Day 32 - 9th July - Jasper to Calgary (the end)!

5369Km - 3336Mls
We've made it! The Silver Bullet purred on 'til the end.

We had a super stay at Becker's Chalets outside Jasper despite the absolutely rubbish weather. To console ourselves we decided to eat at Becker's Restaurant and we certainly wern't disappointed. Eileen had Sockeye salmon and I had half a cow! Walking back to our chalet we saw some Elk on a nearby hillside and within a few minutes one of them had arrived amongst the chalets. Great viewing and so close. A little while later this Elk and her two sisters made their way to the central grassy area and were much admired and not in the least put out by the enthralled campers. Then the Elk settled down for the night and so did we.

In the morning they had all gone at 06.00 (according to Eileen) however they had returned + 1 before we left at 07.30. The morning was really bad with very low cloud and heavy rain. Our first stop of the day was at Athabasca Falls which were a brilliant sight especially as the heavy rain had swollen the river. Eileen says (from all her reading of interpretive plaques!!) that the rivers are milky in colour at this time of year because  of "Rock Flour" which is finely ground rock carried by glacial water. Every day's a school day! We motored on until we reached the Columbia Icefields - very cold and windy although the rain had stopped. Had a look at the Athabasca Glacier then a coffee and bun and it was time to resume the journey. Martin had suggested a hike along Parker Ridge but as it was raining hard again and with low cloud we decided to carry on with the journey. On reaching Bow Summit the weather had improved and we walked to the viewing area and were rewarded with magnificent views of Bow Glacier and Lake which has the bluest water in the Rockies.

A little later we saw a Black Bear very close up, he was munching the grass at the side of the road and didn't pay any attention to the very close viewers. Then we turned off the highway into Louise Village making our way to Moraine Lake. We had been there with the children 13 years ago and it still looked great despite the RV traffic jam and parking problems. At Lake Louise Lake, the big difference we noticed was that the number of visitors, mostly oriental, had increased enormously. When we were there last the children had "enjoyed" canoeing - ask them about it! In all the hustle and bustle we witnessed a wedding ceremony taking place on the lake shore in front of the massive Fairmont hotel! The photographer was getting really shirty with the spectators - a most bizarre scene. More interpretive data from herself! "The Louise Creek flows into the Bow River which joins other rivers then flows for 4000 Kms across Canada to the Hudson Bay".

We finally descended from the Rockies and arrived in Calgary at Martin & Heather's super house. We are both very weary but safe and sound.