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Published: September 14th 2014
ICEFIELDS PARKWAY We had a good journey from Jasper to Lake Louise, along the Icefields Parkway -
known as the most beautiful road in the world. It was certainly one of them with its towering rugged mountain peaks, huge deep blue and white glaciers, stunning azure lakes and dark green pine trees - all surrounded by meadows full of colourful wildflowers in pinks, reds and yellows - what more could one ask for from a vista, and this went on for
150 gorgeous miles. SO MANY GLACIERS Glaciers are formed when
more snow falls from the sky than actually melts on the ground - we had never seen so many in one area as there were along the Icefields Parkway road.
The
Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American
Rocky Mountains - all generally known as the
Rockies. There are many ranges with numerous high peaks with
Mount Robson the tallest at nearly 13,000 feet and
Mount Columbia a close second at 12,300. There are five national parks within the Canadian Rockies;
Jasper, Banff, Kootenay and
Yoho. The fifth park,
Waterton is further south close to the US border. We will be visiting Jasper, Banff and Kootenay during this journey and have already seen parts of Jasper National Park. As well as National Parks there are also many Provincial Parks within the provinces of
Alberta and
British Columbia and we also hope to visit more of these as we had so enjoyed Wells Gray Provincial Park on our way to Jasper NP a while ago.
We stopped at various viewpoints before taking a short hike to the
Athabasca Falls - these falls are among the most powerful with the Athabasca River thundering through a narrow gorge where the walls have been smoothed and potholed by the sheer force of the rushing water. Taking photographs was not easy as we were constantly bombarded with rainbow coloured spray in the bright sunlight. Like Jasper the main viewpoints were really busy and swamped with people.
Further along the Icefield Parkway we stopped again at the
Sunwapta Falls and hiked to various viewpoints - again lots of water thundering past the view points but yet again quite busy. Further on the
Tangle Falls - flowed just like a brides
veil down the mountain - no wonder so many falls are actually called Bridal Veil Falls, although not this one but there is one on this very highway!
We passed the new
Glacier Skywalk opened this year but it did not seem worth stopping for - in fact you could not stop as there was no parking available and you had to pay and then be bussed in … … …
We stopped at the
Icefield Centre and we lost count of the number of coaches in the car park with hundreds of people milling around. This is where you can board a snow bus and walk on the glacier itself. You could also walk out to the edge but we had seen glaciers close up before so did not bother. We were surprised that even with the signage stating how dangerous it was to walk in areas on your own we still saw some silly tourists still taking the risk and venturing out on their own, even some with children as they did not want to pay to go on the buses.
We were lucky as we had walked on
a glacier in New Zealand so did not have to join in with the hundreds of others waiting to board their snow bus. Instead we chose to walk the
Wilcox Pass Hike and stopped a little further on at a small lay-by where the trailhead started.
The track rose quickly above the treeline and was initially a very steep climb. However we soon reached a alpine meadow carved within the glacier landscape. The views from the top of Wilcox Pass were awesome with the giant
Athabasca Glacier right in front of us and we could see the snow buses out on the ice and the packed carpark full of tour buses far below us. The Athabasca Glacier forms one of the six principal toes of the Columbia Icefield and is a truly awesome sight to see.
Believe it or not but at the very top of the track were two appropriately placed red chairs - great to catch one's breath and positioned in one of the most beautiful spots you could imagine. If you have read our previous blogs then you will know what we mean when we say ‘
More Red Chairs’ - And, yes we
did look up the reason for these chairs after chatting to a couple at Patricia Lake and also coming across two on the Five Lake Walk a few days later.
Apparently
'Parks Canada' has place six sets of chairs out on the landscape of Jasper National Park for people to discover. They have been placed in quiet, scenic locations carefully selected by Parks Canada staff because these places inspire the truest sense of ‘awe’. Some are easy to find whilst others require a bit more of an adventure - these two on the Wilcox Pass were definitely on an adventurous hike so do not think many people will find them but the ones at the Five Lakes were a lot easier! What was great about coming across these Red Chairs was that there was never many people around when you located them … … … The idea was started by Gros Morne National Park who installed 18 sets of chairs around their park almost two years ago. Visitors have been seeking them out and sharing their ‘chair adventures’ ever since. The program is growing to include a number of other national parks, and Jasper NP
being one of them. We thought what a good idea it was and it did get people out walking in the fresh air trying to locate these outback places.
