Day 4 ; Part 7

When we found out that the weather was not going to be looking good for day 5, we decided to squeeze in lake Louise and moraine lake before we headed on to Banff.

Lake Louise was filled with tourists. Extremely crowded. Even a small Asian, costumed choir was posing and singing by the lakeside.

Lake Louise



Moraine lake was probably one of reb's favorite destinations. A lot less crowded here and absolutely serene and beautiful. We climbed (bouldered) up to the lookout having not realized there was a set of stairs around the back and got an even better view.

Moraine Lake



A quick bad ass horse-manning pic

Location:Lake Louise

Day 4 ; Part 6

Our final stop before lake Louise was Bow Summit. The colour of the water was an absolute gorgeous blue with the most fascinating mountains surrounding it. The lake is called Peyton Lake. To get up to this summit was yet another 15-20 minute uphill climb.




What we easily caught onto within the first couple of days of our drive is if a car is pulled over... Or more likely... Multiple cars pulled over...then pull over!!

So that is exactly what we did when we saw about 7 cars pulled over on the side of the highway. Mike grabbed the camera and hopped out of that car to check out what everyone was looking at low and behold.... There was a small black bear on the side of the road picking at the vegetation. Once e both got a good view, we drove just one more minute further, and cars were pulled over again to look at yet another small black bear. Brothers? BFFs? To cover all of the bases... We named them Grizz and DotCom.

Location:Between Jasper and Banff

Day 4 ; Part 5

4:30 pm : We stoped at Mistaya Canyon. The canyon had beautiful features from the way the powerful water bowled and carved it's way through.

Location:Mistaya Canyon : Between Jasper and Banff

Day 4 part 4

In the afternoon we visited a glacier on the Columbia ice field. In the background of the top picture (where Reb made me pose with the enukshuks (sp?)) is a lateral moraine left behind as the glacier recedes. The rocks in front of the glacier at the bottom of the jumping picture is the terminal moraine formed by the glacier.

Location:Columbia icefields

Day 4 ; Part 3

The drive from jasper to banff has been the highlight of the trip so far. We saw all kinds of unique falls, whether they were right off the highway or a 10 minute walk to the view.

Athabasca Falls was super impressive because of its power, unfortunately it was really hard to get a good picture of the entire falls.







The Tangle Creek Falls were right on the side of the highway so we decided to hop out and put some of those rock climbing skills to the test. We climbed up to the top so that mike could get a fresh drink of water then found our way back now.

Location:Jasper to Banff

Day 4 ; Part 2

9:30 am : we weren't sure what the valley of 5 lakes was but we decided to risk the 5k hike to check it out. Turns out it was definitely worth it. So far it was one of our favourite parts of the trip. Of course, like anything in Canada, the hike was made better by a timmies.

Location:Valley of 5 Lakes ; Jasper

Day 4 ; Part 1

7:00 am : In took off for a quick 6 mile morning run into the town of Jasper. On the way I encountered 8 caribou! None of them had antlers. (it is rutting season, as we were warned when driving into the park). Unfortunately I didn't have a camera.

8:30 am : we headed into town before heading toward Banff for a quick timmies and gas fill up. On our way we say a large male Caribou.

Location:Jasper, AB

Day 3 ; Part 4

6:40 pm : we arrived at the campsite, Whistlers, near downtown Jasper. The campsite is huge and we managed to get the one in the furthest back corner. #gofigure.


7:30 pm : being absolutely starved we decided to head downtown and grab some pub food at the Jasper Brewery Co. I had a burger and a cheddar bacon burger with their "Better than Banff" beer. #we'llseeaboutthat. Reb had nachos and a honey ale. Dinner was pretty good but over all for $48 City Limits would kick it's ass any day.



Downtown Jasper

Location:Campsite and dinner. Jasper, AB

Day 3 ; part 3

August 28

3:00 pm : after going to the visitor center in downtown Jasper we decided to make the 40 km drive to Maligne Lake. The lake was quiet and serene, surrounded by mountains.



We got into our hiking gear (mike with his camelbak and Reb with her fanny pack) and chose the trail that was 10.4km and 2-3 hours.

Turns out, we were about to embark on a 3 hour hike. About 2.5 hours of it heading uphill and 1/2 hour heading back down.... I don't know how that could happen. But it did. We are still feeling the burn on our legs. But we would have to say, the view was incredible.


I managed to get in 100 pushups while traveling up the trail. Gotta double time those workouts.

Location:Maligne lake

Day 3 ; part 2

9:30 am : found a diamond in the rough, luckily I made Reb pull over and we asked where we could find a lake to swim at. The lake had really nice bathrooms with showers which we(mostly Reb) desperately needed.

