Canadian Rockies Visit - Final Part 3....

SOO many pictures!  Who knew that so many pictures could be taken in a short amount of time! LOL! Here are the final set of pictures that I want to share with you, spanning the remainder of our trip in the Rockies.  This was an incredible vacation for our family with so many precious memories made. Pictures simply do not do justice to the amazing views we saw as we traveled, but give you just an idea of the grandeur of this place!

Next stop was the Athabasca Glacier.  We decided to hike up to the glacier.  An exorbitant amount of money was needed to do the "touristy" thing and ride up to the glacier on a tour bus and walk around. We opted to hike up ourselves.  It was well worth the effort!  It was probably the coldest hike I've ever taken though!  The wind was blowing directly off the glacier, and it was frigid.  We were not dressed for it at all, in spring/summer clothing, and most everyone out there must have known how cold it would be for they were dressed in snow pants, coats, boots, hats and scarves, lol!  Not us... and we were COLD!!!!!! So just a word to the wise... if you plan to hike on, near, or around a glacier, even in summer, dress WARM!

This was a very sad sign to read.  I can't even imagine how horrible this must have been. It pays attention to read signs and follow directions when visiting places like this.  Nature is wild and unforgiving, and we must remember that when enjoying the beauties around us.

A zoom-in of the mountains surrounding the glacier.

A bit closer ...

It was so cold out here, I was afraid my camera wasn't going to work, and I am not kidding! Hey, my fingers were so cold, they could hardly work to push the button on the camera, lol!

Another view of the mountain surrounding the glacier.

For a pretty price, you could pay to walk out onto this skywalk overlooking the glacier.  Again... we chose the way less traveled and passed it by.  Later on in our travels, we met someone who had come from Australia and had paid the price to walk on this glass bridge, and they were quite disgusted with how much they had to pay, and how much of a disappointment it was.  We told them we passed it by and she said they wished they had done that too.  Tourist trap... yes indeed!

After hiking up to the glacier, we continued on our journey and came upon these mountain goats just hanging out by the road... not a very safe place for little ones!

This guy was off in the distance chewing his cud and watching it all.  Handsome fella!

They looked very scraggly and were shedding winter's fur pretty bad.

The little ones were SO cute to watch though!

Hop, skipping and running all over the road!  Cars and buses were stopped everywhere to let them have the road to themselves!

Next we came to Tangle Creek Falls.  This incredible waterfall that drops 100 feet is amazing to see.  It was hard to get pictures of it as we were so close to it - it is right beside the road.  Apparently it is one of the most photographed waterfalls simply because of its close proximity to the road.

Continuing on we came to Sunwapta Falls... another beautiful experience with cascading falls and incredible scenery.

A close-up of the falls.

Breathtaking beauty!  We enjoyed the cool misty breeze blowing off the water.

We were constantly amazed at the color of the water - Caribbean colors in the North!

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, 

or you brought forth the earth and the world, 

from everlasting to everlasting, you are God."  

Psalms 90:1-2

Our hearts sang this psalm as we quietly viewed the grandeur before us! 

 Every now and again take a good look at something not made with hands - a mountain, a star, the turn of a stream.  There will come to you wisdom, and patience and solace, and above all, the assurance that you are not alone in the world.  ~ Sidney Lovett~

God that made the world and all things therein, 

seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, 

dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 

neither is worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything, 

seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things.

Acts 17:24-25

As we continued on our travels, we saw these elk grazing alongside the road.  We noticed one of them had a collar on.

They could have cared less about what was happening on the road, and that was a good thing.

She lifted her head to watch the young ones as they had moved back into the brush.

This lady decided she wanted a better view, and walked right up to the elk alongside the road to get a picture.  It frustrated all of us who had stopped alongside the road to watch.  This is one thing you NEVER do to wild animals, try to get close to them!  She was definitely not keeping her 200 yards distance from the elk!

I saw this sign, and I agreed with the creator of the board - "I can't believe I need to tell you this" - but there are people who do NOT heed warnings, and do terribly foolish things, as we saw happening in front of us!

We arrived in the town of Jasper to spend the night.  After checking into our room, and eating dinner, we walked around the town of Jasper.

The flowers and mountains surrounding the town were beautiful to see.

This is where we spent the night, and we enjoyed a very comfortable family room.  Traveling with my parents, we opted to look for family rooms as we traveled, and really enjoyed the fact that all of us could stay in one room together.  This particular room offered two queen beds, and a separate queen bedroom, which was very nice!

The next morning we left Jasper and traveled towards Kamloops, BC.  We saw these magnificent caribou grazing along the road.

