Dates visited: September 1 - 8, 2021
By Marty
Do you have a bucket list? If not, make one...
Is your bucket list full? If so, get a bigger bucket...
'Cuz you're gonna want to add Jasper and Banff National Parks to your bucket list!
We visited Jasper National Park for seven days before heading south to Banff National Park for eight days (Janell will reveal Banff to you in her next post.)
When we planned our visit to the Rocky Mountain States in late 2020 we included Canada (Jasper and Banff) in our itinerary, not knowing if COVID would abate by then and we'd be allowed into the country. It was looking iffy for a while but Canada finally opened it's border to US visitors on August 9th (though the US still has not opened it's border to Canadian visitors). We needed to be fully vaccinated (which we have been since June) and to get a COVID test within 72 hours before entering Canada.
It is almost 500 miles from Spokane, WA to Jasper NP so we split the drive into two days and spent a night at the KOA in Cranbrook, BC. The view of the Rockies to the east was merely a tease for the incredible views to come.
The landscaped overpass before you was built for wildlife to cross safely from one side of the highway to the other (this is Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway). In the 30 miles between Banff (the town) and Lake Louise there were five of these overpasses.
We have seen wildlife overpasses in Colorado before, but they weren't as large or elaborate as these.
Roughly half of our drive to Jasper NP took place on the Icefields Parkway. The parkway is completely within Banff and Jasper National Parks (Jasper sits directly to the north of Banff) and is 140 miles long.
National Geographic named the parkway the "Drive of a Lifetime" and Conde Nast Traveler named it one of the top 10 drives in the world. The photo above and the eight immediately below were all taken from The Beast while driving on the parkway or from a roadside view point.
The Icefields Parkway is like the Grand Tetons on steroids!
I'll forewarn you that there are a lot of photos in this post, almost 50. We try to keep the photo count between 30 and 40 but that just seemed wrong in this case.
There are over 100 glaciers dotting the mountains along the parkway, including Crowfoot Glacier nestled in the hanging valley in this photo. As a point of comparison Glacier National Park in Montana had 26 named glaciers as of 2015 and likely fewer than that now.
We have visited 40 states so far and have traveled many beautiful roads. Nothing we have seen compares to the Icefields Parkway!
We are asked from time to time what our favorite place to visit has been. We don't have a concise answer as there has been no ONE place. We mention a few favorites like Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Great Lakes area, Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New England in the Fall, North Carolina's Outer Banks and some others.
Next time we are asked that question I WILL have a concise answer: Jasper and Banff National Parks, hands down! (I am speaking for myself, not Janell.)
If, knowing what I know now, I could visit only one of the many places we have seen in the past two years that place would be the Canadian Rockies!
Fortunately there were a number of scenic pull outs that fit The Beast and Little Red.
Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefields (the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies). For perspective notice the parking lot at the bottom margin of the photo, just right of center. Athabasca is a big glacier!
Waters from the Columbia Icefields drain to the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Hudson Bay (and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.)
Our vessel. The boat tour takes us to the south end of the lake where we disembark for 15 minutes to soak up the view and take photos.
Maligne Lake's Spirit Island is one of the most famous and photographed views of the Canadian Rockies.
We really lucked out with the weather in Jasper. For most of July and August the Wyoming and Montana weather was hot with smoke obscuring the mountains and skies. As I watched the weather for Jasper and Banff in advance of our arrival I saw that they were getting cooler weather and rain off and on. Just a few days before our Jasper arrival a storm dusted the mountains with snow, leaving behind clear blue skies. Just a week earlier these images would have been much different: no snow except for the glaciers and the occasional snow field.
We enjoyed a Jasper food tour where we visited "four local restaurants and tasted four carefully handpicked dishes, each paired with an alcoholic beverage..."
Our fourth and final restaurant offering was a dessert (a very tasty hazelnut something or other) with a Double Espresso Vodka chaser. Delish! And the dessert wasn't bad either!
As you are probably aware almost 1/4 of Canada's 38 million citizens are French Canadian. One of the participants on our tour was Sandra, a French Canadian journalist engaged by Travel Alberta to create a series of videos marketing Alberta to the French speaking Canadian population.
Here is a short clip of Estelle, our tour guide, repeating a portion of her spiel in French so that Sandra can film it:
As in the USA the national parks in Canada are very popular this summer. So we headed out early to be assured of a parking spot at Maligne Canyon trail head and were treated with beautiful scenery on the drive.
Also from our drive to Maligne Canyon.
On the drive to Malign Canyon we spotted a herd of elk just off the road. We had been informed that it was elk rut season, the mating season for elk. During the rut the bull elk gather cows and calves into small groups called harems and aggressively guard their harems from other bulls. We witnessed this bull elk (with a massive and beautiful antler rack) herding his harem. In this photo you can see the aggressive posture of the bull and the cows running from him.
This video snippet, taken from inside the car, gives you a better feel for this behavior. The harem is scattering at the very beginning of the video.
If you want to know more about the Elk Rut check out this website:
https://www.visitestespark.com/blog/post/what-is-the-elk-rut-all-about/
Pretty satisfied with yourself aren't you?
The Maligne canyon trail
We are used to sharing the trail but this is the first sign asking us to share the trail with bears! Oh my!
We took the Jasper SkyTram to Whistlers Peak. The town of Jasper is visible in the center below. The seven photos to follow are taken from Whistlers Peak.
A man, a woman, a dog...
At least I think it's a dog... I can't tell which end is the head? Some kind of a doodle I imagine.
From the SkyTram to Whistlers Peak it's a short but somewhat steep 1.1 mile hike.
From Whistlers Peak one can see Mt. Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972'. One can see the Peak, but on this day we could not. The peak is 47 miles away but was not visible due to cloud cover.
I found it interesting that the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies is just shy of 13,000'. Compare that to Colorado which has 58 peaks of 14,000' (known as 14ers).
Yet, to me, the Canadian Rockies are more dramatic than the US Rocky Mountains (and we've spent the past four months in and around the US Rockies). The Canadian range, to my eye, seems more vertical, more abrupt, and visually dramatic in every direction.
Relaxing with a cold beverage and spectacular view before taking the SkyTram back to earth.
At the base of Mt Edith sits Edith Cavell Pond and Cavell Glazier.
Honest to goodness icebergs! Mini ones, but still...
Can you say "Titanic"!
Above Cavell Pond and Glacier you can see Angel Glacier. I guess I can see how Angel Glacier got it's name. However, if Texans had found this glacier first and named it I'm pretty sure I know what the name would be! (Hint: Hook 'em Horns!)
And there was nowhere from which to escape the rain...unless you were a Lilliputian...
Stunning country, awesome photos! Thanks so much, enjoying your trip virtually along with you😘
ReplyDeleteStunning!
ReplyDeleteWow! Just wow!
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