Canada 2010 - Jasper and the Icefields Parkway
Day : 17th Sept
Weather: Cool and bright
Route: A short walk and a long drive
It’s going to take a few days to get home – a slight diversion along Canada’s highways, but it will be worth it. After a nice 5 mile stroll in Grande Cache that loosened the limbs, I set out for Jasper, a mere few hundred kilometres away. The drive itself was easy as the roads were so empty, and it was interesting to see the lay of the land. The Rockies are the result of the Pacific tectonic plate colliding with the North American plate, with the effect of that rippling out beyond the high mountains, a bit like a crumpled blanket. So it was from Grande Cache, and then to Hinton, and as I drove I passed big wide valleys between ridges, gentle at first but becoming higher the further west I travelled. Beyond Hinton I turned west and soon arrived at the gates of the National Park – about $9 for a day – a bargain. Now I’m used to driving up to the Lake District, but this was on a completely different scale, and I could see from a long way off that I was in for a treat. I saw the odd bit of wildlife here and there, but not too much – a few wild goats stood in the middle of the road to welcome me to Jasper. I found a half decent hotel and had a bite to eat in Earl’s restaurant – the views were superb. On entering the park I was given a 'Parks Canada Mountain Guide' which split the areas down into readable chunks of information. So as I ate I planned my drive down and also the many stops along the way - it says inside the cover 'Exceptional places. Endless opportunities.' - they weren't wrong and after a few draughts later, I was ready for a kip – with much anticipation for the next day. I had about 200 miles to drive and each and every one of them was glorious - definitely one of the great drives of the world, and I feel lucky to have done it, no not lucky privileged is the word.
I entered the National Park by route 16 last night passing a few lakes and high mountains which gave me a taster for the day ahead. After a hearty breakfast, I set out and stocked up with some food and snacks for the day. My body was still getting used to daylight once more, so I didn't have any choice but to take things easy. Wow, what can I say – my flabber has been well and truly gasted. This must be one of the worlds finest drives. I found myself stopping frequently to gaze at a majestic scene of high mountains. Not much wildlife to see today because of the volume of traffic but so much to see. I threw my rig bag into the back of the truck and drove to the nearest petrol station - gulp £107 to fill it up, and that was before the petrol prices had gone up. But on the plus side it saw me home to Edmonton via Calgary, so that was ok. I really took my time today and pulled in to the side of the road often, as did everyone else, and spent the day gawping at the surrounds. I think I had a grin on my face all day long. The day started with bright blue skies and snow topped mountains, who could not enjoy this?
The first stop that I had planned was at the Athabasca Falls, where you can hear the thunderous roar of white water from the car park. I did have to share this and many other sites with quite a few trippers, but the noise of the falls cocooned me from outside noise, and for once I couldn't hear my tinnitus. The falls squeeze the waters of the Sunawapta River through a small gorge and spit it out calmly a little way along. The walkways are all concrete and provide great viewing spots if you can squeeze through the Japanese ladies. I had a little walk downstream away from the crowds, but as always I was bear aware as I stood next to dense forestry - it always sets you wondering whats in there.
After a good pootle around I set off once more along the wide valley lined by majestic mountains, and I didn't know how I didn't crash. It's great being so close up to some big hills, all snow topped with wispy cloud forming around the peaks. As I drove higher up the valley the weather closed in a little and began to be more atmospheric - alright it rained a little, and the higher I got the colder it was (no kidding Sherlock). I was soon up at the Athabasca Glacier and Icefields Centre, but I turned off to drive down to see the toe of the glacier. As I was driving along my geology/geography background kicked in and it was good to recognise many 'modern' glacial features that I could recognise from my tours around the 'old' glacial features of the English Lake District. The morraines are superbly framed below the mountains with the retreating glacier spewing out vast quantities of ground up rock and earth, striating and polishing the tougher rocks that it couldn't grind down. It's a bit alarming seeing the concrete markers, year dated, showing the rapid retreat of the glacier in modern times, and a reminder that we should be doing something about this now, instead of being in denial - me being the ultimate hypocrite working in the oil and gas industry. I wrapped up warm and made my way uphill over the morraines - there's a lot of it, and got down as far as I could towards the toe of the glacier. It is chained off to prevent people wandering up there and falling into a crevasse, but you can go on guided tours. The outflow beneath the glacier emerged beneath a steely blue small ice cliff before joining the main river further down. Most of the morraine blocked lakes here have that milky turquoise look due to the finely ground particles suspended in the water - it makes for spectacular colouring.
