On Top of the World in Jasper National Park

The Raven Totem Pole outside the historic Jasper Train Station 

The carful of kids are on the top of the world having driven close to 2,500 miles from our home is Central Texas to reach Jasper National Park. We have stopped in some amazing national parks along the way like Devils Tower, Glacier, Waterton Lakes, Banff and the Icefields Parkway.

The carful of kids love cabins so I reserved Parks Canada's oTENTiks for our entire stay in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. They are rustic enough for the kids to love them but easy enough for a Mom to manage and I love having a roof in case of a stray mountain shower.

That is a bear trap--we don't see these in Texas.

When we arrive at Whistlers Campground in Jasper National Park and I spot a homemade-looking bear trap. I ask the park rangers about the contraption and they inform us that elk use the campground to calf--have their young, and that attracts bear looking to eat.

Wow. So it really doesn't matter how bare of a campsite I have because the bear are chasing baby elk amongst the campsites. Well, this mamma can't let her preteen boys out of her sight--they have more bark than bite and I don't want my babies getting caught up in some circle of life struggle.

In the oTENTik area of the campground we find a restroom nearby with hot water for dishwashing outside though the showers are a drive away, especially with the bear situation.

Elk graze through the campground, choosing this area to have their young.

The carful of kids enjoy a bear-free night in our oTENTik but when my best friend and nativagator hears something scratching on the outside, I walk towards the door ready to defend my carful of kids. What we find is an adult female elk scratching her head on the frame of our oTENTik.

Of course this gets the carful of kids up and out of their sleeping bags. The elk meander from one campsite to another nibbling on grass. The boys are especially impressed by the close proximity of the huge animals that can weigh as much as 500 pounds.

Jasper National Park Visitors Center

After breakfast and packing up, we stop by the Jasper National Park Visitors Center to turn in the Parks Canada Xplorer Booklets for a collectible dog tag, definitely worth a stop. This is a quaint town that has a lot to offer without the constant hum of idling tour buses.

Jasper is an important stop on Canadian National Mainline and the Jasper Heritage Railway Station is still serviced by passenger trains several times a week. The original depot was destroyed by fire and the present building was constructed in 1924.

Inside the Jasper Heritage Railway Station, I love old train stations.

The carful of kids continue exploring Jasper but I wish we had more time. Jasper National Park is rich in wildlife and incredible hiking and without the crowds of Banff and Lake Louise.

We file into the SUV and for the first time since we started our trip, we head south onto the Icefields Parkway. Our first stop is the Athbasca Falls, 20 miles south; this is a great stop with paved walkways allowing you to get super close to the magnificent power of the falls.

The carful of kids walked on the Athbasca Glacier and the river of the same name feeds the falls. They are beautiful but there are signs everywhere advising you of a certain death if you decide to climb over the fence--if the falls don't kill you, the hypothermia will.

The Mom in me has to explain this to my two boys--certain death always gets their attention, kinda like cuss words in foreign languages.

We are in Avalanche Country!

After touring the waterfalls, the carful of kids head to Bow Lake, another picturesque area along the Icefields Parkway. At Simpson's Num-Ti-Ja Lodge, we find a row of vault toilets, a luxury in the wilderness, and delightful path next to Bow Lake.

Bow Lake, an incredible spot along the Icefields Parkway,  25 miles north of Lake Louise.

Simpson's Num-Ti-Ja Lodge is a 16-room lodge built in 1950 by Jimmy Simspon, the legendary English outfitter that guided adventurers through this area in the early 1900s. This area has a great views of the Crowfoot Glacier and Bow Glacier that are part of the Wapta Icefield.

The carful of kids continue back to Lake Lousie for a quick gas stop, we drive 17 more miles south to the Highway 93 turnoff for Kootenay National Park in British Columbia. Kootenay National Park ( daily admission is $ 19.60 CAN for a family or $ 136.40 CAN for the Discovery Annual Pass ) encompasses 543 square miles and adjoins Banff National Park.