We really enjoyed our hike but continued on stopping at yet more scenic viewpoints many had wooden signs pointing to the various mountain ranges with their name and height. The Endless Chain Ridge view was astonishing with jagged peaks stretching across the skyline as far as the eye could see.
We passed lots of vivid blue lakes including one called
Waterfowl Lake as well as
Bow Lake but did not stop long as we were nearing our destination and could return to these areas quite quickly from Lake Louise.
Just before we came to our turnoff we saw a
Black Bear crossing the road and managed to get a very poor photo as we were quite away behind the car in front - shame but at last we had seen one……………. We have seen a few bears now but they have all been quite far away, hopefully we will get a closer view of one soon - not too close
though!
As we neared
Lake Louise our Satnav told us to turn left and we realised straight away that we had turned left too quickly and were heading on a main road going the wrong way with no where to do a U turn. About 15 minutes later there was a left turn but as we turned into this a train crossed right in front of us ………… we did manage to do a quick ‘UEY’ and get back on to the road going the correct way and finally arrived safely in Lake Lousie having had a longer journey than expected.
LAKE LOUISE
Our hotel,
Mountaineer Lodge was OK, very similar to Mount Robson Inn, its sister hotel we had stayed at in Jasper, not as grand as Chateau Louise but of course a fraction of the cost! We would class the Lodge more of a Motel as they do not serve lunch or dinner or more importantly - even have a bar! You do get a ‘complimentary breakfast’ though but this was served in a dark basement with no windows, rather dank with just ok food - not that
exciting. The staff were lovely though and they did loan us a kettle for our room as the coffee maker supplied had a horrid metallic taste - goodness knows what people had been putting in it……. The rooms also were good and we had two huge queen beds as well as a couple of chairs.
Lake Louise town is very small compared to Jasper, the shopping mall had just one grocery store but did have an off licence about the same size! There was a good bakery and it was all within walking distance which was great. We tried to cater for ourselves even though there was nothing in the room apart from a microwave - so we enjoyed lots of healthy salads for our evening meal and made up a picnic lunch to take on our hikes each day with lots of fruit.
We were quite tired after our long journey the day before - it was only 3 hours of driving but with all the stopping and hiking it eventually took us all day but the Icefield Parkway is so scenic it would have been a shame just to drive it……….. We
just chilled for a while and then set off to walk into the village. We called in at the Visitor Centre and pick up a hiking map and decided to just walk around the village itself and not go too far.
Well in the end it was a bit longer as we walked the
Bow River Loop just over 7 km about a 2 hours walk - it was flat though for a change. It was a scenic walk with interpretive trail signs along the way pointing out the various wildlife one might encounter. The trail followed the fast flowing
Bow River. These waters travel across the prairies to their ultimate destination in Hudson Bay over 2500 km from Lake Louise. We never saw another person so it was quiet and peaceful. We stopped and had a picnic lunch alongside the river, watching the many
Ground Squirrels darting in and out of their burrows. As soon as they heard anything they were up on their back two feet looking out before scurrying away again. As we proceeded an electric fence followed a good portion of the trail with a safety gate for pedestrians to access but to
keep the bears out or was it to keep us in!
We watched a few small birds and had just spotted a young
Osprey on a telegraph pole when a helicopter hovered over it with a stretcher carrying a patient to the medical centre nearby - probably had a fall on the mountain. Of course the Osprey took off very quickly. Our hike had passed along the old tramway route which used to pick up people from the railway station and ferry them to Lake Louise in days gone by. We crossed the river by a foot bridge and arrived at the station.
The site is the original
Lake Louise Train Station but you cannot catch a train here as it closed long ago. You can however eat in the original waiting room which is now a renowned restaurant and you can watch the trains go by as you eat… There are a few preserved historical railroad artefacts dotted around like a mini museum and quite interesting. Outside there were landscaped gardens and also two fully restored railway carriages where special functions could be held. We looked inside and you could see the original
dining tables laid out with the best silverware of days gone by.
We were lucky with the weather now as there was a mini heatwave in the area with temperatures of 30 plus, although locals wanted it to rain as it had been a dry summer so far - we were happy with the clear skies.