Back to the truck and my next port of call was around the corner at Parker Ridge and another welcome stretch of the legs. Here a winding hillside path led me up a sharp slope, rising about 800ft in little over, ooh not so far - enough to warm me up. As I reached the top of a stony plateau it was lovely and quiet, very still and surrounded by high mountains. At my feet were plenty of fossil corals, a reminder that this area is rich in sedimentary rocks, although many of them steeply dipping which gives rise to the jagged peaks and makes for some great scenery. Up on the ridge - a wide expanse of stone and alpine meadow led me up to a summit cairn where I said 'hello' to a couple sat down on the stones. 'I recognise that accent' says the lady - here in the wilds of Canada I met a lady that lives not 30miles away from me at home - it is a small world. The snow wasn't too thick, a dusting in Canadian terms and after having a good look around I wandered back down the paths I had come up. Back at the truck I checked my time and had a steady drive down the remainder of the Icefields Highway to Banff and then Canmore. It was great just slowly pootling along and stopping to stare wherever I chose. I passed by the Saskatchewan River Crossing a historic site with much history - the tourists used to ford this on horseback, and it used to be an east-west super canoe highway for the fur trade. A little further on was the delightful glacial lake of Peyto Lake - a short walk up a very touristy track to a viewpoint over an enchanting turquoise lake that lies beneath snow capped peaks - superb. A magical day and one that will live long in the memory - I had a good evening in Canmore toasting the fact that I'd escaped the rig and had a great day.
the
road from Grand Cache to Jasper
the
sign to Pyramid Mountain.,..hint it looks like a pyramid
entering
the National Park at Pocahontas
so
quiet and relaxing despite the weather
majestic
scenery
the
burnt trees naturally recover - many fire occur each year from lightning strikes
any bears around...
the
morning after a night out in Jasper
you
can't help stopping every 5 minutes
stunning
scenery
Mount Athabasca, above the falls
the
falls - see the person at top right for scale
a
thunderous amount of water - with plenty of noise as well
it's
carved out a narrow gorge over the years
Athabasca
Falls
peace
after the noise - turquoise meltwater
plenty
of cairns and plenty of tourists
back
on the road it was stop start
what
can I say - best drive of my life
it's
going to be a long day
another
finger post
up
towards the Columbia Icefields
glacial
outwash spread across the valley
close
up of one of the glaciers
mountains
of morraine in the valleys as well
here
comes the sun nearly
the
main glacier is retreating fast, leaving lots of crushed rock debris - morraine
it's
frightening seeing how much the glaciers have retreated in recent years
a
good little walk up to the main glacier toe
a
milky morraine lake
you
can see all the striations on this rock, gouged and smoothed by ice
looking
back down to the car park
as
near as you can get without a guide - needed to cross the many crevasses
the
meltwater stream exits under the front of the glacier
further
down the parkway I stopped to walk up to Parker Ridge
an
easy path took me up to the top
and
was soon walking in snow
as
before many big mountains to stand and stare at
the
rocks up here were similar to Derbyshire - lots of Limestone
a
Coral of Carboniferous age
up
on the ridge - not great weather, but dry
looking
along the ridge
and
the road far below
I
tried hard not to get lost - no map!!
but
I could see the road below
and
the cloud wasn't low enough to obscure my route
good
views down the next valley to another glacier and morraine lake
braided
channels wash down from the glacier
some
colour in the sparse vegetation
back on the road south towards Banff
the road sweeps down the side of majestic valleys - good job there's lots of places to pull over
a wide river plain at the junction of the Saskatchewan River Crossing
on the way to Peto Lake, the next stop
lovely
weather now
don't
know the name of this mountain, but it's big
nothing
in my head at this stage of the day
Peto
Lake - a tourist trap, but I can see why.
more
glaciers, morraines and a beautiful lake
outstanding
scenery
nearly
at Banff now
the end of a fabulous day when I get to Canmore