Location:Blue River, BC

Day 3 ; Part 1

Sunday, August 28th

7:15 am : Rise and shine. We packed up our camping gear and were on the road by 7:45 am. About 5 minutes down the road was Dawson falls. Known as Wells Gray's own miniature (not very miniature when youre up close) Niagara Falls. It was hard to get a good picture at 8am with all the mist and sun blocking half of the falls. #ameturephotographer. Reb was keen about bear watching since it was "Prime feeding time". After taking a quick lesson from an impromptu bear watching sign, we felt we were pro enough to handle any encounters that may come up.







8:30 am : Back on then road. We had a cliff bar, a peanut-butter / Banana sandwich on English muffin, and strawberries for breakfast as we headed out of the park. Our goal was to find a) somewhere to swim and b) running water to wash up.

Location:Dawson Falls / leaving Wells Gray

Day 2 : Part 8

8:20 pm We decided to stay up in the park (1 hour North of hwy 5) to get a more rustic outdoorsy night. No running water, no electricity. After an entertaining round of chopping up the firewood we finally got a nice fire going. As it got dark, Reb used my headlamp to continue to read. #nerd.

Location:_____ Campgrounds, Wells Gray Provincial Park. BC

Day 2 ; Part 7

7:30 pm : There are soo many waterfalls in WellsGray Provincial Park!! The largest of them (and one of the largest in Canada) is Helmcken Falls. It was too bad the viewing deck is so far away. I guess we could've hopped the fence and gotten closer. #wimps

Location:Helmcken Falls. Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC

Day 2 ; Part 6.

4:30pm : Two guys told me it was safe so I decided to go through the waterfalls. I
can't believe I didn't bring my five fingers for things like this. Those rocks hurt, but the cold, fresh water felt great.

Location:Moul falls. Wells Gray prove park

Day 2; Part 5

4:00 pm : We decided to take the "hour and 45 minute" hike to Moul Falls. (The walk only took us roughly 20 minutes each way. #extremeathletes)




As any addict would be, I was starting to get grumpy from not running in over 60 hours. A fast 3km gave me back some sanity then we proceeded towards the falls.


Amazing view from this mini chair!

Location:Moul falls, wells Gray prov park

Day 2; Part 4

2:00 pm : first stop on our way into Wells Gray Provincial Park; Spahats Viewpoint. When we rolled into the parking lot we saw 2 large tour busses packed full of Asian tourists. #LouisVuitton


Spahats Falls is Wells Gray's main canyon waterfall. The steep cliffs were looking like some sick climbing destinations for @BenRolff and I.


There were a couple "hike at your own risk" trails leading from the viewing area. We went just far enough to appreciate the magnitude mountains and the river valley bellow.


Cool poses Reb. #NoLongerAmetureHour

Location:Wells Gray Provide. Park

Day 2; Part 3

2:00 pm : we stopped in Kamloops, BC at the information center and asked for the quickest way out of the town. After driving down the main stretch, the most exciting part of Kamloops turned out to be saving $5.38 on groceries by signing up for Save on Foods reward program.


2:48 pm : im trying to run out of the city in the picture below. Clearwater and Wells Gray Provincial Park ahead.

Location:Kamloops to Clearwater

Day 2; Part 2

10:00 am : endless mountains made the drive go by incredibly fast.

Location:From Vancouver to Kamloops

Day 2; Part 1

Saturday, August 27th

7:15 am : up and at 'em. Started the day off getting some key pictures off of pips 27th floor balcony.











8:00 am : I generously offered to pay for our sky train tickets which ended up being 1/3 of the price as the night before. Michael - 1. Rebecca - 2. To make things simple.. #m1r0

9:30 am : zoomed out of Vancouver in our fresh Nissan Sentra. Subcompact? #yeahright this car is huge!.. Lots of mountains lakes and rivers ahead. Reb had some interesting CDs that she's made.. Lots of emo (Reb) music, but the Bon Iver saved her. After listening to Perth, I was pretty excited for the possibility of WorldDuathlon championships next summer. #worldtraveler

Location:Vancouver, BC

Day 1; Part 2

9:20 pm : Our plane finally touched down about an hour late. #WestJetSucks.



10:20 pm : we arrived at Pip's classy pad located located in the heart of downtown Vancouver, right across the street from Tinsil Town. After taking an MTV style tour, and a few quick pics on the balcony we headed down to Fresh Slice for some tasty Pizza, 3 slices and a pop for $5 even. (had we lucked out and gone on a Tuesday we would've scored pizza a dollar a slice).

Location:Vancouver, BC

Day 1; Part 1

Friday, August 26.

Waterloo, ON
10:30 am : Alex won't stop talking about how he can't wait to get to Michigan to see Cleo

Toronto, ON
3:00 pm : Neville greets us at the door. #kittybuffetsurvivor






3:30 pm : Rebecca pulls out her "suburu triathlon series" bag that she plans to use for hiking.. What is this #amaturehour. Luckily I brought a Northface backpack, fannypack, a camelbak, and even paricord capable of towing a hummer in neutral. #youneverknow
4:32 pm : Liz performs google search on Rachels blackberry (almost finding the correct link) #babysteps
4:45 pm We arrive three hours early for the flight.

Location:Toronto, ON