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Published: June 12th 2017
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Geo: 52.8736, -118.083
After several checks and re-checks of our condo in Banff -- to make sure we'd left nothing behind -- we were on the road north toward Jasper before 0930. The sky did something it hadn't done in a week, and this is cloud up. By the time we passed by Lake Louise again, the clouds were fully set in and there was a steady rain. We were on the so-called Icefields Parkway, which spans more than 140 miles, linking the towns of Lake Louise and Jasper, and paralleling the continental divide. The entire area is protected as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared back in '80's.
The scenery was spectacular, but marred by the rain. A benefit, however, were the abundance of rainbows we saw around every corner. It was the first time I had ever seen both ends of a rainbow, and we saw that several times.
Our destination was the Athabasca Glacier, which is part of the Columbia Icefield -- the largest glacial field in North America. Just as we arrived at the visitor center, the rain let up, as if on queue. We had booked a "Glacier Explorer" tour, which is basically taking a huge
snow cat out onto the physical glacier. The glacier is, as expected, receding at an alarming rate, and every so often they have to regrade the path down to the glacier, as well as on top. We rode a regular tour bus from the welcome center (which would have been covered in ice in the '60s) about 5 minutes, over to a staging area on top of the huge moraine of rock left behind by the glacier. Here we boarded one of the snow cats, descended down a 42-degree (!) path to the ice, and then drove out onto a prepared area on the ice. We were all dressed warmly, but even with that, and knowing that we were on a glacier, I think we were all still surprised at how cold it really was.
The sun was coming out when we left the visitors center, just in time for another picnic lunch. We stopped at Athabasca Falls, just south of Jasper, and took a nice, albeit short hike to see the falls. Katie had joked after the glacier and the falls, that all we had left to see were icebergs, and little did we know, but they were next on
the agenda. We took a very windy and steep road (thankfully, very well paved, but with no shoulder or guardrail) up to visit Mt. Edit Kavell, named for a famous Canadian aviator. From the parking lot, we hiked across a very long stretch of moraine, which then spilled out to a calving glacier and lake, all perched below a much higher glacier. The lake was full of various size icebergs, and while far smaller than any Titanic-smashing cousins, they were nonetheless impressive. This was my personal favorite hike of the entire trip.
We rolled into Jasper in the late afternoon. Our cabin site was perched on a high bluff overlooking the Athabasca River, with yet more picture-postcard views. This was our "most intimate" accommodations of the trip, with all seven of us sharing an essentially one-room cabin with one bath. The word rustic would come to mind, but so would old. It was fine, especially if only for one night.
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