Jasper

We took a day and left Banff and headed up to Jasper National Park.  It was a much quieter experience.  We got to see three different lakes:  Hector Lake, Lower Waterfowl Lake, and Bow Lake.  We were part of just a handful of people at each lake.  

Hector Lake is advertised as a photographer's dream.  It was beautiful, and only just a short walk around it.  So while we took a bunch of cool photos, we only spent a little time there.  Before we walked around the lake, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the picnic tables, with just a wee hint of rain.            

NS even got to try out the water just a bit.  Hector Lake doesn't have a beach, it's surrounded by the forest, so NS took a spot on the shoreline and dunked his hands.            

One of the many glaciers seen from the road.  We spent the day driving the Icefields Parkway, so we got to see a ton of cool glaciers.  I think the parkway takes more than three hours to drive, but we only spent maybe two hours, plus all the time we spent at the various lakes, so that we could get back to the campsite for dinner.  Lots of beautiful scenery in Jasper, totally worth the drive.  We also decided that if we come back this way, we would camp in Jasper rather than in Banff.  Banff is very crowded, and Jasper is less visited, which suits us just fine.        

We took a small-ish stop at Lower Waterfowl Lake.  It was a beautiful hike with some beach area, and tons of forest.  NB was really putting his watershoes to work, testing all the waters he came to.  K joined him for a bit, but the water was very cold, so she wasn't enjoying it as much as NB was.         We also took a brief stop at Bow Lake.  The kids were done by this point, so they just stayed in the car, and I even left my camera behind.  But it was a beautiful hike, and if we had more energy, I would have insisted we take the hike to the waterfall.  But at the end of the day, sometimes just taking in the sights is good enough.

  Back at the campsite, relaxing in style.  We do so love our campfires!