Friday 24th - Sunday 27th July 2015

So Andrew picked me up on Thursday after work and we headed off up north towards Jasper. We stopped at Herbert lake and a few other spots along the way. We had reservations booked at the fairmont in Jasper and were meeting Hannah and Cam for dinner.

We had a great dinner which was 50% off including all drinks so I took advantage of that! I had a lovely evening with some good company!

On the Friday we headed to Maligne Lake and Canyon, luckily the fires were all out that were up here surrounding Medicine lake. It was some pretty extensive damage around the lake and no one was allowed to stop along the side of the road. Its a shame we couldn't stop along Medicine lake as it is pretty fascinating location.

Medicine Lake is a geologic anomaly in the sense that it is not actually a lake but rather an area in which the Maligne River (flowing from Maligne Lake into the Athabasca River) backs up and suddenly disappears underground. During the summer months during intensified meltwater runoff the lake (which during the winter months is a meandering frozen river) fills to levels which fluctuate over time and with the runoff events. Much like a bathtub that is filled too fast for it to drain, it becomes laden with water (lake) until it can slowly drain as the tap flow (runoff) is reduced (river). The underground system is extensive and during the 1970s researchers used a biodegradable dye to determine the underground river's extent. The dye showed up in many of the lakes and rivers in the area to the point where it became clear that the underground system was one of the most extensive in the world.

We headed back towards the fairmont as Hannah and Cam had to go to their golfing session. Andrew and I headed off to Edith and Agnes lake for a little walk before heading up to Pyramid lake. We stopped off in town to get some supplies and some lunch.

We were heading towards the camp site but took a detour to see what's Edith Cavell was all about. It was an enjoyable ride up, weaving through the forest up towards the mountains. This is a hike we really want to do but the weather has been pretty miserable so we have decided to hold off until the weather was nicer.

We are camping out at Wabasso camp site, which is a pretty cute little camp site which had two bears that liked to stroll through every once in a while.

I made dinner, and we sat around the camp fire keeping warm. It was a good chill night, and the weather held out until we went to bed.

On Saturday the weather was still very overcast and damp so we went for a drive up the Marmot access road to find some wildlife! We didn't see any moose but we saw a baby black bear! So cute!! Didn't see any mama bear though! Properly a good thing!

As the weather was still rubbish so we drove north and checked out the views, the weather had actually cleared up a little by then. We decided to go to the hot springs up here. It was a long bloody drive though! It was nice to enjoy the warmth and have a bath after camping!

We made another camp fire and cooked some burgers on the fire which actually turned out really good actually!

On the Sunday we packed up our camp site and headed off back towards Banff. We stopped off at Sunwapta falls and walked all the way to the bottom of the waterfall which I've not done before.

We stopped off at Mistaya canyon as either of us have never done it, it was really beautiful and impressive. I had a great time having a wander around and exploring the river side and the canyon. It was really beautiful and the weather has been pretty good holding off!

Our last stop was Bow lake, we got our walking boots on and headed off on our walk towards the glacier. The first part of the walk was pretty easy going, nice and flat following the lake front. I was suddenly greeted with the biggest steps in the world! It was pretty tough climbing up! We carried on going and we finally could see the waterfall coming from the glacier. It was pretty cool, we couldn't see the glacier any more but the surrounding views were awesome! The weather took a turned for the worse and we hot tailed out of it!

We got back to the car, my legs were super red from the cold! We actual had a quick snooze in the car before we headed off home!

It was a really good weekend!