We bid farewell to Jasper and headed east along the
Icefields Parkway. This drive would have to be the most spectacular I have ever
taken, and was a highlight of the trip. The road wound through jagged,
snow-capped peaks; and because the snow was melting, there were cascades and
waterfalls down every slope, feeding into the jade-coloured river that gushed
through the valley below. Ryan had issued a blanket ban on me driving for any of this trip, because I spent the whole time plastered to the window oohing and aahing over the view (and I have a habit of not paying attention to the road when the scenery is so cool).
Can't really blame me though...
I love chipmunks :-)
(this guy was nibbling flowers at one of the roadside lookouts)
The drive was amazing in itself, but there were also heaps of stops and viewpoints along the way. Our first was Athabasca Falls, which poured through a
narrow canyon, sending plumes of misty spray into the air.
Hard to keep the lens dry
Walking down to the base of the falls
Not far from these, were Sunwapta Falls (where we got to
see a firsthand view of where we would have ended up if our raft
guide yesterday had suffered a lapse in concentration). We narrowly beat a busload of
tourists, whom we left completely behind as we departed the main viewpoint and
took a walk to see more cascades further downstream.
View of the upper falls
Rocks and roots worn smooth by generations of feet
Lower falls
View further downstream
These beautiful orchids were quite plain and unassuming
from above, but this is how they looked from underneath (unfortunately, they
only grow about 20cm off the ground, so these shots required some interesting
positioning)(nothing like lying in the dirt to truly get a sense of the place…)
There were countless roadside stops to see either views
across the valley or waterfalls cascading down the mountain slopes. It seemed
that everywhere we looked, the view was spectacular.
Tangle Creek
We stopped for lunch at Athabasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefields. The Icefields Centre was absolutely packed with tourists and the place felt very commercialized with options to take a bus-ride or a guided ice-walk onto the glacier. We elected to simply walk (for free) up to the toe of the glacier, which was pretty impressive in itself.
The walk up to the glacier (would have been completely under ice 50 years ago)
Overlooking the toe
View of the glacier from the Icefields Centre
We continued slowly east (with several more roadside
stops along the way). We went for a short walk to see Mistaya Canyon, where the rocks forming the canyon walls had been carved into interesting bowls and curves by the action of the water.
Can just see glimpses of jade-green water deep below
We also stopped at Peyto Lake. Here there were patches of
snow directly adjacent to the walking track (why doesn't it melt when it's a sunny 25 degree day??)(still can't get my head around it). Despite there being a horde of tourists walking up and down the track, one group approaching us warned
that they had just spotted a grizzly bear. We kept very alert after that (and
allowed a group with a small child to go ahead to act as bear bait), but all we
managed to see were a set of (very large) fresh bear prints in the snow. At the
end of the trail was a viewing platform over the lake, which turned out to have the most spectacularly coloured water of the trip (and was subsequently dubbed "P-lake" by Ryan who for some reason could never recall the word "Peyto").
Amazing colour
I think he went that way...
We were disappointed to have missed the bear and we were beginning to think we might not ever spot one. Then along the next stretch of road we came across a line of cars pulled over, and sure enough there was a grizzly bear by the roadside. He was busy foraging in a clearing in the
distance, and didn’t seem to even notice the dozen cars which lined both sides
of the road. The wildlife officers, however, did mind, and after materializing
from out of nowhere, promptly ordered everyone back in their cars.
The distant blob in the clearing is actually a bear
More spectacular roadside views
We reached the village of Lake Louise (our destination
for the night), then took a detour south to see Emerald Lake. Along the way we
pulled into the interesting-sounding Spiral Tunnels which turned out to be
railway tunnels constructed to lessen the grade through the mountain pass. We
were lucky enough that a train was coming past just as we stopped, and got to
see three different parts of it at once as it entered the tunnel, spiraled
under itself and exited further down.
Doesn't photograph too well, but the train passed immediately below us in the foreground, entered the tunnel in the top left, spiraled under itself and exited in the middle of the frame
We also stopped at Natural Bridge, where what was once
a waterfall had gradually eroded its way under the rock, leaving a stone bridge
spanning it above.
Impossible to get a photo without there being some foolish tourist jumping the fence to walk across the bridge
(at least he provides some perspective to the shot...)
After seeing photos of the stunning green water of Emerald
Lake, we were a little disappointed that it hadn’t quite turned on its best
colour for our visit (and very disappointed that our plan to eat icecream there was foiled by the kiosk being shut). We took a short walk to Hamilton
Falls, but could only really see some small cascades below the main falls, which were hidden just out of sight in a cleft in the rock.
Evidence that I occasionally surrender the camera
We then headed to Lake Louise proper and joined the
throng of tourists photographing the iconic lake (with plans to return the
following day).
And because we clearly hadn’t fitted enough sightseeing into one day, we also took a short drive to Moraine Lake, where we watched the sunset over the deep blue-green water (at about 10.00pm!).
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