Overview of Banff and Jasper Trip

On Saturday, July 21 Cristin and I began our honeymoon, a road trip to the Canadian Rockies. Our primary destinations were Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta (AB).  We drove 1260 miles over 2 days to reach Canmore, AB. We took a route thru Fargo, Jamestown, and Minot N.D. and crossed the international border into Saskatchewan at Portal. We camped the first night in the Saskatchewan prairie in the middle of nowhere, near Avonlea,  at Dunnet a regional park.  We were somewhat shocked that this is a noisy, crowed, party campground. There was wedding reception that night in the park and a live band played until well after midnight.

On Sunday we had coffee in Moosejaw, where we connected with Trans-Canada Hwy 1. That afternoon  we made a little diversion to check out downtown Calgary, which made a favorable impression on us.

Downtown Calgary

The Bow River, which originates in the mountains near Lake Louise,
flows thru downtown Calgary.

The next week was filled with one great day after another. We were on the move almost daily and saw and did so much that I have organized this report into several companion blogs that are listed roughly in the same order as our itinerary. Just follow the colored links contained in the caption below each picture.

 Canmore:  Cool town and mountain biking.

Banff Townsite:  A busy, expensive tourist area crowded with tour buses
but the castle/chalet and waterfalls are interesting.  

Yoho National Park:
A natural bridge,  Emerald Lake, a spiral tunnel, and one of the most
productive and important fossil beds in the world, the Burgess Shale

The Icefields Parkway and Athabasca Glacier:
Mile after mile of stunning views.

Jasper National Park:
Amazing geology, waterfalls, hot springs, trails, and wildlife viewing.

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Lake Louise:
One of the 7 natural wonders of the world.  Now we know why!