Icefields Highway

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Geo: 52.8736, -118.083

Wow!! What a great day!!
We started in Lake Louise where we went to the Gondola ride up the hillside behind Lake Louise. It cost $25 for the ride but only an extra $2-50 for breakfast which was a huge bonus!! After we had filled ourselves with cereal and bacon, sausages, toast etc we headed to the Chairlift. It is amazing how many young Australians are working here. There were two or three Aussies operating the chairlift and more at the top. We rode on the T-Bar rather than the enclosed gondolas. We were told there was a chance to see Grizzly bears so we kept a keen lookout. We were rewarded when half way up we saw 2 large bears out in the grassy areas foraging for food and another on the other side wandering through the grass.
At the top we drank in the fantastic view and took lots of photos which I will add to this once Fletcher has uploaded his excellent pictures. On the way back down we saw the same two adult grizzlies and then on the other side there was a mother and two cubs!! What an experience!!
We drove out from there onto the Icelands Parkway. We stopped several times along the way to admire various lakes and mountain views. This is a stop/start drive as there is so much to see. After a lunch stop at The Crossing( which was a total ripoff in terms of prices) we eventually arrived at the Columbia Icefields. I had seen this once on Getaway so it was amazing to be actually here. It cost $38 per head for a trip out onto the glaciers. We were taken up to the edge of the glacier in a bus and then transferred to this amazing vehicle which we were told was valued at $1.3 million. This has special tyres that do not harm the ice. We drove out onto the glacier and spent 20 minutes walking on the largest icefields in the world!! An experience I would recommend to anyone.
After this we drove on into Jasper. On the way we came upon a traffic jam and realised this was being caused by everyone stopping to watch a Black bear who was foraging along the edge of the road. Though they advise not to stop it is very hard to resist. We took some photos and then moved on.
We have had a great night in Jasper. Had a nice meal in an Italian restaurant and bought some presents for Lucy and Sam for their birthdays. I also did the first lot of washing so we now have clean clothes for the next week or so !!!

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