Day 44: Icefields Parkway and Jasper NP

Tuesday, June 25

After sleeping in til 8, we made blueberry pancakes in the van with my homemade maple syrup for breakfast. Then we started out on the Icefields Parkway to pick up where we left off yesterday heading north. We did stop again at Herbert Lake and Waterfowl Lake for some reflection and the mountains first.  

Once we passed the Columbia Icefield and its several glaciers, we were in Jasper NP. Last time we were here in 2010, they had snocoach tours of the glacier, but it has receded so much since then (thank you global warming) that they now only do bus tours to an overlook and take some passengers by van to the glacier. It’s kinda sad to see so much change so fast.

The next photo stops were at Sunwapta Falls, Athabasca Falls, and Mount Edith Cavell with Angel Glacier. 

Then we stopped in the town of Jasper to renew our park pass for another day (it expired at 4 pm), see the historic train station and totem pole, and grab some pizza before heading to the Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, and Maligne Lake area on the eastern side of the park. 

I would say that there is a noticeable difference between Jasper and Banff national parks. Jasper is more wild and rugged with fewer tourists while Banff is more boreal and polished and has greater infrastructure for tourism. Today, for example, we saw a huge male elk, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and a black bear in Jasper. We exited Jasper at the northern end taking 16Emeast about an hour to a Walmart parking lot in Hinton, where we camped overnight.

Day 43: Canadian Rockies

 Monday, June 24

The sun was out today! We started the day on the Bow Valley Parkway south of our campground at Johnston Canyon, where I took a 4-mi RT hike to two waterfalls along the chalky teal colored stream. 

Then we headed west on Highway 1 to neighboring Yoho NP in British Columbia, where we were lucky enough to catch a long train at the Spiral Tunnel Overlook where the train heads east loops into the mountain heading west and then loops back out of the mountain heading east in order to avoid too much of a grade. Next stop was at a natural bridge. We also stopped at the beautiful Emerald Lake. Compared to previous trips, we have learned that every stop in all these Canadian parks is limited parking and mobbed with tourists, many from the Middle East and Asia.

We headed back east to Lake Louise (town) and then drive part way up the Icefields Parkway still in Banff NP. Stops here included Herbert Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake (my favorite), Mistaya Canyon, Saskatchewan Crossing, and Howse Pass before having dinner at a pub and then driving two-plus hours back south on the Icefields Parkway to the same campsite we had last night. 

Day 42: Banff National Park

 Sunday, June 23

We were up early in the Walmart parking lot in Calgary, where we stayed last night after thinking our first site was a bit sketch. I was excited to find that the local Tim Hortons (Canadian version of Dunkin) had my favorite donut Canadian maple. Then it was off an hour west to Banff NP in the Canadian Rockies. We stopped in the town of Banff at Surprise Corner for a great view of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel with the Bow River in the foreground. Then we pulled up the road a little to Tunnel mountain overlook and the hoodoos that Rachel climbed in 2010.

Then we drove north on Highway 1 and the Bow Valley Parkway to get a first come first serve campsite at Protection Mountain before catching our shuttle bus at noon to Lake Louise (you can’t drive right up there anymore yourself). And of course it rained and was mobbed by people, so we had to wait for some glimmer of blue sky. Then we caught the bus to Moraine Lake, where we also had rain and rock scrambled up the rock pile for views. Hunkering down in my poncho for over an hour, I waited for the skies to clear! It was worth the wait! Then it rained again as we made our way to camp.