We left Hinton at 8:30 this morning. It was about 46 degrees this morning and the skies were clear.
As we approached Jasper, a 6 point bull elk was grazing beside the road. His horns were still in velvet and were huge. I believe these elk may be a different subspecies from the elk found in the Idaho/eastern Washington region. The horns were much, much larger and heavier plus the elk just nonchalantly grazed along while passersby took photos. All the elk we have seen in Idaho don't hang around very long when they see you. (Actually, National Park wildlife have become so accustomed to humans, they no longer fear them.)
As we drove south towards Banff National Park, we were overwhelmed by the sights!! It seamed as the mountain peaks got steeper and larger. Glaciers and ice fields were also viewable from the parking/viewing areas. All of the lakes and rivers are aquamarine colored from the glacial silts. These are just a couple of photos. (We must have taken over 100 photos today.)
One of the highlights along the way was the Athabasca River falls. Over eons of time, the water has carved a narrow slit through the rock. The colors and rainbows were amazing!! (The Athabasca River heads in Jasper NP at the Columbia Ice Fields and flows across Alberta and Saskatchewan to the Hudson Bay.)
We entered Banff National Park and drove on to Canmore. The roads are much improved and are divided 4 lane similar to our Interstate system. We noticed that the roadway is completely fenced to keep wildlife off the roadway (8' tall elk fencing). Periodically, underpasses and overpasses have been constructed to allow the elk safe passage across the highway.
We arrived at the Spring Creek RV Park (south of Banff) at 5:00. This day was glorious. Tomorrow, we will visit Lake Louise.
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