Jasper, Alberta, Canada
Today, we left checked out of our hotel in Banff and drove the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. Some of this was retracing the route we had taken yesterday to Lake Louise. The sky was much clearer today so we dropped back in to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake to see how they looked in the changed conditions.
The difference was amazing. The colour of the lakes was much more vivid and we could see the surrounding mountains which had previously been hidden by the falling snow. At Moraine Lake, I climbed up to a lookout on a rocky outcrop for some more iconic views.
Next we visited Bow Lake which remained partially frozen as it was still early in the summer. This is the source of the Bow River which we first saw in Calgary and later at Banff.
As we drove along, we listened to a tour commentary provided by our Gypsy Guide, a phone app which came through the car speakers. This proved to be a great companion on the trip and provided us with a lot of interesting and useful information. We learnt about such things as the type of pine forests we were passing through and the purpose of the regular bridges crossing our route, which were provided for animals including bears to cross the highway in safety.
At one stage, the Gypsy Guide told us about Peyto Lake which we hadn't previously heard of. He said it had the most vivid colours of any of the mountain lakes so we decided that we had better strop. Peyto Lake turned out to be very popular, with a lot of cars and RVs jostling for position in the carpark. The was snow all over the ground from yesterday's snowfall which was very pretty. However, hundreds of treading feet were turning the pathway into ice which made the half mile walk to the lake a bit treacherous.
When we finally reached the Peyto Lake viewpoint, we were gobsmacked with the beauty of the scene. The viewpoint was quite high above the lake which had the brightest deep blue colour I had ever seen. The colours come from the dispersion of light by the sediment in the water which has been formed by glacial action.
Next, we stopped at the Columbia Icefield where there is a massive visitor centre. We waited for our allotted tour time before we boarded a regular coach which took us across the road and up a track beside the Athabasca Glacier.
We then transferred to an Ice Explorer vehicle which took us down a steep ramp, across a pool of water to wash the tyres and then onto the glacier. We were driven a few hundred metres up the Glacier to a spot where all the Ice Explorers stopped and we got out onto the ice to explore a bit on foot.
After the Ice Explorer dropped us back at the interchange, we reboarded a regular coach which took us a few miles up the parkway to the Glacier Skywalk... an amazing cantilevered walkway with a glass floor which has been constructed over a deep canyon. Despite the name, there a no glaciers to be seen from this spot but it's still very spectacular.
Next along the way, we stopped for a photo at Tangle Creek Falls before we arrived in Jasper and our accommodation at Pyramid Lake Resort. We ate that night at the resort's own restaurant with great lake views from the table. We were quite late, but sunset doesn't occur until about 10:15 pm so it was still bright outside.
2025-05-22