Train 2: towards Jasper, AB

We're on time heading towards Jasper. I pass the next hour or two in the dome of our Skyline car, joining other passengers in the usual digital camera frenzy that is spurred on every time something vaguely photogenic comes into view. We manage to maintain order and share the view from the forward facing windows comfortably. The mountains are spectacular. We're too late for the heavy winter snow that makes this route so special in the winter, but the scale and beauty of the deep valleys we're running through is hard not to appreciate.

Mount Robson comes into view. It's the highest peak that we'll be seeing on this journey, and the train approaches it more or less head on. Lots more digital photo opportunities for us in the dome car. Whenever wildlife (goats, elk, bald eagles) is spotted from the locomotive at the front of the train, the engineers radio back to the on board crew and give us plenty of advance notice. The crew recall seeing brown bears on the way into Jasper a few days ago, but today we have no luck with the bears.

Thirty minutes later, the train runs alongside the glorious expanse of Moose Lake. This vast body of water is perfectly still in the morning sun, and the mountains beyond are casting a perfect reflection on the water. It's just another jaw droppingly beautiful view that we're treated to.