Early the next morning we drove to
Moraine Lake because we had been informed that parking later in the day is impossible. It was only about 14 km from the village along a windy mountain road and we soon arrived with only a few other people about which was great so it was well worth the early rise particularly when we saw how busy it was at the end of the morning with the car park full and cars parked for miles down the narrow lane.
The car park was located right in front of the lake - which was very scenic - just like the brochure said……. We looked for the best place to take some photos and noticed a huge pile of rocks along the actual moraine. We did not fancy
climbing up these loose rocks and even to get to them one would have to cross over several floating tree trunks on the lake’s waters - didn’t seem right somehow. We could see a couple of people on top of this Rockpile trying to get the perfect shot - with an elevation change of 79 feet it is one of the most photographed locations in all of Canada. The view of the mountains behind the lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks is known as the
Twenty Dollar View, as Moraine Lake was featured on the reverse side of the 1969 & 1979 issues of the Canadian $20 note. We soon realised that there was a better route around the back of the Rockpile with some perfectly placed steps and then you only had a short scramble over the rocks to get to the same lovely viewpoint - much easier and safer….
Moraine Lake is glacially fed and so does not reach its crest until late June with the snow melt. When it is full, it reflects a distinct shade of blue - the colour due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited
in the lake on a on-going basis. The colour really is unbelievable and we were lucky that the sun was shining on us.
We hoped to do some hiking but because of recent
‘bear activity’ the National Park had restrictions on most of the hikes. You could still do them but only in a minimum group of 4 (enforced by law the signs said), we were a bit stuck being as there were only two of us..…
We wished to hike to
Consolation Lakes (2 hrs) but this was one of the ones that had ‘bear’ restrictions. We were approached by a chap with the same problem as there was only two of them. However he wanted us to join him for the
Sentinel Pass walk
which was about a 5.5 hrs with lots of steep switchbacks. He said it was a good walk but was a ‘bit of a scramble’ and when we heard this we thought - no way! He said we could join him so far then hike back with someone else!!!!!!!! We wished him luck on finding another much younger couple than us…..
We decided to wait
for 15 minutes at the trailhead for
Consolation Lake to see if anyone else was going this way. As we waited we watched a little
Pika gathering grass before scurrying off with it in his mouth and vanishing beneath the huge boulders to line his nest. We were lucky as a little while later a French Canadian couple with their two teenage children said we could join them on their hike to the lakes. They said they were a little bit slow but we said, no problem we would go at their pace.
In the end we had a great hike with this family and they were not that ‘slow’ - before we knew it we all reached the lakes without a bear in sight. The track was a little rough in some places crossing over huge boulders and you had to watch your footing and the trail kept disappearing. However it was so worth it as the views all around us were awesome with the
Mount Babel range towering over everything.
We all sat and watched the world go by and their son was jumping over boulders in the water - quite sure
footed. Suddenly we heard a thunderous cracking from the
Quadra Glacier above us and then heard some boulders falling from Mount Babel - luckily they did not come down as far as us though and their son stayed above water! We spent some peaceful time at the lake before anyone else arrived and when we spotted other hikers arriving we all headed back. Along the way we still did not see any bears but lots of little
chipmunks, ground squirrels and pikas which kept creeping out from under the rocks to take a look at us before scrambling undercover.
We said goodbye to the family and thanked them for letting us join their hike. We rested and then undertook a much shorter walk which we could do alone. The hike took about an hour and at the end we reached a milky creek cascading into the lake from the glaciers above - the basis of its magical colour. As we headed back to Lake Louise others were pouring into Moraine, which is understandable as its so beautiful but where does the balance stop? If you are going to come and do these hikes then do so early
in the morning before the rush……
Later back in our room Paul was listening to the news - it was a sad time in the entertainment business as
Robin Williams a comedian legend and the legendary husky voiced
Lauren Bacall had both died. LB was only 19 when she made her debut with Humphrey Bogart, in the movie,
’To have or to have not’ they later married and went on to make more movies together. Two huge entertainment legends who will always be remembered. We sat and watched a documentary about LB but a train passing just a few yards from our room drowned out any sound……….
