The Icefields Parkway

I was reminded of those old Heineken adverts that extolled the virtues of their lager...."if Heineken made"......I was never a fan of Heineken but if they made roads then they might want to claim credit for the Icefields Parkway. Stretching 142 miles, from Lake Louise to Jasper, through the heart of the Canadian Rockies, it is consistently rated as one of the best drives in the world.

We were now about to start this part of our trip and didn't intend to rush. Its perfectly possible to drive the whole road in a day, but I'd planned a break about two thirds of the way so we could explore, hike and take photographs and immerse ourselves in the landscape.

Starting out early on a sunny Monday morning, with a full tank of petrol, we headed north. We hadn't got too far before the first diversion - to Herbert Lake. We'd no idea what to expect, having just turned off the road out of curiosity, but that's the joy of travel. We found a small still lake, surrounded by trees and framed with a backdrop of mountains was what we found. It was stunningly beautiful.

Herbert Lake

Returning to the Icefields Parkway, more prosaically described as route 93, we continued heading north with glorious scenery around every bend in the road.

The road goes ever on...

Before long we arrived at Bow Lake. If Herbert Lake had looked beautiful, Bow Lake looked sublime. Blue green glacial waters, mountains and still water reflecting back the trees and mountains. Sometimes words can't adequately convey the emotions that scenery like this creates.

Bow Lake

A little further on we arrived at Peyto Lake, one of the most photographed places in the Canadian Rockies. We followed the crowds uphill to the viewing platform and took a few photographs - but I had plans to get better views - which involved a hike. Now Mrs B took a bit of cajoling as most hikes in the Rockies involve some steep ascents and this particular route did just that. We took a route called the Bow Summit Lookout trail and detoured off for a better viewpoint for Peyto Lake. The stiff climb of a couple of hundred meters and the exertion was worth it as the views were even better than from the viewing platform down below. Peyto Lake was impossibly blue, curved around the mountains and surrounded by dense green forest. No wonder it makes an appearance on every calendar of the Rockies. 

Peyto Lake

Worth the climb....

We carried on to the highest point of the trail with views of Bow Lake  to the south glittering in the sunshine and the 'endless chain' of mountains stretching away to the north.

The endless chain...

Once we reached the high point at around 7,000 feet we turned around retracing our steps, enjoying not just the distant views but also alpine flowers growing on meadows lower down the mountain. We saw more ground squirrels and chipmunks and some marmots - who were unperturbed by our presence.

Marmot - love it or hate it.....

After this diversion of climbing and hiking we returned to the car and continued the drive. After a few more photo stops and quite a few miles we reached our overnight accommodation, a rustic log cabin near Sunwapta Falls.

I explained to Mrs B this was not the accommodation we had booked

After checking in (it was a hotel not a cabin in the woods) we walked down the road for nearly a mile finding the Sunwapta waterfalls - turbulent and noisy - because the Sunwapta River drops 18 meters through a narrow gorge - to create a maelstrom of water.

Sunwapta Falls

The next morning we rose early. A little bit of back tracking was needed as I'd booked a trip onto the Athabasca Glacier and we needed to make our way to the Columbia Icefields Centre about 30 miles south.

The Athabasca Glacier bathed in morning sunlight

Once there we looked at the exhibition, watched a short film and, at the appointed time, we got onto a regular coach and drove for all of 4 minutes up a moraine road to one of the $1.5 million Ice Explorer vehicles - specially designed to drive onto the glacier itself. These huge buses trundle along at low speed and ours duly took us up and down the lateral moraine until we arrived on the ice and were allowed to disembark.

An Ice Explorer

It was slippy (of course) and we were restricted to a small area because of the crevasses just beyond the safety ropes, but being there, seeing the blue and white and rivulets and runnels made by ice melt was quite magical.

The Athabasca Glacier

There was a chance to fill my water bottle from the glacier and drink some of the coldest, freshest water I've ever had.

Glacial Water - Fabulous!

After 30 minutes we had to reluctantly reboard the Ice Explorer for another slow trip back to base.

Mrs B preparing to board

Our adventure wasn't over. We were ferried from the Glacier to the Glacier Skywalk, a glass bottomed walkway built over the cliff edge, (and a 900 foot drop) for views of the other glaciers that make up the Columbia Icefield. Although quite expensive we'd had a morning that will live long in the memory.

On the Glacier Skywalk

From the Columbia Icefields we had about 60 miles or so to travel to our next base for a few nights: Jasper. However having been on the Athabasca Glacier, and driven by the Athabasca River there was a chance to complete the Athabasca 'set' and see some more waterfalls. The Athabasca Falls are just south of Jasper and also impressed with their beauty and power.

The Athabasca Falls

The Icefields Parkway had been magnificent. Its not often that somewhere lives up completely to expectations but this part of our journey had done just that and at times surpassed them. We'd not stopped at every viewpoint or taken every hike but the good news (for us) is that we would be making the return journey in a few days time and could therefore squeeze in a few more 'diversions'. For now it was time to explore Jasper and its national park which promised more delights.