A weekend trip to Calgary, Canada to visit Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. This was my first trip to Alberta, and it did not disappoint. Since it was the middle of September, the weather was a bit chilly, but overall very pleasant.
This was a whirlwind visit, flying in on Friday night and immediately seeing a small aurora show. We just had to drive to Balzac to get out of the Calgary city lights. This was by far the most incredible set of auroras I had ever seen in my life.
With us being up late looking at auroras, we didn’t get onto the road until about noon. We basically drove through Banff National Park and Jasper National Park up Icefields parkway and spent the night in Hinton. There was an even greater aurora show Saturday night, however, we were clouded in and could not see them. We could, however, see the glow behind the clouds. They were super bright in Alaska that evening apparently.
The next day we woke up in Hinton, AB and drove to Jasper National Park. Basically a reverse route of the previous day, heading southbound until sunset. We witnessed the biggest elk I had ever seen in my life near Jasper.
We had early flights on Monday back to Oklahoma. Alberta is an incredible place, and I’ve already planned another vacation up there in July 2016.
Auroras near Calgary
Northern Lights
Great Aurora show
Auroras
Calgary Auroras
Welcome to Calgary
Banff Park Entrance
Banff National Park Sign
Lake Minnewanka
Lake Minnewanka
Ram next to Lake Minnewanka
Lake Minnewanka
Bow River
Fall Colors on the Bow River
Bow Valley Parkway
Moraine Lake
Canoeing on Moraine Lake
Moraine Lake
Moraine Lake Pano
Moraine Lake
Bow River Valley near Lake Louise
Welcome to British Columbia Canada
Welcome to Alberta Canada
Herbert Lake
Herbert Lake Pano
Herbert Lake
Near Hector Lake
Bow Lake Overlook
Bow Lake
Bow Lake
Vulture PeakVulture Peak behind Bow Lake in Banff National Park
Bow Lake
Bow LakeBeautiful scene over Bow Lake on the Bow River in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Bow Lake
Peyto Lake
Peyto Lake
Aries Peak
Waterfowl Lakes
Waterfowl LakesReflection of the mountains off Waterfowl Lakes in Banff National Park Canada
Waterfowl Lakes in Banff National Park
Saskatchewan CrossingIcefields Parkway where it crosses the North Saskatchewan River in Banff National Park
Beautiful Saskatchewan River Crossing at Dusk
Icefields Parkway at the North Saskatchewan River
Banff National Park
Good morning Jasper
Foggy Morning in Jasper National Park
Canadian ElkLarge elk in Jasper National Park
Jasper ElkCanadian Elk in Jasper National Park
Elk in Jasper National Park
Elk in Jasper NP
Maligne Canyon
Maligne Canyon WaterfallWaterfall in the Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park
Maligne CanyonBeautiful Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park Alberta, Canada.
Athabasca Falls
Athabasca Falls
Athabasca River
Moberly Bend
Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park
Poboktan CreekPoboktan Creek in Jasper National Park
Athabasca Glacier
Playing on the glacier
Jasper National Park SignJasper National Park of Canada
Ben Holcomb is a Storm Chaser and IT Professional (in that order) that lives in Norman, Oklahoma. Ben works for an IT managed service provider as a Linux Engineer. He has observed over 200 tornadoes since 2007 and has appeared on most national and some international television news networks. Ben loves to travel and has been to all 50 states as well as 19 countries.
