June 6, 2018 Banff to Jasper, Ice Fields Parkway

Wednesday, June 6

Today we will head towards The Icefields Parkway and Jasper.  The Parkway, completed in 1940, is supposedly one of the 10 most beautiful drives in the world.

We begin on Bow Valley Parkway again but see only a few deer along the way.  The coats of many of the animals look pretty shaggy as they are in the process of shedding winter coats.

 We switch to Hwy 1 north because of a closed bridge.  Having only a limited time to do highway repairs/construction,  crews are everywhere and seem to work as long as there is daylight.  We hit 93 N, which is the Icefields Parkway and almost immediately see a nice black bear but he quickly scoots into the bushes. (Yes, that's a bear, I promise.)

Ahead are dozens of snow-topped mountains of the Canadian Rockies and we are constantly going up, up, up, with just an occasional  dowwwwnnnnn. 

 Our first stop is Bow Summit, the highest point on the parkway, where we hike to see Peyto Lake. 

 It is an amazing shade of blue – just gorgeous!   Fed by Peyto glacier. The temperature falls (1/2 degree for each 300’ of elevation) as we head up there.  They say it can snow any day of the year here and they get around 20’ per year.  There are patches here and there and the trail is somewhat muddy.

We spot this Western Anemone flower, which they say is rare to see.  It is a harbinger to Spring. It is only about 6 inches tall.

Back on the Parkway, we have several stops for construction, but they usually don’t last very long.  Lots of traffic including many RV Rentals and tour buses.  

We stop at the Icefield Visitor Center where hundreds of folks have also stopped. 

Several glaciers are visible from here.  Unfortunately, they say that most will be gone by 2030!

(So go see them now!)  

 Many who stopped here are going to ride the big-treaded carriers out onto the glacier.  Since we’ve walked on glaciers before in Alaska, we pass on this high price adventure – over $100 each. Instead, we spend some time on the outside deck,  use rest rooms and then pick up some information about Jasper and continue on.

Here is a view of the parkway amidst the mountains, from up high.

and down low.

At Saskatchawan Crossing we see this pretty Mountain Goat grazing on a hill across from the parking lot. You may think he is eating dirt, and you'd be right, as they get needed minerals that way. I wonder if it is salty near the highway due to winter salting...  This was a popular Indian gathering area, as several rivers meet here.  

We stop for various photo ops, including many waterfalls.  Unfortunately the cloudy skies don't help with photos.

 Here is Tangle Falls:

Sunwapta Falls roars.

And Athabasca Falls carves great canyons and cliffs. This river runs from the Athabasca Glacier the whole way to the Arctic Ocean.

The rivers are all running high and fast and the POWER on display is just amazing! As is the sound. There are potholes, where sand or gravel has gotten caught in whirlpool action and drilled into the rock. The clouds dissipate somewhat and we have some blue sky!

It is indeed an amazing highway.

 We take a smaller side road into Jasper – 93A, hoping to see fewer cars and more animals.

The next 60 miles or so, the forests have been decimated by the Mountain Pine Bark Beetle, leaving them brown or completely bare.

 They have lost thousands and thousands of trees all over Alberta and British Columbia.  Someone tells us that they haven’t had many fires in this area, so the trees were quite old – apparently just what the beetles prefer.  As near as I can tell, they can't do much to prevent this, or perhaps the treatment is too expensive for such a huge area.  We saw similar damage in the west in Colorado, Wyoming, etc. a few years ago but didn't notice it as much there this trip.

This black bear catches our attention - looks like he is doing yoga as he eats!

We stop at Wapiti Campground where half the trees are brown or bare.   Greg spots this elk cow wandering by towards dusk.

The campsites are ok here,  and there are a few shower houses among the campsites with very hot water (no controls, so you better like it hot!).  There is a fire ban as well, which is understandable with all this dead wood around!  Greg cooks burgers on the grill for dinner.