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Published: April 27th 2006
The Crossings
Our hotel for the night on the Icefield Parkway.Before we left the Crossings Motel, we walked around the large gift shop and hoped to get breakfast, but we missed that by five minutes. The only thing we could find to eat in the little food area was oatmeal and raisin cookies and nuts, which we got, and a drink. Just as well, as there was nothing to eat until we reached Jasper later that evening!
The drive up towards Columbia Icefield was again spectacular, aided by the clear blue skies and oatmeal and raisin cookies! We pulled over at the numerous scenic stops and admired the views as well as keeping an eye out for any sudden appearance of bears or other vicious carnivorous animals on the prowl. Depending on the density of the surrounding forest, we would keep a safe running distance (usually 4-10 steps) between us and the car should any large beast of prey suddenly develop an appetite for rump steak!
Every so often on the road would be signs warning us of animal crossings for the next 10 or 20 km for Wolves, Caribou, Deer, etc. Driving through these crossing areas we would be looking out intensely for sightings of whichever animal crossing
Pussy Willows
Pussy Willows along the parkway. we were going through. At one Caribou crossing area, Liisa noticed a little dot in the far far far distance to the right which looked slightly different from a rock (why weren’t her eyes on the road?). Pulling over in an avalanche danger zone, we whipped out the cameras and zoomed it in for a closer look at the speck. Sure enough it was a creature - a Caribou at that! And more than one present! There was a small herd, including some little ones lying down in the grass barely noticeable. Unfortunately even with a 300mm zoom, they still looked too far away. Oh well, perhaps we will see more. After a few snaps we sped off before any avalanches could sweep us away into the valley far below.
Next eagle eyed Gail spotted a Wolf (or so we thought, it turned out to be a Coyote) crossing the road ahead of us. Luckily the roads were once again free of traffic, so we could hastily pull over to the side of the road to take some pictures of this lone Coyote. As it trotted across the road, it kept its eyes on us and then stood on
Pussy Willows
Pussy Willows along the parkway. the other side looking at us. He must have been very impressed as he stayed there for a while so we could get a few pictures before it ambled off along side the road. We followed it for about a mile and kept exchanging looks with it the whole time. It enjoyed the run along with us!
The only other critters we spotted along the Icefields Parkway were the many tourist coaches containing snap happy tourists flying past the scenery clicking their cameras and no doubt taking blurred images of the scenery. I would hate to travel that way. They are missing the scenery and wildlife, not that we saw much, but we were able to go at our own pace and stop when we wanted. The coaches would travel at speed, no doubt to get to the next rushed stop on their itinerary before hastily zooming off again. When these coaches would loom up behind us, we would pull over to let them pass. We knew where they were headed - to the Athabasca Glacier and we didn’t want to arrive en mass with them, so took our time and enjoyed the views.
The Columbia Icefield, the
Pussy Willows
Pussy Willows along the parkway in B&W largest body of ice in the Rockies, appeared in the distance along with Mt Athabasca, a favourite of mountain climbers. We were surrounded by Glaciers as the Columbia Icefield is vast. Our destination was the Athabasca Glacier though. The toe of this Glacier comes up fairly close to the road and you can take the Ice Explorer onto the Glacier, which we did. Unfortunately due to climate changes the glacier is retreating rapidly.
We bought our tickets and hopped on the coach taking us up to the Ice Explorer near the glacier. It was a short journey across the main road and up the side road, and then we hopped off and onto the Explorer. The wheels alone are 1.68 metres in diameter, and luckily there were stairs to climb up into the vehicle, as otherwise it would have really been a comical struggle trying to get up. The Explorer rumbled into life and off we went down the steepest road in the Rockies. A 39 degree incline! Felt more like a rollercoaster ride! We had a 20 minute drive on top of the glacier before coming to a halt in a safe area with no crevasses, not too
Gail & Liisa
Looking back along the Parkway far from the headwall. The tour guide warned us not venture out past the ploughed areas due to lethal 100ft deep crevasses covered by snow, so we obeyed whereas many others didn’t and took their lives in their own hands. The sun reflecting off the ice and snow was dazzling, and everything was glistening. It felt strange to think we were standing on a massive glacier over 300 metres deep at that point at an elevation of 7000ft (2210 m).
After our walk and picture taking we boarded the Explorer for the journey back. Our guide, a cute Canadian, regaled to us facts about the Icefield and surrounding mountains, but in a tongue twisted manor. I don’t think he said one sentence without getting something back to front, but he did say he wasn’t feeling himself that day.
Further up the Parkway is Athabasca Falls, a 23 metre fall along the Athabasca River, has the most powerful flow in the Rockies when going at full force. However as all the snow hasn’t yet melted, it wasn’t as full as normal, but even so it was still a spectacular site. The river had carved the stone out into a
Columbia Icefields
Glacier at Mt Athabasca. series of potholes as it descended down the series of falls.
Driving from the Falls we continued up to Jasper, arriving around 5pm. Here we were staying in a little B&B for two nights. Once checked in we headed into town in search of a Laundromat as we were getting low on clean clothes. We found one on the main street, but it looked closed down, so instead we went into the supermarket to buy some soy milk. As we were heading back to the car we saw another Laundromat, such as was never seen before. This one was definitely the Ferrari of all Laundromats! It was huge, clean, had nice shiny washers and dryers, an internet café, leather chairs, and a coffee bar! Why don’t we have anything like this in England? As they were closing we would have to come back the next evening instead.
For dinner that evening we walked along the street looking for places to eat, and finally found a place that had something sounding very tasty. The name of the restaurant was very off putting, but we gave it a try anyway. It was called Evil Dave’s. Our choice for main course
Columbia Icefields
Rockface and snow overhang on mountain. was called ‘I don’t eat meat.’ It was a Portobello mushroom stuffed with artichoke, on a bed of mashed potatoes and stir fried veg, topped by julienne veg and curly raw veg decorating the top. It was a work of art, and definitely tasted like it too! For dessert we had the chocolate volcano. This arrived looking like an erupted volcano. It was a hot round chocolate cake, which when opened spewed forth a hot chocolate sauce. This was on a bed of cherry coulee and chocolate sauce made to look like lava pouring down a mountain, topped off by some ice cream. The waiter asked how we liked it and we replied if we were at home we would have licked the plate! He laughed and was pleased about that. A perfect end to another perfect day!
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