The next day and another early rise we headed out to
Lake Louise Gondola. We opted for the open air chairlift rather than the enclosed gondola up the mountainside. We were enjoying the views as we floated along in the quiet (we were the only ones on the whole lift) when we spotted a large
Grizzly Bear walking in the meadow below us and another nearby - awesome. We had at last had a very close encounter but luckily from the safety of the chair lift up
above the bear! It was a pity that the chairlift did not have nay brakes though as we passed over them far too quickly!! At the top of the Gondola we walked to the interpretive centre which had good information on the bears and a nearby viewing platform where we could just make out the
Fairmont Chateau Louise Hotel on the edge of the lake far below us - but skies were cloudy and the views were not that good. Originally built as a base for outdoor enthusiasts and alpinists over 100 years ago, The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is now a luxury mountain resort. The lake was originally named Emerald Lake but was later renamed Lake Louise in honour of Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta.
On the way back down the mountain from our chairlift we spotted both the grizzly bears again - just a little distance from where we had seen them on our way up the mountain. They are in a protected area along this mountain ridge as you are not allowed to hike down the mountain and can only get up or down via the gondola or chairlifts.
In the afternoon we drove out to Lake Louise and hiked up to
Fairview Lookout which looked down over the lake and Chateau Louise. It was quite a challenging hike as it was 1.8 km - all up hill but we had really clear views of the hotel and the lake from our vantage point. We later walked long the lake edge which again had good views and was a good short hike.
The next day we drove back along the Icefield Parkway for a short distance and stopped at
Peyto (Pea-toe) Lake. From the carpark it was only a 10 minute walk up hill to the lookout where you get stunning views of the lake. The beauty of this lake is indescribable, the colour is absolutely striking, it almost looks unreal more like a painting. Apparently the colour shifts with the weather and can look different every time you visit. The lake was named after Ebenezer William ‘Bill’ Peyto who was born in Kent, England but emigrated to Halifax, Canada in his teens. Heading West on the newly completed Canadian Pacific Railway he later became well known for his expertise and knowledge as a mountain
guide, horse outfitter and packer.
We drove the short distance to
Bow Lake and parked next to a scenic lodge. Built by Jimmy Simpson, another Englishman who arrived in Canada in 1896 and like Peyto above a renowned mountain guide. Jimmy camped at Bow Lake in 1898 and vowed that one day he would ‘build a shack here’. He fulfilled his dream and just twenty-five years later he built the first log cabin on the site and named it Num-Ti-Jah, a Stoney Plain word for Pine Marten. Today you can still come to Bow Lake and stay in the lodge which has since grown and changed with the times but still is basically a log cabin by a stunning lake….… It was also the only building that we could see for miles and in such a scenic spot. We found the trailhead for the
Bow Glacer Falls hike just beyond the lodge. The hike had an easy start as we headed around the edge of the lake on flat ground with views of the waterfalls and overhead glacier where we hoped to reach. As the lake disappeared from view we followed the river for a while and
lost the trail completely but picked it up again a short while later. Parts of the track had been washed away with the fast flowering river changing course according to its flow so we had to scramble around to find a route or detour into a forested area on slightly higher ground.
We could not now see the falls although we could still hear the roar. We thought we had come to the end of the trail as it stopped at a narrow gorge but some old wooden steps (about three times the height of a stair step) had been cut into the side of the gorge and although several had rotted away and a few were lost forever, obviously fallen into the gorge we did eventually reach level ground. The trail then followed a narrow ridge before descending and then flattened out along an old glacier bed. It was very rocky in parts and again had been washed out by the multiple waterfalls falling from the icefield above. However we could now clearly see the waterfalls which were providing a beautiful backdrop into the valley and we just made our own trail to their base.
We sat an ate our picnic listening to the water cascading over the top of the mountain ridge. As we watched this mountain of water you could see other much small waterfalls some creeping midway out of the rocks themselves. At the base of the
Bow Glacier Falls amid the spray and roar you could really witness the ‘birth’ of a river.
Bow River is part of western Canada’s largest watershed tumbling down from the Wapta Icefield. We so enjoyed this hike - we so loved these mixed terrain walks without too many elevations along the way, just awesome scenery.
