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As we approach another record breaking hot day here in the capital city, my recollections of our trip to the Canadian Rockies gets better and better.  In October of 2004, Patt and I were in Banff, Alberta and drove north on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper.  As you can see in late October there are not a lot of cars on the road.

If you like open road, trees and wildlife to look at, mountains, snow and sky, this drive was well worth it.

Snow fell often and we enjoyed walking in it and seeing the sights up close too, like rivers and waterfalls and such.

There were stretches where the traffic was even lighter.  Look closely at the photo you can see a rest stop up the highway on the left.  We are talking one cold building.  Despite the scarce traffic and the quiet cold rest area, as we were leaving, the ubiquitous Japanese tour bus pulled up spilling out the camera wielding tourists.  We celebrated our timing at the rest stop and continued north as the relieved tourists, I suppose, continued south.

Here we are in front of the Athabasca Glacier, not the most colorful of backdrops.  It was a hike out from the road and there were a few other hikers, hence the photo- but it was the first glacier we had ever seen.