It was lovely to sit and watch them as they grazed, and other cars stopped to join us.

Spectacular views!

It wasn't long after we continued on that we saw a black bear cross the road.  It disappeared into the trees.  We stopped, as did other cars, and saw nothing for a while.  The other cars left.  We stayed.  I wanted to see if he would make a reappearance. And he (or she) did!  Soon enough, we saw a dark figure moving in the brush, headed closer to us.

The bear was several hundred yards from us, and I was not able to get clear pictures because pictures were being taken within the vehicle, and my camera zoomed out kept focusing on the brush (closer) than on the bear, so these pictures are a bit fuzzy.

It was very exciting to see the bear as it came closer to the road.

He looked to be a yearling.

And perhaps had just gone for a morning swim as his fur was wet.

He sat down in these bushes and was munching happily until other cars joined us, he got scared and scampered off into the brush.  We didn't get to see him again. It was great for everyone to get a close-up view of him though!

Continuing on, the journey continued to amaze us with beautiful mountains, streams, and rivers.

Wildflowers out in abundance!

More wild strawberries!  This time my mom and the kids got out to pick some, as we had an empty container.  This strawberry patch was HUGE and full of very ripe beautiful big wild strawberries, and before long other travelers joined us to pick some too!

The berries were big too (for wild strawberries) ... it didn't take long for them to fill up a container!

While they were picking, my husband and I hiked down this trail to see what beauty lay within.

We heard this beautiful bird singing as we walked, and he was kind enough to let me get a picture of him!  His music was so sweet and I thanked him for the concert as we stopped to listen. He looked at me strangely and flew away.  I don't think anyone had thanked him before for his efforts, and he was rather embarrassed I think... {smiles}

We stopped to view Mount Robson.  It was an incredible sight to see.  The clouds obscured most of the top of the mountain, but it was still very beautiful.

More warning signs.

We were told by someone that we met hiking on the trail that these are berries that bears like to eat, and I have done some research to see what the name of this berry is, and can't identify it.  Maybe my friend Rhonda who lives in an off-grid cabin on a remote island in northern BC can.  If she does, she will let us know what it is.  But we did keep an eye out as we hiked for these berries, and making sure that no bears were enjoying them!

We came to these beautiful falls. Incredible to see the power of the rushing water, and we enjoyed the cool mist coming off the falls.  There were platforms built down close to where the water was rushing.

Soon we began to leave the magnificent mountains behind, and the terrain began to change as we entered the foothills with smaller wooded mountains instead of snow-covered rocky peaks.   A terrible wildfire had passed through this area in August 2003 and it covered at least a hundred miles as we drove.  I can't imagine how terrible it was for the people of this area.  73 homes were lost in the fire. We looked up the wildfire and found that it was the most destructive wildfire in Canada's history.  Here is an article about the man who accidentally started the fire.  I recommend you take time to read it.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/man-responsible-for-b-c-wildfire-says-he-s-sorry-1.542859   You could see that many had tried to rebuild, but the land still remains rather desolate and barren to this day.

We arrived in Kamloops, BC and checked into our motel for the night.  My precious Aunt J and Uncle W wanted to do something special for our family, and so this night's lodging was paid for us!  It was a beautiful place to stay, very comfortable and luxurious, and we felt very blessed to enjoy the night's lodging here!

After checking in at the motel, we drove down to the waterfront park in Kamloops.

This absolutely astounding and magnificent sunset awaited us!

We walked out onto the pier and enjoyed the last rays of daylight, as we were surrounded by the serene stillness of the Thompson River.

Kamloops is a beautiful town!  The town is built around the joining of the two tributaries of the Thompson River.  It is surrounded by mountains that overlook the river valley.  We enjoyed our time in Kamloops, a truly lovely place to visit!

The next morning, I got up early and cleaned and washed the berries that had been picked by my mom and the kids.  We had strawberries and cream for a breakfast treat!

It was a most delightful treat that we enjoyed! Wild strawberries have a very sweet flavor that is unmatched by traditional strawberries!

Most of the scenery we passed was marred by this terrible wildfire. It was unbelievable to see how far this fire stretched, and the damage it caused, that is still being felt today, almost 16 years later.

We were in the homestretch now, having crossed over the border, back into USA.  We stopped to see the Crystal Falls in Washington.

As we climbed the mountain road leading to our home, these sweet faces greeted us.

Welcome home... she seemed to be saying :)

It was an incredible trip that we had, and we were so thankful for our safe travels, and wonderful memories that were made.  :)