theDIBB - Canada - May you said, oh yeah!- Saturday May 25th

We had a good few hours sleep and woke about 3.30am. Although I would have tried to have another couple of hours dh said he would rather get on the road and have an early night later on. This proved to be a good plan and we were on our way by about 4.30. It was dark as we set off and we were glad of our thermal trousers and big coats as it was drizzly and grey, the car said it was 2c. The road was very quiet but we were held up just outside Calgary as a big truck had gone on its side and crossed the road divide onto our side of the carriageway, hopefully no one was injured.

It was lovely to be back in the Rockies and we enjoyed remembering places we had seen last year, I loved the novelty of seeing snow in May! We didn't need to bother about a Park Pass as the one we had purchased last year was still valid so we just kept right going through the lovely little alpine chalets into Banff National Park. We were not surprised to see that the fire risk board was down to very low as we passed them, little did we realise that would change within the week we were there:erm:

We were in Lake Louise by 6.30am but went up to Moraine first. There were already some poor traffic control people sitting hunkered down under umbrellas at the turnoff. This road had only just reopened on Tuesday and there was still piles of snow by the wayside occasionally. The car park was pretty empty so we parked up and wrapped up. Although it was light it was so grey and overcast that it still seemed quite dark. The lake was not only a lot smaller than it had been last summer but was still frozen. We walked down to the rock pile but decided against climbing it as it seemed quite slippery. We then headed up the track on the side of the lake for a short while, the side trails where still quite deep in snow! Unfortunately the hotel and shop weren't opened yet (not the time, but for the season!) Anyway we were quite wet now so we decided to head to Lake Louise for breakfast in the hotel deli. However we couldn’t turn left at the end of the road so had to go back down to the village. We made use of this detour by filling up with fuel and buying lunch at the Trail Head Cafe - sandwiches so huge that we should have shared one but didn't realise at the time!

Back up the hill and we headed first for breakfast at the deli in hotel. Hot chocolate and some pastries fuelled us for walking to the end of lake. It was definitely not as cold as Moraine Lake although it was still wet. The Lake was still frozen but not as deeply as it had been. You could see signs of it thawing at the edges. It gets so frozen that they groom it with an ice rink machine and use it for sports during the winter season!

Back on the road we were headed to Jasper. Peyto Lake was closed but Bow Lake was open. It was still frozen and in fact it snowed briefly as we were driving over Bow Summit. Unfortunately my notes are a bit sparse until we got to Jasper but we stopped in a turnout looking over towards a waterfall for lunch. It was starting to get warmer, drier and brighter as we headed further up the road to the point that by the time we arrived in Jasper it was 17c.

We had booked 3 nights at The Crimson on the main road. Our room wasn't ready so after parking we went for a wander around the town which was very quiet. We visited the Parks Canada tourist information who were very helpful with lots of information on where to go and where to spot wildlife. We also stopped at a small deli/minimart type of shop and picked up food for tea and breakfast. Our room was ready when we got back. Nothing special and it was opposite the railway line but the views beyond were beautiful and actually the noise if there was any didn't bother us. The room had a kitchenette with a microwave and fridge which was useful and was a decent size and clean, we would happily stay again. We were starting to feel the effects of our late night/early morning and decided to eat in rather than go out.

We sat on the balcony looking out at the views and actually finding the railway movements quite interesting, while we ate a pulled pork quesadilla with salad and fruit. By this point we could barely keep our eyes open, I can't remember what time that was but as it was light until gone 11 we were never going to watch sunset anyway!