Another new Canadian Province for the Carful of Kids.

The majority of the sights along Highway 93 like the Paint Pots and Marble Canyon have adequate parking but remember your bear spray--this is grizzly country. The carful of kids need to make our way to our oTENTik site in Redstreak Campground in Kootenay Natioanal Park so we march south.

The highway is wide and well-maintained though some of the lookouts and viewpoints should only be entered from the north-bound side of Highway 93. The drive through the Sinclair Canyon is especially impressive with its shear canyon walls, hair-pin turns and heavy truck traffic.

Our next fun stop is Radium Hot Springs just inside the western boundary of Kootenay National Park; the carful of kids took a soak in the Banff Upper Hot Springs and we like this hot springs even more.

The swimming pool at Radium Hot Springs with two slides and diving board.

Radium Hot Springs is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and located at 5420 Highway 93 ( admission $ 6.40 CAN/ Adults and $ 5.40 CAN/ Kids ). This is a great family option as this is the largest hot springs pool in the Canadian Rockies with lockers and showers in the changing room.

There's plenty of room to stretch out here and enjoy your soak in the mineral rich water that ranges from 98 F to 104 F. If you have a carful of kids like I do, they have their own pool with a diving board and two slides that's a comfy 84 F--which my kids prefer. They don't understand soaking for relaxation.

Our oTENTik in Redstreak Campground

The carful of kids enjoy their swim and don't want to leave but we need to get to the campground that is on the south side of the town of Radium Hot Springs. I reserved an oTENTik for the night at the Redstreak Campground and when we arrive we are greeted by their resident big horn sheep.

This is a great campground for families conveniently located next Radium Hot Springs and if you are adventurous you can hike to the pool. The Redstreak Campground features evening interpretive programs in their amphitheater especially for kids.

Big Horn Sheep greet campers in Kootenay National Park.

There are showers within walking distance of our site but our oTENTik doesn't have electricity, not that big of a deal except to charge those phones. We are still in bear country so you have to use the bear box and keep a bare campsite but I don't see any bear traps here.

Know before you go: The oTENTiks ( $120/CAN per night, no minimum stay required, no cleaning deposit) are in high demand and can be reserved starting in January through the Parks Canada website.

Each oTENTik is structurally the same and is equipped with an outdoor picnic table. Inside, you will find a table with four chairs and platform sleeping area equipped with foam mattresses--you can sleep six and the carful of kids throw their sleeping bags and pillows on top. There are some differences from park to park, like some have electricity and some don't, so check the Parks Canada website.

If you show your receipt from another hot springs, Banff Upper Hot Springs or Miette Hot Springs, you can get a discount at Radium Hot Springs.

Up Next: Back into the USA

Glacier Trekking along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park

The carful of kids trek across the North American continent to Jasper National Park from Texas.

The carful of kids spent a day and a half in the glorious Banff National Park marveling at the lakes and mountains of the Canadian Rockies. We are headed north now after packing up our cabin at Two Jack Lakeside in Banff National Park where we enjoyed two nights in a Parks Canada oTENTik.

The carful of kids say good-bye to Banff, in the background you see a pair of Parks Canada's Red Chairs suggesting to sit and enjoy an epic view.

The carful of kids are halfway through our road trip adventure that started in Central Texas with the goal of driving to Jasper National Park and back. I made a reservation for another oTENTik--part cabin, part platform tent, in Jasper's Whistlers Campground for the evening after we explore the scenic Icefields Parkway.

The Parks Canada's oTENTiks ( $ 120 CAN a night ) are great for families with platform beds for six people and a table with four chairs inside; though eating inside the oTENTiks is prohibited due to the wildlife encounters within Jasper National Park. The kids love them and I love that I don't have to pitch a tent after a long day of driving and exploring. Just grab the sleeping bags and cooking gear, presto--you're camping. 

Our oTENTik--kids love them and I love the roof if it rains.