The next day we headed to Chateau Louise and decided to tackle the
Lake Agnes Teahouse Hike which had its trailhead in the grounds of the hotel. This hike was all uphill to a height of 7005 feet with an elevation gain of 1205 feet. The trail entered the forest and crossed a horse trail where the pavement ended and the trail began. We followed the path ever upwards through the forest and it was really steep (out of breath steep). We finally reached halfway and the trail started to have more of a switchback
but still was an uphill climb. The mist was low and we could not see through any of the clearings in the forest - so just trees and mist and uphill walking……….
We arrived at small
Mirror Lake which is about 20 minutes away from Lake Agnes but guess what we could not see a mirror in fact we could not see a thing so we hiked on. The trail was obviously a horse route also as the smell of horse manure and having to watch where you walked was not very pleasant in parts. We had a couple of breaks in the mist and we could see the mountains capped in snow but they soon vanished. A while later we came across these wooden steps hewn in the rocks and a waterfall cascading and vanishing over the mountain edge, you could not see where it was going or where it had come from for that matter.
We climbed the steps and surprise surprise there was this little quaint
Teahouse perched on the edge of the mountain in a lovely hanging valley and fronting a small clear lake - Lake Agnes itself. Apparently the
stairs are the last challenge before you arrive at the teahouse so conveniently tucked under towering peaks. Together with Mirror Lake and Lake Louise, these lakes are often referred to as the
'Lakes in the Clouds’ and Lake Agnes really was - in fact we were way above the cloud as we looked down into the valley.
Lake Agnes was named after the
First Lady of Canada - Lady Agnes MacDonald, the wife of Canada’s first Prime Minister. In 1886, Lady MacDonald visited Lake Agnes and was delighted by the beauty of this idyllic lake and the hanging valley it sits in. The Teahouse was originally built in 1901 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), as a refuge for hikers, and started serving tea in 1905. The log building was replaced in 1981 but still features the original windows, tables and chairs.
We ordered some strong coffee and sat and recovered from our hike enjoying the mountain air - if you prefer tea then they serve over 100 different varieties. Not liking tea we can now say we had ‘coffee’ in the highest teahouse in Canada - was it worth the climb, well yes
it was! As the mist started to lift and the sun came out we could see through a bank cloud the top of the Chateau Louise and its scenic position on the edge of the lake so many feet below us. As we rested our legs and our coffee was served we were surrounded by
Mantled Ground Squirrels - they were everywhere even trying to get into our backpacks and just would not go away.
Amongst the menus on the table was a detailed
history of the teahouse. Cynthia Magee purchased it from the Canadian Pacific Railway and her children would walk down and up the hiking trail to school each day. Some of the students who worked at the teahouse during the summer would also hike up the trail whilst others lived on site. It is so remote that bulk teahouse supplies are brought in by helicopter once a year. This can take a whole day as it takes 20/30 trips. The helicopter drops supplies using a long line and net, depositing them on the teahouse porch. All items are baked by hand and cooked in a propane oven as there is no electricity. The staff
hike up fresh supplies daily and also hike down the garbage and recycling on their backs - every time a staff member goes down, they carry at least two big bags of garbage. They must be super super fit………just once was enough for us………..
As we descended back down the track we came across many others still struggling up to the teahouse - we felt very pleased with ourselves as we were the second couple to arrive that day. We stopped again at Mirror Lake and this time we could see why it was called this although the cloud had started to thicken and the reflections were not that good. We could however see the teahouse above the rock face known as the Big Beehive where we had been a short while ago - it was hard on the knees but so much better on the heart coming down…………
After having a rest we walked along the flat shoreline and after the steep hike to the teahouse this was really easy. At the end of the lake we watched rock climbers edging their way up a near vertical cliff face - not
for us, quite scary really. We continued for a while joining the Six Glaciers Hike which we were hoping to do but we had run out of time. We stopped to have lunch on a small beach - in fact the sand was so white and the water so blue you could have mistaken it for the Maldives. However as soon as we pulled out our lunch we were surrounded by Squirrels
again (had they followed us from Lake Agnes) these also would not be shooed away so we had to move on and eat our lunch on higher ground…..
We really enjoyed the hiking in Lake Louise but again like Jasper the area was really just too busy for us. The next day we had a
‘day of rest’ (legs were really aching) before we moved on to our next destination,
Banff to do yet more hiking, gluttons for punishment us - see you there.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Rocky Mountain High
This is an amazing part of the world and soon the Aspens will be changing colors.