. For those of you who know me well ...