After loading up our gear we catch the Trans-Canada Highway 1 North to Lake Lousie, where we stop at the Lake Louise Visitors Center to turn in the Parks Canada X'plorer booklets for a collectible dog tag that the carful of kids receive after finishing theirs. This is also a great stop to load up on supplies and gas because the Icefields Parkway is a desolate stretch of scenic highway.

Back in the SUV the carful of kids turn onto Highway 93 North or Icefields Parkway as it's commonly known--completed in 1940, it's 140 miles long and parallels the Continental Divide. You should give yourself a full day to drive to Jasper National Park especially if you stop along the way.

Along the Icefields Parkway, one of the most scenic highways in North America.

Jasper National Park ( daily admission is $ 19.60 CAN for a family or $ 136.40 CAN for the Discovery Annual Pass) is the largest national park in Canada encompassing 4,200 square miles. This park, in my opinion, is even more beautiful than Banff NP but a lot less crowded.

The mountain scenery is unmatched on the Icefields Parkway so take your time. The road is well maintained but the driving can get slow if you get behind a lumbering RV--it's a two-lane highway the majority of the way except for the occasional passing lane. 

The carful of kids stop for a photo in front of the vintage Sno-Cat, we won't be touring the Athabasca Glacier in that today.

This is farthest north the carful of kids have traveled in North America and we're all excited. There are pullouts and hikes along the Icefields Parkway but one activity not to be missed is the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre. 

Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre, 80 miles from Lake Louise, is open from mid-April until mid-October for 10 a.m to 4 p.m. most days, during the summer, it's open for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The admission for adults is $ 54.95 CAN and for kids 6 to 15 is $ 27.50 CAN with children under five free.

I have a kid photographer posing his brother in front of the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre.

I made reservations for this excursion before I left on vacation and I advise you to do the same. It is a very popular activity and when we arrive the huge parking lot is at capacity with cars and motor coaches. Be advised, the only way onto the Athabasca Glacier is on an organized tour through Brewster Travel or Glacier Ice Walks, a guided walking tour.

The carful of kids arrive a little early so we take advantage of the picnic tables outside the visitors center for lunch but there's a cafeteria upstairs if you prefer a hot meal. We also visit the restrooms before we get in line for our tickets, there's plenty.

You can see the Athbasca Glacier from the deck of the Discover Centre.

The tour starts at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre where we get our tickets to board the motor coach that takes our group across the highway to the Ice Explorer Transportation Hub. Brewster Travel, a Canadian Tour Operator, owns 22 of the 23 Ice Explorers on the earth, the other one is on Antartica transporting scientists. 

Each Ice Explorer vehicle costs 1.5 million dollars with six towering tires that cost $ 5,000 a piece. They're especially designed to transport visitors to the Athabasca Glacier, the 3.5 mile long tongue of the Columbia Icefield. The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, it's 125 square miles, but is largely hidden by the mountain peaks.

The "Happy Bus" takes us to the Ice Explorer Hub for our excursion to the Glacier.

After climbing abroad the massively cool-looking Ice Explorer, we meet Dan, our student driver--not that he's a new to driving, he's been driving the Ice Explorer for a few weeks now; he's a college student working here for the summer. He starts up the Explorer and tells us a little about her.

It's a climb up into the Ice Explorer.

She's capable of handling a 38% grade and the grade to get to Athabasca Glacier is 32%, the second steepest commercial grade in North America (the steepest is Pike's Peak Highway in Colorado). We're lucky as we have the newest Ice Explorer in the fleet and we'll get to the bottom of the hill the fastest, Dan tells us as he tries to slip her into the right gear. 

As he backs up his Explorer, he asks us to fasten our seats belts and when we reach down to get them, we realize there are no seat belts. Dan cracks a grin and laughs as he reassures us he's a professional--what kind of professional he doesn't know just yet. He has a few more years in college.

All smiles aboard the Ice Explorer, you can see in every direction.

