Lake Louise to Jasper

I woke up today feeling a but under the weather.  Nothing major and it didn't really impact the day at all.  I'm wondering if just go, go, go with not great sleeps each night is just catching up to me!

The kids spotted this cute little groundhog right outside the hostel.  While the hostel worked out ok, it definitely didn't feel like 'home' and we were happy to check out.

First stop was Lake Louise.  This was probably the first thing on the trip that was truly impacted by weather.  It was cold and raining enough to need umbrellas.  The mountain views were covered by fog, and honestly it just wasn't all that enjoyable being out there.  We had intended to walk around the lake but instead, after about 10 minutes, the kids and I decided to go browse in the stores inside the Lake Louise Chateau hotel.  The rain couldn't stop Trevor and so he walked around the lake in the rain anyways!

We got hot chocolate to warm up and about 45 minutes later when Trev was almost back, we went back down to the lake for a few more minutes.  

This hot chocolate was probably the sweetest hot chocolate I've ever tasted.  Joel couldn't finish his but Owen LOVED it and drank every drop of his and then every drop of Joel's!!

We left Lake Louise and started the drive to Jasper.  This apparently is one of the nicest drives in Canada.  Unfortunately our views were definitely impacted by rain and cloud.  But it was still nice.  I think we had 6 or 7 view points/pull offs/small hikes planned and this time none of them was closed!  We did miss one which we just didn't see, so we will see if we can see it on the drive back.  Maybe we will luck out with better weather on the way back.

First pull off view point.

Typical driving view!

Out chips blew up because of the changing pressure!  We had a picnic in the car today as there really weren't any places to stop along the way.  Unfortunately it was raining and cold when we were hungry so we hung out inside and ate in the warmth.

Owen beside Big Chungus.

We did one main hike which took us about an hour and a half.  The hike was called Wilcock Pass and it goes up for a great view of the Athabasca Ice Fields and mountains across!  At the view there are 2 red adirondack chairs.

The trail was really muddy and quite snowy but we made it!

We made it to the chairs!

Even with the clouds, it was a spectacular view!  RIght in the middle of this picture, to the left of Joel's head, you can see the glacier we will go to in a few days.

Zoomed in on the glacier.

It started raining and rained on our way down but not enough to get soaked!

This was fun!  We saw these guys right beside our truck as we drove by!

After that we stopped at a bunch of waterfall views.  Tangle Falls

Sunwapta Falls

This was a viewpoint stop-off that our Vancouver Uber driving recommended...the Goats and Glaciers Viewpoint!

Athabasca Falls

Finally we ended the day in Jasper!  We got to our cabin at Becker's Chalet at about 6pm.  It's much nicer than our hostel!  Haha!  The best part...using the pull out couch, the kids have their own beds!  I am hopeful for a good sleep for everyone tonight!

The loft

The downstairs bedroom

The living room

The balcony

Here are Trevor's pictures from today.

Lake Louise:

The far side of Lake Louise