Icefields Parkway

Lake on Icefields Parkway

Cold morning -- more like late October than early September. Glad we decided to do the gondola trip yesterday in the bright, warm sunshine. The rain began shortly after we left Lake Louise, but it was very light  and the mountains were beautiful with a backdrop of clouds and fog. Much like Alaska, we thought, with pine fragrance from the tall, skinny trees filling the air.

Seeing caribou crossing signs and warnings about sheep gathering on the highway made my heart race a little in anticipation. Alas, no wildlife at all except the crows. The white dots on the mountains were patches of snow, not mountain goats.

The rain got a little heavier as temperatures dropped. I was beginning to get a little hungry as noon approached but the cooler with our sandwiches was in the trunk, so we moved on to the Icefields where we foolishly left our umbrellas in the car and went in to warm up, have a cup of coffee and see the exhibits.

Athabaska Glacier

I was stunned to see that the Athabasca glacier had receded so much since I was here in the early 70s. The bottom of the glacier looks like a ski hill in the spring, mixed with mud and rocks. We decided against the bus trip along the glacier. The weather was cold; rain was pelting down; felt like moving on rather than staying to enjoy the visit.

The idea of venturing out simply to get sopping wet on our way to the car just wasn't appealing, so I bought a couple of $3.98 and out we went. We stopped at Tangle Falls for our lunch (sandwiches bought for last night's supper, packed in the cooler this morning), topped off by a couple of pieces of Canadian fudge.

Tangle Falls near the Athabaska Glacier

The sun finally came out as we approached Jasper, tired (both of us) and cranky (me). Time for the day to wind down.