Our next stop was Jasper, AB Canada, and until I checked out our route several days before heading north, I had no idea this meant driving the world famous (according to Canadians anyway) 140-mile Icefields Parkway. There were ten primary sites along the parkway identified as “most visited” by tourists, although the views of the Rocky Mountains were breath-taking and still reigned supreme in our opinions. I took over 100 pictures, and after culling them for the blog, I still had 39 believed to be worthy of inclusion. MFI heard this number and claimed (rightfully so) that readers would become bored with all the mountain images. Fair enough! I culled further.
We departed Banff on TransCanada 1 and stopped in Lake Louise (population reported as smaller than Banff) for coffee at Javalanche Cafe. Just north of there, we picked up Canada 93, which was also the Parkway. We didn’t have time to make all ten highlighted stops, so we limited ourselves to three, not including drive-by pictures of four more. This video captures the start of what turned out to be a spectacular day. We considered this drive to be a “must do and see” for anyone vacationing in Alberta.
Our first Icefields stop was Peyto Lake. This glacial lake was fed by large amounts of glacial rock flour, which were suspended rock particles that gave the lake its unbelievable turquoise color. This spectacular hue is what makes Peyto the most visited and photographed lake in the Canadian Rockies. I climbed an extremely icy and crowded (imagine a slow moving line) 0.4-mile loop trail to the viewpoint for pictures.
The second stop was at the Saskatchewan River Crossing. Retail there included gas, gift shop, restaurant, bathrooms, and a motel. We dined inside Sid and perused the gift shop. Took some great pictures as we crossed the North Saskatchewan River just before parking at the crossing. This river looked to be fed by rock flour too and flowed 1,025 miles east before emptying into Lake Winnipeg.
Our first drive-by was along the Weeping Wall. Melt water from Cirrus Mountain flowed through the 330′ stone wall in a series of waterfalls and seeping cracks. My pictures weren’t great, because I reacted too slowly once I figured out where we were. I only caught one waterfall, but fortunately, its the main one fittingly called Teardrop. Stopping would have provided a more comprehensive and enjoyable look for sure.
The second drive-by was a location aptly named Big Hill and Big Bend. I got this photo of Big Hill as we neared the top of our climb; however, a pic of Big Bend alluded us, since we were towing and stopping was too precarious. When properly photographed though, Big Bend was a hairpin turn that wrapped into what looked like a circle between towering peaks.
Our last drive-by was the Columbia Icefield, where we saw the face of two glaciers. This icefield, the largest in the North American Rockies, covered an area of 125 square miles and ranged between 328 and 1,198 feet thick. The icefield typically receives 23 feet of snow annually and feeds five major glaciers: Athabasca, Castlegard, Columbia, Dome, and Southfield. Interestingly, the icefield sits atop a triple continental divide and produces head waters for rivers, which flow into the North Atlantic (via Hudson Bay), the Arctic Ocean, and the Pacific. Snowcoaches took visitors for a walk on one glacier (zoom in on left center of first pic below) and folks could tour the on-site Columbia Icefield Centre and Natural History Museum. Once again, a stop would have been very rewarding, but unfortunately by design, we just didn’t have the time.
Our last stop was Athabasca Falls. Because they were only 18 miles south of Jasper, we drove back to them during our second day in Jasper. At the river surface, the falls didn’t look like much; however, the downstream views were a completely different story.
And what would waterfalls be without the sound?
The falls dropped 79 feet and were 151 feet wide. Athabasca Falls wasn’t known for its size, as much as for the force of its flow at 4,000 cubic feet/second. The river flowed over strong quartzite rock, and then carved the softer limestone into an ever-changing gorge of picturesque pot holes. In the gorge, I entered an alpine environment created by 10 degree cooler temperatures, shade from sunlight, and constant mist. This environment was unique, because it is normally found high on nearby mountains. Photos show the mosses, lichens, saxifrages, and stunted willows, which are common in the alpine.
I hiked to the river below the falls where flow returned to normal, but the scenery remained spectacular.
Despite my culling of mountain scenes, I’m including these pictures just because they further represent the diverse beauty of the Icefield Parkway.