"Just close your eyes if you get scared. That's what I'm doing," Dan tells us and the jokes keep coming.  He looks sideways and tells the first few rows of passengers that he still can't believe that they gave him the Ice Explorer to drive for the summer. 

All kidding aside, Dan maneuvers his Ice Explorer with ease as he takes us on a 3-mile journey to the midpoint of the Athabasca Glacier. He tells us how the glaciers were formed hundreds of thousands of years ago and we learn about blue ice, it's formed when the snow is compressed.

I won't lie, it's COLD but it's one of the coolest things we've done!

After a bouncy and slowing moving ride, we get to the stopping point on the Athabasca Glacier where we can get out and explore--even sampling the glacier water if we want. The carful of kids put on their gloves and their hats and climb down, we're not missing this.

As a part of the tour you have about 20 minutes to explore and that's not enough for us. The glacier terrain is rugged, fragile and treacherous all at the same time. It's an amazing opportunity and even though it's raining when we're on the glacier, we run around like crazy kids.

You feel like you're at the North Pole--the kids love the adventure!

Dan honks his horn and rounds up the stragglers before we trek back to the Ice Explorer Transportation Hub to get onboard our motor coach headed to the visitors center. The carful of kids are a little wet and a little cold so head walk upstairs for hot cocoa and coffee.

One last shot for the kids back home!

The Ice Explorer journey takes about an hour and twenty minutes roundtrip from the visitors center and it doesn't disappoint. It's a signature Jasper National Park adventure and one of the few places you can tour a glacier unless you are headed to Alaska. 

You even have the opportunity to taste real Glacier water and it's AWESOME.

The carful of kids load up and continue onto the town of Jasper where we walk around and check in with the Jasper National Park Visitors Center located downtown. There are lots of services in the town of Jasper for travelers and we stop for gas and groceries before heading over to Jasper's Whistler Campground, located 3 and half miles outside of Jasper, for our campsite.

After a day of Glacier Adventuring, the carful of kids enjoy dinner at the campsite at Whistlers Campground.

Know before you go: The weather is variable from moment to moment and the carful of kids had ice cold rain on our visit but the sun was shining at the visitors center. The carful of kids layer up for the tour and I suggest taking a waterproof and fleece layer. Be sure to pack some gloves and hats and wear hiking boots or other shoes with traction--it's slushy on the glacier.

The camera didn't like the cold, wet conditions and refused to operate and the iPhone required one hand ungloved to operate. Mom's not a complainer, I just warmed up in the cafe after the tour. 

Jasper National Park has 21 oTENTiks that are reservable for 2016 season starting in January. These are highly desirable sites and fill up quickly for the summer season.

Up next: Kootenay National Park in British Columbia

Rocky Mountain Roundup

Smiling Faces for the first Road Trip Selfie

The carful of kids are loading up and heading out to Jasper National Park--on paper, some 2,300 miles away but I never take the most direct route. I am on a quest to show the carful of kids the lower 48 so we will add Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to their state list along with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

I have 22 days of adventure planned for the carful of kids. We will be driving through the most scenic parts of North America and I can't wait.

Here's what I have planned for the next three weeks:

Rocky Mountain Roundup

Day 1:
Depart Central Texas
Lunch break at Kincaid’s Grocery Market in Fort Worth
Visit The Holy City of Lawton in Cache, OK
Spend the night in Lawton, OK

Day 2:
Visit The Comanche Museum in Lawton, OK
Visit The Fort Sill Post Cemetery 
Tour Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas
Spend the night in Garden City, KS

Day 3:
Depart Garden City, KS
Visit Scotts Bluff National Monument with a picnic dinner in the park
Spend the night in Hot Springs, SD

Day 4:
Depart Hot Springs, SD
Tour Wind Cave National Monument
Tour Jewel Cave National Monument
Visit Mount Rushmore National Monument
Spend the night at Key Hole State Park’s Camping Cabin, Moorcraft, WY

