This book is a photographic journal of our trip through the National Parks of the Rockies in August 2018.
The first park visited was Jasper. Here we walked in Maligne Canyon and took a boat trip across Maligne Lake to the iconic Spirit Island. We spotted moose in Moose Lake and photographed the mysterious Medicine Lake where the water seasonally disappears into underground caverns.
Travelling along the Icefields Parkway we stopped at Athabasca Falls and Sunwapta Falls.
We stayed at Glacier View Inn and took an Ice Explorer tour to walk on the Athabasca Glacier followed by a jaw-dropping walk along the glass-floored Glacier Skywalk over the Sunwapta Valley.
Continuing along the Icefields Parkway, we entered Banff National Park stopping to photograph many turquoise lakes coloured by glacial rock flour. Bow Lake had wonderful reflections and swallows were nesting under the eaves of Num-ti-jah lodge.
At Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks a Rockpile trail wound up to a beautiful view point.
Another trail crossed the moraine to Consolation Lakes.
Famous Lake Louise was eerily covered in smoke from the British Columbia wildfires which also obscured the views from Lake Louise gondola.
We photographed Canada's second highest waterfall,Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National park.
Crossing the border into USA we stopped at Glacier National Park and walked to Red Rock Falls. We spent some time watching moose bathing in Fishercap Lake.
Travelling along the Going-to-the-Sun Road many of the views were obscured by the wildfires. At Logan Pass the trail to to hidden Lake took us across alpine meadows full of wild flowers.
Next stop was Yellowstone National Park. This amazing park covers an ancient volcanic plateau, home to many geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mud-pots, offering fantastic photo opportunities. The most memorable was the colourful Grand Prismatic Spring and the walk in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone where imposing waterfalls cascade into a yellow and pink coloured canyon,
Finally we stopped at Grand Teton National Park and the majestic Teton Range was reflected in the Jackson Lake Dam. A boat shuttle across Jenny Lake took us to the Hidden Waterfall trail and up Cascade Canyon to Inspiration Point
This was a very scenic trip through the National Parks of the Rockies with many flowers and animal spotting along the way.

Rocky Mountains Canada (Best of the Rockies tour with Explore!)

August 2018, we joined Explore Best of the Rockies tour of the Canadian and US Rocky Mountains and visited some of the most beautiful national parks in the world. We have some surreal views of Medicine Lake, Lake Louise, etc., as smoke from wild fires had blanketed parts of the Rockies. The Canadian National Parks visited were Jasper, Banff & Yoho (Takakkaw Falls). Jasper area: Maligne Canyon & Lake, Valley of the Five Lakes, Medicine Lake, Moose Lake, Spirit Island, Atherbasca Falls, the Pass & Glacier, Columbia Icefield Center and Glacier Skywalk. For Banff: Peyto Lake, Num-ti-jah lodge, Bow Lake, Lake Louise Ski Resort, Moraine Lake, Consolation Lakes, Lake Louise, Johnston Canyon. In Banff, the Cascade Gardens and Cave & Basin National Historic Site.

Flora photographed: Juniper berries, Harebell, Red Indian Paintbrush, Siskiyou aster, wild alfalfa, Mountain avens, Cinquefoil, Scaly Hedgehog Fungus. Fauna: Elk, Moose, Columbian ground squirrel, Golden-mantled ground squirrel, Red Squirrel, Pika, Yellow-bellied marmot, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Alfalfa looper moth, Brown-headed Cowbird, nesting Barn & Cliff Swallows, Black-billed magpie, American crow.

On our drive to the US Glacier National Park, we visited the First Nations World Heritage listed site: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta, Canada.