Banff is such a booming tourist area, but even there, we were able to see elk right in town, and 2 different black bears along the drive to Lake Louise. The hustle and bustle of the area didn't detract from its beauty. We stayed on the outskirts of the townsite, in Hidden Ridge Resort, which had fantastic condo style rooms. We even had a private hot tub on our balcony that overlooked the mountains. Just beautiful!
Since we didn't have a car, we used several tour companies to get to the various sites. While in Banff, Ian and I took 2 tours with Discover Banff Tours, which were fantastic - small and personal. The guides were great, and took time to answer any questions we had.
To get from Banff to Jasper we took a tour from Brewsters, that brought us to several sites, including the Columbia Icefields and Athabasca falls, before dropping us off at our hotel. It was such an easy service, and the driver/guide was quite the character.
Jasper is much much smaller, and since it's further away from Calgary (just over 4 hrs), and just under 4 hrs away from Edmonton, it is a lot less touristy. Don't get me wrong, this town still sees its fair share of tourists, but nothing compared to the 3.5 million that Banff reportedly gets.
In Jasper we saw a lot more wildlife, including a small heard of female elk, and a momma bear and her two cubs. Just awesome!
Anyway, these were just a few of the many (MANY) photos that were taken during our week in Alberta. It was a fantastic trip, and I hope that I get the opportunity to visit again soon.
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