We all slept well. Exhaustion sure helps.

We woke up a bit earlier than most of us would have preferred but we wanted to get to the hot springs. And we didn’t know what the crowds would be, but we expected the worst. Especially since yesterday was so crowded.

Caileigh looked out of the window and made a discovery. She drinks the Three Sisters medium roast coffee from Kicking Horse Coffee. And outside our window were the Three Sisters!

We made a pit stop to pick up some coffee and then headed to the hot springs.

We got there about 45 minutes before opening. No one was lined up. But a few cars had folks in them, obviously waiting until it was closer to 10am.

At 9:45, Keaton and I made our way to the doors. About ten people were ahead of us. We checked out the pool from above and then joined the line.

And then the hordes started coming. Fortunately, Deb, Caileigh, Tara, and Kate saw them and made their way to the line.

The nice thing about getting there early was that we were able to pick a primo spot in the pool.

Ahh. Sitting in the hot spring pool and looking at the mountains. A great way to spend an hour.

After that we were off to Jasper.

But we made a pit stop at Lake Louise to walk around. My friend Tony met his wife Julie there, many moons ago.

Lots of people enjoying a walk on the frozen lake.

And then it was back into the car.

With another pit stop at the Athabasca Glacier.

It was interesting to walk towards it and see how much of it has melted in the last hundred years or so. They had markers pointing where the toe of the glacier had been at various points: 1908, 1925, 1935, 1942, and so on.

More breath-taking views.

When we arrived in Jasper, we dropped off our stuff and went for a walk in town. It was much less busy than Banff. And not as congested.

There were elks hanging out at the tracks.

We had dinner at a brewery and then back to our hotel for more drinks and camaraderie.

We went to bed early-ish because the kids were going to go skiing early the next day. Deb and I were going to hang around town and go for a hike.