Tuesday 10th

Up, breakfast, packed the car and away quite early as we knew we had a long drive - 270km - with a lot to see.

Decided to start by using the Bow Valley Parkway to get to Lake Louise in the hope that we might finally see a bear. The first thing that happened was that a car ahead had stopped for a caribou. Unfortunately as we stopped it walked across in front of the car ahead and then into the forest. A couple of shots of its rear end was all we could get.

We carried on and stopped briefly to see what the Internment Camp was - it was where Austro/German immigrants had been interned and used for road building labour during the first World War. Many in fact were actually Canadian citizens.

About midway along the Bow Valley Parkway we saw some people parked so, Yellowstone style, we stopped too. They were looking at a caribou in the woods. A couple of people were out of their cars in the woods so Les joined them. The animal walked away into the distance but Les eventually got a couple of shots.

We got to the end of the Parkway and were disappointed as we hadn’t seen a bear. We knew we wouldn't see one on HIghway 1 because of the fencing. To our amazement as we drove down the short link road towards Highway 1 and Lake Louise Village we saw people stopped. They were photographing a bear! We stopped too and hurriedly took what photos we could. Not brilliant as he moved off into the woods quite quickly.

Going onto Highway 1 we were now elated - we’d seen the fabled wildlife. After a short distance we turned off onto the 93 - the Icefields Parkway.

We’d decided not to stop at Lake Louise Village for a coffee - this was a mistake. We hadn’t quite realised how little there is on the Parkway apart from campgrounds. Our first stop was Bow Lake which was frozen solid. The next was Crowfoot Glacier where the ‘crowfoot’ is the pattern of moraines on a small glacier. We stopped at a couple more viewpoints on the way, mainly to take views of various valleys and mountains.

We tried pulling in at one campsite which had lovely lodges and also had a restaurant but unfortunately the restaurant was closed (summer opening but not sure when summer starts). Eventually we got to Saskatchewan Crossing where the road goes over the Saskatchewan River. Immediately after this is ‘The Crossing’  - a main centre on the Parkway. We went in and had a snack lunch. The place was very crowded, as is everywhere, with lots of Japanese tourists. While at The Crossing we looked at some of the local information and found out that at Mistaya Canyon, that we’d just driven past, there was a short walk to a spectacular view.

We backtracked to the Canyon. The walk was short but the information hadn’t mentioned that it was steep all the way. We trekked down and eventually came to a lovely spot. The river has carved a very narrow twisting cascade which must fall at least 30m. There is a bridge across so that you can look down into the extraordinary narrow channel with the water thundering through. Very photogenic.

Back across the Saskatchewan again and onward north. A short while after setting off we actually saw three Bighorn Sheep running down the road towards us. Finally we’ve seen them. A few more stops for photographs at the Alexandra River, etc. Shortly after this we came to a point where the road makes a fantastic loop to gain height. Some great views from the top looking back down the valley.

Next stop was the Columbia Icefield Centre. We were a little disappointed by this. It’s the main centre for the trips to the Athabasca Glacier and the Glacier Skywalk. We’d hoped it would have much more general information about the whole area but it didn’t. Apart from the booking areas for the two trips there was only a shop and a restaurant. There was a small help desk for the NP but no information on display. We stopped and had a tea and a biscuit. The bus ride onto the glacier was C$50 and took 90 mins and we decided it wasn’t worth it.

Instead we drove down to the car park at the bottom of the valley and started walking towards the foot of the glacier. The walk is uphill across one of the old terminal moraines - quite high and steep, but no worse that we’d encountered going to Silverton Falls. The only drawback was the one section still covered in deep snow. Anne didn’t feel confident about going up (and more importantly back down) this in the shoes that she had as she had none with a reasonable tread. Anne waited while Les went on alone. Not too bad going up. The walk across the top was interesting as there’s quite a lot of bare bedrock exposed with lots of striations. Les managed to get to the actual foot of the glacier. You couldn’t get onto it easily as there’s a fast flowing stream of meltwater - also you’re advised not to, even if you can find a way round.

Les spent some time messing about with the self-timer on the camera trying to get a shot to prove he’d been there (strangely there was nobody else there at that moment). Found out something about the camera that he hadn’t known before! The return journey was ok except for crossing the snow which had to be done very gingerly. Should say it was quite cold here as it had been all day but this was the first time we’d both had coats on and Les actually had his hood up.

As we left the centre we managed to get some shots of the Skywalk - this is 7km north of the centre - there’s no parking allowed so we grabbed some shots from the car window as we went passed.

Immediately after this we came to Tangle Creek where we stopped again to photograph the waterfall. After this we decided we wouldn’t stop again as there was still about 90 mins driving to get to Jasper. However once again we came across some parked cars so we stopped thinking it might only be another caribou. All of a sudden there was a black bear in the trees. Anne got out (Les driving) but the bear actually started getting very close so Anne quickly got back in. Managed to get a couple of shots as he had a drink very close to us and then he wandered off again. What a day for wildlife!

Carried straight onto Jasper and checked in. We’d been upgraded and have a very nice room and at last we have two proper office chairs. Also have a jacuzzi bath, as well as shower cubicle! Priority was to get the washing on so we put that in the machine (front loader!) and then sorted out the room. Washing only takes 25mins. When we went back the washing was finished but all 3 driers were in use and were going to be at least 30mins. We decided to go straight to the restaurant. We’d already realised that the hotel is quite a long walk from the (quite small) town centre. The restaurant was fine. Anne’s fish and chips was actually halibut. Les had salmon with rice - the salmon was crusted with oats and had a maple syrup dressing. Had some nice local beers.

Put the washing in the drier on our way back. Did the usual downloading photos and sent a couple of emails. The washing was completely dry after only about 30mins. It was 8.45pm but still very light so we jumped in the car to have a quick look at the town. Much, much smaller than Banff. We saw a grocery store and got a couple of things including a large bowl of mixed fruit as we realised that there’s no breakfast included