Morning came and we moved towards Jasper (about 791 km from Vancouver). We had left British Columbia and entered Alberta, and all of us had to set our watches an hour ahead. As we drove down the road, the mountains seemed to pave the way for us on both sides of the road, much like guards-of-honour. Before long, Charlene told me that the mountains we were looking at before us (still a number of kilometers ahead) were the beginning of the Rockies mountain range. I had seen many pictures and watched documentaries on the Rockies, but the grandeur of the mountains was mind-boggling and amazing. Every peak, every slope seemed to connect with one another, and each was just so special.

Jasper National Park and Banff National Park are 2 really huge nature reserves (Jasper just to the north of Banff) which are home to many different types of wildlife and endless acres of forest and mountains. Elks, bighorn sheep, golden-mantled ground squirrels, cute and inquisitive chipmunks, and black bear cubs are some wildlife which we saw during the journey. The intimidating Grizzly Bears or cougars were thankfully only found at higher altitudes.

At Jasper, we drove up Mt Edith Cavell, named after a nurse in one of the World Wars (can't remember which one). The road is winding with lots of sharp turns to test Charlene's skill, which was absolutely impeccable.

As we drove further upwards, I saw lumps of dirty snow by the side of the road, which had slide down. Charlene commented that there should be a lot more on the top, and she was right. The whole place was covered with snow still, reaching almost to my knee as I "pranced" about in the snow for the very first time like a clumsy ox. Dey, Charlene and I were the only people there, and with the trickling stream nearby which carried melted snow away, we totally enjoyed the sight. Moreover the three of us had a good time bombarding one another with huge snowballs.

We decided to call it a day and proceeded to our next rest stop - Beauty Creek Hostel. It was almost 8 pm, but the sky was still bright. We had not bought any food to cook there, thinking there would be eateries nearby. However, we were in for a shock, as the hostel is basically a minimum necessity place, that is, just double-deck beds in 2 cabins. There is no electricity, and heat was produced by burning firewood. No toilet or bathing facility at all, except for a small outhouse a few metres away from the main cabins. There is also no tap water, much less drinking water.

The nearest eatery is in a hotel about an hour's drive, and we had to go there for dinner. The boss was really nice to fix us some sandwiches and hot drinks even though the caf� was already closed for the night by the time we got there. We purchased some food for next morning's breakfast, changed into new clothes before driving back to the hostel. Nighttime suddenly came over the park at 11pm, and we had to put up with dreadful snores by 4 Japanese backpackers sleeping in the same dorm as us. However, I slept through all that noise in my sleeping bag as I was just too pooped.

A Black Bear cub scouring for food

Beauty Creek Hostel

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