Alaska 2018 - Canadian Rockies

                                     

 

Thursday June 14 - 15

We camped at Wilcox Campground, one of several campgrounds along the Ice Field Parkway between Banff and Jasper, Alberta. The campground is actually on the southern edge of Jasper National Park, just north of Banff National Park. The Ice Field Parkway runs through both parks. Wilcox Campground had tiers of campsites on a mountain side, all facing the stupendous mountain view on the other side of the highway. It was mostly sunny, or at least sporadically sunny when we arrived at the campground about 4:15.  Most of the drive through the Canadian Rockies so far had been in the clouds, literally, as the Icefield Parkway passes through the mountains at near tree line. 

It had rained a good part of the morning, sprinkling as we drove around downtown Banff. We ogled the Alpine storefronts for North Face, Columbia, Smart Wool, and Hudson Bay Trading Co., along with souvenir vendors, candy stores and coffee shops. Upscale. Very. There’s a riding stable in town.

It was raining when we got to Lake Louise, so we didn’t take the free shuttle to the lake (hadn’t done our homework to know how long it would take plus the fact we felt a bit pressed to get more miles in for the day.) We may have missed Lake Louise but Bow Lake at Bow Lake Summit a little further north up the Parkway was spectacular. By then the sun was almost shining. The lake, close to the highway, was ringed by snow covered mountains. The turquoise water was perfectly still, and the sun cast perfect reflections of the mountains on the lake.

There were so many rented class C RVs on the road. Canadreams and Adventurers were the two most commonly seen. We figure Canadians take “package” vacations: rent an RV and do the Rockies in a week or a long weekend.

Friday morning first thing, we stopped at Athabasca Glacier. It’s just north of Wilcox Campground. It’s a huge ice mass between mountains.  Photo ops were limited by rain sprinkles and clouds hovering over the mountain peaks.

The Athabascan River that runs beside the Ice Field Parkway to Jasper is uniquely beautiful in color – a light milky turquoise blue, wide and shallow in places with sand bars, then narrower and faster- running at other times, but always that oh-so subtle shade of aqua. (We learned as we went along and observed many more similar rivers that the silvery blue color comes from the fine silt created by the glaciers. We also learned that a glacial river often becomes “braided” when it makes several shallow channels with sand or silt bars between.)

Bow Lake on Icefield Parkway