Day 4 - Icefields Parkway

Friday, September 19, 2008

We were on our way to Jasper today, and the route up from Lake Louise is called the Icefields Parkway, and many say it is one of the most beautiful drives in the world. It would be hard to argue against that. Along the way we stopped at a few glaciers as well as Peyto Lake.

Crowfoot Glacier - You can see two "feet". The third melted decades ago

Bow Glacier

Great view from over Peyto Lake

The best part of this drive had to be the hike that stopped to do along the way. It was about a 3 hour round trip affair that was a direct ascent of 500m (1650 ft.) to the top. The way up was nothing to write home about, but the moment you get to the top it all changes! The gargantuan Athabasca Glacier comes pouring down between the mountains and forms a lake and river at the bottom from the run off. This picture doesn't even come close to capturing the beauty and size of this thing. Needless to say the hike up was worth the effort...

Athabasca Glacier

Once we got to Jasper, we walked around the small town and then got down to planning what hike we wanted to do the next day. Since we only had one full day there, we wanted to make it a good one.

Posted by adit on 9/19/2008 08:30:00 PM  

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