Alberta Trip - Day 2 - Icefields Parkway

Athabasca Glacier

Day 2 started early for me. The call of nature woke me shortly after sunrise. And what a wonderful sunrise it was.

After relieving myself I quickly got my camera out and started shooting pictures. First I went to the nearby banks of the Bow River across from our campsite and took a few pictures of the morning rays kissing what I believe to be Grotto Mountain in the distance.

Next I walked the camp road out to Middle Lake. No mosquitos at this time of the day, only beautiful scenery.

We had breakfast, packed up camp and hit the road by 9:00. We'd be taking Highway 1A (Bow Valley Parkway) to the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North) and up to our final destination outside Mount Robson Provincial Park in B.C. (just across the Alberta border).

The Bow Valley Parkway runs parallel to Highway 1 (the Trans Canada Highway) between Banff and Lake Louise. It's smaller (two lanes), slower and affords a better chance of seeing wildlife by the side of the road.

We were rewarded for our decision to take this more scenic route with a black bear sighting. It's not hard to find wildlife along the highway. Just look for a ton of cars stopped on the shoulder of the road and that's where they'll be.

Just north of Lake Louise Highway 1/1A heads west. Take Highway 93 North (Icefields Parkway) and you'll head towards Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefield/Athabasca Glacier.

We stopped at a number of places along the highway to take pictures - at Crowfoot Lookout (to see Crowfoot Glacier) and Bow Lake. We all took our shoes off and stepped into the lake to test the waters. It was freezing! Glacier meltwater is so cold!

Though Peyto Lake was nearby we headed up to the Columbia Icefield afterwards because we were short on time. While there we went on a short tour of the Athabasca Glacier. For $54.95 you can take an Ice Explorer half way up the glacier where they'll let you walk around for 15 minutes.

If you're a CAA member you can get 20% off the price. Technically they were only supposed to give us a discount on the member ticket and one guest. But they were kind enough to give us a discount on all our adult tickets.

Walking on the glacier was neat. Though, it would have been nice to get a little more time up there. I guess the longer you stay there the more trouble you're apt to get into. It can be very dangerous on the glacier if you're not careful.

We finished our tour of the glacier at quarter to six. After that we headed up to Jasper 1-1/2 hours away to grab dinner.

Our first choice was Famoso the pizza chain on Patricia Street, but they were a bit busy so we walked across the street to Earls Kitchen + Bar. Between the six of us we had three Field Mushroom Fettuccinis and three Mediterranean Linguinis. Not very original are we?

After dinner we hit the road again. The Icefields Parkway ends in Jasper. From there we headed west on Highway 16 for a 1-1/2 hour drive to Mount Robson Lodge just past the park entrance (in Valemount, B.C.). We arrived at 10:00 p.m. to a swarm of mosquitoes.

In preparation for our intensive backcountry hike the following day we repacked our gear and redistributed the food before hitting the sack.