A wonderful way to spend the long weekend is a drive up the Icefields Parkway and a weekend spent in Jasper. We did this in September 2011 and loved every minute. We managed to turn a five-hour drive up the Parkway into an eleven-hour jaunt through the sheer joy of stopping at every lookout, the Columbia Glacier and beautiful Sunwapta Falls. To find out about the places that we saw and loved, visit my blog from last year.

Peyto Lake

Things to do differently? One of the things we somehow missed was the hike into the Peyto Lake Lookout. Also, we unfortunately had only planned to stay in Jasper for one night, which wasn't nearly enough. We ran out of time to visit Maligne Canyon, which has a self-guided interpretive trail with bridges over the canyon and spectacular waterfalls. So obviously we'll have to make a return visit soon, only this time we'll plan a two-night stay.

Maligne Canyon