Day 5:
Depart Key Hole State Park
Tour Devils Tower National Monument
Spend the night in Shelby, MT 

Day 6:
Depart Shelby, Mt
Arrive Glacier National Park
Drive the Going to the Sun Road
Take the Lake McDonald Boat Cruise
Spend the night at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and Cabins in Glacier NP

Day 7:
Depart Glacier National Park
Cross the US/Canadian Border via Chief Mountain International Border Crossing
Arrive at Waterton Lakes National Peace Park
Tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton NP
Spend the night in a Tipi at Crandell Mountain Campground in Waterton NP

Day 8:
Depart Waterton Lakes National Park
Arrive Banff National Park
Tour Cascade Gardens
Walk the Bow Falls Trail all the way to The Banff Springs Hotel
Swim at Banff Upper Hot Springs
Spend the night in Banff NP’s Two Jack Lakeside Campground in an oTENTik

Day 9:
Banff National Park Day 2 
Drive around Lake Minnewanka
Stop and hike at Moraine Lake
Hike around Lake Louise and walk through the Chateau Lake Louise Hotel
Spend the night in Banff NP’s Two Jack Lakeside Campground

Day 10:
Depart Banff National Park
Drive up the Icefields Parkway
Stop at Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure for a Glacier tour
Walk around the town of Jasper
Spend the night in Jasper National Park’s Whistlers Campground in an oTENTik

Day 11:
Depart Jasper National Park 
Stop off Athabasca Falls
Drive through Kootenay National Park
Take a swim at Radium Hot Springs
Spend the night in Kootenay National Park’s Redstreak Campground in an oTENTik

Day 12:
Depart Kootenay National Park
Stop off for cherries at Donnie’s Cherry Stand
Spend the night in Belgrade, MT near the Bozeman Airport.
Say goodbye to Melissa and hello to Daddy.

Day 13:
Restock on supplies
Depart Belgrade/Bozeman
Drive to Yellowstone National Park 
Detour into Idaho for another state
Stop by Madison Junior Ranger Station
Explore Old Faithful Area
Take Midway Geyer Tour on a Vintage Bus
Dinner Reservations at the Old Faithful Inn
Spend the night at Old Faithful Inn—Old House

Day 14:
Old Faithful Inn tour
Hike to Morning Glory Pool in Old Faithful Area
Dinner Reservations at the Old Faithful Inn
Spend the night at Old Faithful Inn—Old House

Day 15:
Drive over to Lake Yellowstone area 
Stop at Hayden Valley to see wildlife
Tour Lake Yellowstone Hotel
Spend the night at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel’s Frontier Cabin

Day 16:
Drive to Mammoth Hot Springs area
Visit the North Entrance to see The Roosevelt ArchTour Fort YellowstoneWalk along the Mammoth Hot Spring BoardwalkSpend the night at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

Day 17:
Visit the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner, Montana
Drive to Tower-Roosevelt Junction
Take a wagon ride out to the Old West Cookout in Pleasant Valley for dinner
Drive through Lamar Valley to see wildlife
Spend the night at the Roosevelt Lodge in a Roughrider Cabin

Day 18:
Depart Yellowstone
Drive along John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway
Tour Jackson Lake Lodge and attend a Ranger Talk
Dinner at the Pioneer Grill in Jackson Lake Lodge
Arrive at Grand Teton National Park
Spend the night at the Colter Bay Tent Cabins

Day 19:
Breakfast Wagon Ride
Walk around Jenny Lake area
Take Jenny Lake shuttle boat across to Inspiration Point
Spend the night at the Colter Bay Tent Cabins

Day 20:
Depart Grand Teton National Park
Walk around Jackson Hole, WY
Spend the night in Longmont, CO

Day 21:
Depart Longmont, CO

Take the Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour

Tour National Center for Atmospheric Research

Spend the night in Palo Duro State Park outside Armarillo, TX

Day 22:
Depart Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Arrive Home