Canadian Rockies R' Us - Part II

From Liard Hot Springs the road was paved.  Just kidding.  This blog thing is great because even if you aren't laughing, I am.  Anyway, the drive was pretty spectacular, and we were lucky enough to see bison, caribou and stone sheep.

Look, Ruby & Moxy- we saw caribou on the side of the road along our drive!

Things were going great until we hit Fort Nelson - borrring.  And smelly (natural gas development).  And sad (entire swaths of forests cleared and left in burn piles).  And flat (no more majestic mountains) as we headed further south towards Dawson Creek. 

This about says it all...

The one highlight of this portion of the trip was the world's biggest beaver, in Beaver Lodge, Alberta. Jen Peeks - this is for you:

 I was happy as a clam to cross into Alberta because it was the first legitimate chance I had to expose Kristy to Bob Dylan's classic "Alberta #4" - if you don't know this song, you should!  We headed into the mountains again, this time towards Jasper National Park. 

Jasper NP is definitely amazing.  The small town has a distinct European feel which we later found out is due to the Swiss-infused architecture.  We chatted with locals, slept on the streets (in our truck) without being bothered by the mounty (yes, the mounty) and went on a few spectacular day hikes.  Kristy and I were literally so astounded on the drive in we both agreed it might be the most beautiful place we'd ever seen.

We were actually delighted to see snow!

We felt guilty forsaking the beauty of Alaska so easily, but Jasper was indeed magical. We thought its beauty was unparalleled...until we began the drive south to bordering Banff National Park.