Following on from my other Post we will be in Jasper and then Whistler in August and have been offered a choice of one of the following tours at each destination -
Jasper - 1. Guided Walk 'Path of the Glacier' 2.Maligne Canyon & Lakes Tour
3. Maligne Lake Cruise 4. Jasper Tramway
Whistler - 1. Dog Sled Adventure 2. Nature Walk 3. Peak to Peak Gondola
4. Glacier 4WD Tour 5. Tree Trek Adventure.
Thank you in advance for your help - it is hard to know what would be best to choose and then what we could do on our own as well.

I don't know what they are charging for your tours but the Jasper tours are very easy to do on your own. If you rent a car for the day,(I imagine that the Jasper Park Lodge could arrange this) it is very easy to do the Maligne Canyon walk, drive on to Maligne Lake--you can pay and take the boat to Spirit Island here. You can also drive to Angel Glacier(I imagine that is what Path of the Glacier tour is) and the tram. You don't need a guide for any of these.

Perhaps there is another couple that would want to split the rental car cost with you.

I would do the same thing in Banff. Driving is very easy in Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper.

If you don't want to drive, I love Maligne Canyon and the lake. We have never taken the boat out to Spirit Island but lots of people do. We also like walking right up to Angel Glacier.

I posted a trip report from our visit last Sept.--look in the trip report section.

Linda, thank you very much for your reply - I have read your Report which was really helpful and has given me much better idea of what we could see and do. We are allowed to chose one of the tours for 'free' (included in tour cost) and then will obviously try and do some of the others on our own. I was hoping to just have some ideas from people who had been there.

I would suggest picking the one that would cost you the most to do on your own.

I am not sure why you would do the Path of the Glacier Trail as a guided walk, unless you a) need transportation to Mt. Edith Cavell and/or b) want interpretive commentary about how the glacier formed the landscape you will see, and about animals and plants in the area. The trail itself is about 1.5 km long (about 1 mile) and fairly level - a very easy walk (I hesitate to call it a hike). Part of it is (roughly) paved. The drive is not very far (if I recall correctly, about 29 km from town), but takes awhile (almost an hour) as it is a narrow and bumpy road (no drop-offs or anything scary like that, just an old road that needs maintenance). These tours tend to be small groups and some of the tour companies that might offer them are Sundog Tours, Jasper Adventure Centre, Beyond the Beaten Path Tours. This is definitely a very worthwhile place to see - a recently glaciated valley at the base of the north face of Mt. Edith Cavell, which towers several thousand feet above. There are glaciers on the mountain, including the Angel Glacier, which looks like an angel with wings outstretched. The trail turns around at the green lakelet that is formed by the melting ice. It has little icebergs, and sometimes you can hear or see avalanches on the glacier.

I have lived in Jasper for almost thirty years, and I make a point of going up to Mt Edith Cavell a few times each summer - it is THAT beautiful.

So is Maligne Lake, especially once you are down the lake, a procession of peaks going by. Maligne Lake is also about an hour's drive from town. I think the shuttle and boat combo would be the most expensive of the three that you are considering. If the shuttle also stops at Maligne Canyon, you'd be able to enjoy that too. The boat cruise is operated by Maligne Tours, but some of the other tour companies probably also offer trips with shuttle and cruise included.

Jasper Tramway is the closest to town, and least expensive of the three. It's about a 15 minute drive (about 11 km from town) and the tram is about $20 per person. This would be the most weather dependent one of the three - you would only want to take the gondola if it's a reasonably clear day, that is, if you can see the upper terminal from the valley. If it's rainy and the mountains are all socked in the clouds, you won't see anything but fog.

You might check the activities page at www.jaspercanadianrockies.com - the Jasper Tourism/Jasper Chamber of Commerce website for links to the various local tour companies.

Thank you very much for all your great information - I will check out the website - we are really looking forward to spending time in your area.

One further question, we will be there from August 19 - what sort of weather - temperature wise - would you expect? I realise that it is a very subjective question but normally would you be wearing, say, jeans plus shirt plus sweater - or capris cotton top etc. Thank you again for your help.

Temperatures are cooler at higher elevations (like at Mt. Edith Cavell, for instance). There can be a wide range of temperatures - last year at that time of year, there was a heat wave - several days of 34C. But if you come during a rainy cool spell, daytime highs might only be 10 or 12C. Nighttime temperatures are cool ... 8 or 10C is quite normal. It is rarely shirt-sleeve weather after suppertime.

This is Environment Canada's current weather forecast page for Jasper:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/..._metric_e.html

If you click on "historical weather" from the menu on the left side, then on the next page "Climate Normals and Averages", you can pull up a page for any location in Canada, with averages and record highs and lows. For Jasper in August, the average daily maximum is 21.6C, and the records are 35C and -3C.