A quieter day for us. We take Highway 93 back to Canmore, where we'll be staying for several days. We wanted to spend some time at Maligne Canyon, but bad weather changed our minds. We'll have brunch instead.
Jasper brunch at the Sunhouse Cafe
Finally, a day without alarms! Still, we wake up fairly early, around 8 am. We pack up our gear and the trailer, with the rain pounding on the roof, and set off for Jasper. For once, visibility is poor, not because of the smoke, but because of the rain and clouds.
Our brunch search led us to the Sunhouse Café. It's located on the second floor of a small shopping mall, and our table overlooks the street, with a great view of passing dogs (a big plus for Marie). It's much better here than in the long line at Tim Hortons across the street.
Personally, I wasn't expecting anything and was pleasantly surprised. The "Mascarpone French Toast" was really delicious, and I'm not a fan of "French Toast". The other dish was a bread with avocado and eggs (avocado on sourdough) and was a great success too. We recommend both.
After a good meal, we're back on the road.
Route 93 to Canmore
Because of limited time and fatigue on the outward journey, we had avoided making too many stops on the Icefield Parkway (or Route 93) and thought we'd make up for it on this return trip. Unfortunately, with the rain accompanying us, it's not really the best time to see beautiful scenery. A word of advice: if you want to do what we did, take the time to make all the stops that interest you the first time if the weather's good, because you never know what the weather will be like on the way back.
Still, we made several stops along the way. First at Goat and Glacier, reputed to be a good place to see mountain goats. Unfortunately, we didn't see a thing. Then we stopped at "Tangle Creek" to admire a beautiful waterfall.
Our last stop is less exotic, the only gas station on the road between Jasper and Banff. We had enough gas to finish the trip, but wanted to play it safe. I'd like to take this opportunity to advise you to fill up in Banff or Jasper before hitting the road, because being the only place where you can buy gas, they really go overboard on the price, almost 2 $/L when it's around 1.4 in Banff...
Arrival in Canmore
We finally arrive in Canmore, it's stopped raining and we can see, despite the clouds, the mountains that surround the town. It's really beautiful! We pick up our room at the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge. It's a large room with a small kitchen and two double beds. The motel also has access to a sauna and a Jacuzzi, which is a real treat.
For dinner, we meet up with Rafaelle, a friend of Marie's who is also in the Rockies for a month. Our choice is the "Indian Authentik Cuisine" and its evening buffet. It's very good, and we stop by the buffet several times for refills. In the end we ate a little too much, but it was the perfect meal after all that driving and rain. Once again, if you like Indian food, I recommend it!
It's time to go to bed before setting off on the next day's hike.
To be continued.
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