Jasper + The Icefields Parkway

I spent most of my first two hours in Jasper in the train station feeling too lazy to carry all my bags around the town. The shuttle to take us up to the hostel came and was full of people, bags and a dog. I met more people from Essex who had nearly finished traveling round the world and we spent the evening drinking tea and eating chocolate biccis, very traditional.
I walked the 8km into town in the morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and everything felt so fresh and alive. The Rocky Mountains are just stunning. There's no words to describe how amazing it was to be up there. I was surrounded by the smell of pine and really friendly locals surprised that I was walking out of choice. The town itself is very twee. Two rows of shops, a railway/bus station and then just small little houses. The library is adorable - a converted cottage that looks like something out of a faerie tale. I hiked up to Old Fort Point, very steep trail that was easier to go up than down, and got magnificent views in every direction. Along the rock flour filled river to the town; across it to the Tramway (closed for the season) and the hostel; and then mountains growing from behind. The water is such an amazing colour. Somewhere between green and blue and soft but pure. It looks unreal, especially when half the river was still iced over in perfect untouched whiteness. The evening in the hostel took the same shape as the previous night but with the addition of broccoli - the perfect comfort food - and the girl's friend Nick having survived hitching to Banff.
The next day was cloudy and snowy so we played in the snow and messed about at the hostel before hitching into town for the afternoon. I didn't bother to venture further afield as I'd messed my knee up walking down too many hills so I drank too much coffee and watched the trains go by. Jasper is the perfect place just to recharge. It's laid back and nothing pretends to be a tourist attraction. Everyone is friendly and will indulge you in conversation or tell you random stories about their dogs. The hostel was a bit busier that night, lots of Dutch people for some reason! And I met a Scot (about the 3rd I've met out here) called Agnus MacDonald who hated being in America because people assumed he was part of the food chain.
I spent the best part of an hour sitting outside the hostel in the morning waiting for SunDogTours to pick me up for the trip back to Calgary via Banff. When the bus finally arrived I could see why Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway, is one of the best drives in North America. We got great views of the mountains and the Columbia Icefields even though it was a bit overcast. I spent the afternoon in Banff, it was beautiful sunshine there, with a sprinkling of snow. It was funny seeing all the places I'd been last summer without all the people and navigating from what I had remembered when I was there with Moose (the liquor store, Safeway and the pub). I did a bit of shopping, mostly window shopping, and sat enjoying the sun until it came time to jump on a Greyhound (bus) back to Calgary where they'd had 2 ft of snow overnight.
Calgary in mid-April looked like I had been expecting in February! Everywhere nicely white yet it was still about 10degrees! :)