Our amazing day....

A very light snow started to fall as we were packing the car. Mark, a happy man this car came with an ice scraper in the trunk. We left the cabin around 9am.

The roads ahead were being broadcast as poor due to ice and low visibility, we wanted to allow plenty of time, being inexperienced at driving on icy roads.

Only a km or so down the highway we officially entered our first park of the day and got a hint of the weather ahead.

It had been the first snow of the season and the snow ploughs were trying to get on top of it.

This guy was dropping a mix of what seemed to be pebbles and salt on the road. To melt the ice and it was good for traction.

In just under 90km we arrived in Jasper.

We proved to be truly reticent even at walking. The first step out of the car warned me it was super slippery. Whenever we walked across an icy patch Im sure our style was similar to if we had soiled our pants. No doubt entertaining for anyone watching.

Again, 5mins of research paid off. The best coffee was to be had in this spotless and huge coin laundry. It was being run by a lovely kiwi chick who made fantastic coffees. (All in the name of research John!)

Before leaving Jasper we took a little drive to Lake Edith. The sun kindly popped out for this shot. It was so pretty!

From Jasper we had nearly 240 km of road ahead, known as the Icefields Parkway, with only one stop available for services or help. Very quickly it was like stepping into a surreal black and white world. The scenery is indescribable. In the past we have seen portions of the Rocky Mountains in & around Colorado. This section proved truly amazing.

We stopped off for a little sightseeing. It was all a fun adventure to us and we were loving it. We soon found the snow to be so much softer and fluffier than our little experience in the past.

Mark grabbed a handful and decided to blow it into the air.

Next I hear 'bastard of a thing' as the snow just flew back into his face.

Check out the results. Note he is now down to mo & goatee!

It was mostly -4C for the day but it didnt stop me regularly jumping out to enjoy the views. This was so gorgeous. The water looked quite aqua even though it was shallow.

Another reminder the roads could be dodgy ahead.

A couple of pretty caribou trotted across the road.

Conveniently, at some of the pulloffs where you safely stop to see the view, they had public toilets. We were on the lookout for one, and as luck would have it we pulled up right opposite this half frozen waterfall.

These fluffy guys would often appear near the exhaust of the car when we stopped. I guess they have learned how to keep warm.

We often drove in silence till one of us would say things like "its hard to tell the road from the river"

There was fabulous mountain after mountain. This region also has many glaciers but with the low cloud and snow, we only spotted 3.

This is when lines like "OMG, we are ice road truckers" were being tossed out...

I love my new elevation app on my phone. It works off GPS and tracked us from a start of around 800m in Mt Robson, 1000m in Jasper to this near highest point of the day.

One of the few stretches of barricades on the side of the road.

I couldn't resist these very cute little seed heads popped out of the snow.

The road started to clear as we got nearer Lake Louise.

The sun nearly through the clouds. It was truly majestic... I can not say enough superlatives for this experience. We feel truly fortunate to have experienced this drive safely and to have seen it at this time of year. One day... oh one day... we may be lucky to visit again on a clear summer day.

Near Lake Louise we passed Herbert Lake. A pretty calm reflective lake.