Icefields Parkway – Alberta, Canada 8/5/17 – 8/6/17

 

Saturday and Sunday, August 5-6, 2017

Icefields Parkway – Alberta, Canada

 

Warning: Long blog post coming!

We left Lake Louise and drove what is considered one of the most beautiful drives on the planet.  Luckily the smoke stayed away again and we had spectacular views.  We had an app that I found before the trip that followed us using GPS and would tell us interesting facts and history about where we were on the drive and what points of interest were coming up, so we made many stops.

First, we headed down to Johnston Canyon, which was actually back towards Banff, but not too far away.

 

After Johnston Canyon, we loaded back up and headed north again, with the big objective of the day being the Columbia Icefield.  Along the way we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls (Why are so many falls named this? Be more creative people!) and got an unexpected surprise – see video.

 

We got to the Icefield around 2:30 and it was PACKED.  Luckily, we already had reservations to go up onto the Athabasca glacier in a “snowcoach” and didn’t have to wait in line to buy tickets.  Icefields feed glaciers.  They are likened to a huge lake of ice and glaciers are like rivers coming off them.

We had a quick lunch on the patio of the visitor center and then caught a bus up to the snowcoaches on the glacier.  We then took the coach up to the glacier and were able to walk around on part of it.  It felt like standing in a giant freezer and we drank melt water directly off the glacier.  The experience was pretty incredible.

 

After this we got back to the car and drove to the Skywalk that hangs over a 1000 foot cliff.  I am working on my fear of heights, but that thing moves when you walk on it and is packed with tourists who are oblivious to others.  It was not my favorite.

 

Our lodge for the night was a little place called Sunwapta Falls Rocky Mountain Lodge.  It was a bit kitschy and not the greatest rooms, but the food was fantastic.  I feel like if I were a kid in the 70s this place would have been awesome.  Reminded us of a Jellystone lodge or something, if you know what that is.

 

The next morning we woke up and made a quick walk to Sunwapta Falls, just down the road from the lodge.

 

We loaded back up and continued up the Icefield Parkway towards Jasper.  After a quick stop at Honeymoon Lake, we stopped at an overlook and saw some elk crossing the Athabasca River.

 

Then we hit the impressive Athabasca Falls.

 

Wow.  From there we headed into Jasper where we would stay at the Fairmont Jasper Lodge, which may have been our favorite of the Fairmonts.