We left Lake Louise to head to Jasper National Park, taking the Icefields Parkway. Our first stop along this magnificent road was Herbert Lake. This is a favorite for photographers, as the lake is usually so calm, that it acts like a mirror for the surrounding mountains and trees. It was raining when we arrived and the lake was not as glassy as expected, but I still managed to get a lovely reflection of the Main Range peaks.
We went through Bow Summit and managed to drive into a brief snowstorm. By the time we took the hiking path to the summit it was already melting! The hike is a little uphill, but worth the trip. We reached the top and while it was still pretty cloudy, we got a brief respite and managed to see the beautiful turquoise waters of Peyto Lake.
Much of the fantastic landscape we passed was covered in the clouds, but the glaciers were visible again once we arrived at the Icefields Centre. The place was jammed with tourists trying to get on the big wheeled buses that take them onto Athabasca Glacier. This glacier once covered the whole valley. The parking lot where we parked and the spot where the centre is now built were covered in the 1800s. Now the glacier is halfway up the mountain.
Those little ants on the glacier are the buses heading up.
Shortly before we arrived at our campground for the night (Joyce, the campground's name was Wabasso), we stopped at Athabasca Falls and took the trails into the canyon.
The next day we drove into Jasper and then on to the Jasper Park Lodge. We walked the paths around the lodge and then went to dinner at the Moose's Nook in the lodge.
It appears that the small elk herd, mostly mothers and their young, had taken this same road.
We were there too. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYes, it definitely is worth it😀
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