On our final morning in Banff we are all tired and have heavy legs, so a relaxed start before we head up to Jasper is needed. The drive from Banff to Jasper is long but insanely beautiful, we go down the ice fields parkway, unsurprisingly littered with glaciers and snow capped peaks! For lunch we stop at Mordants curve, a beautiful view that is featured on the $10 bill here. The white water river crashing below is a lovely background sound while we snack in the sunshine. Heading down the parkway we stop at Peyto lake for a leg stretch. The lake is a beautiful turquoise and the weather is lovely, however the viewing platform is too crowded! We have a quick look from there before heading up into the forest to start the trail to Bow Hill. En route we encounter a couple who tell us about a hidden viewpoint that is far less busy and even more beautiful - result!
We head down the slightly muddy snowy path and come out at a beautiful rocky lookout point, with a much better view than the other. A little ground squirrel (a species we have come to adore) is scampering around the rocks while we have some nice family photos. Just as we are about to leave, out of the forest trail, a bride and groom appear! We watch them have some beautiful photos taken in front of the lake, I bet they will turn out amazing for a lovely couple. Heading on around the trails we start heading up the path to bow summit, a lovely path up surrounded by snow, which bean loved! Having been suitably pelted by snowballs and done most of the trail, we decide to head back before the summit - legs are still tired from the day before. We leave Peyto lake and arrive at our next campsite which is in Jasper. Our evening is lovely and relaxed spent cooking sausages on the fire and Alex making his favourite homemade lemonad and comparing our sheep necklaces from Invermere. (Edit by em Zara has a little too much fun with the axe..)
On our first proper day in Jasper we head in to find the elusive bears claw from the bears paw as recommended by Aunty Rachel - but no luck! We collect fuel, provisions and an axe and spot a movie-star-esque elk posing by the side of the road so of course we take some piccies.
The Icefields Parkway drive is absolutely beautiful and we arrive early to the Athabasca glacier to have a quick walk up to the toe of the glacier. It’s a short (but cold) walk that has lots of information about how the glacier was formed, the katabastic winds that come off of it (very cold) and sadly how much it has melted away. It was rather sad to see the huge extent to which it has melted away, and to learn it will probably all be gone within my lifetime.
However, there is still lots to see and we are super excited to head up onto the glacier in a giant bus. The explorers they use are part of a fleet of 24 - 23 on this glacier, and the other in the Antarctic! Driving up there is slightly terrifying and very bumpy so bean gets his hand squeezed by a nervous sister (embarrassing I know). Once we are on the glacier we have fun walking around and exploring a bit, and Em completes a dream of being on a glacier in shorts! We have a freezing cold glacial facial which makes us look 10 years younger - I’m now 14 again, and fill our bottles up with glorious cold fresh water.
We get back on the enormous bus and learn some more about the glacier from our lovely lady driver, and find out what it takes to get a licence for one of those things - only about 6 months apparently!
After the glacier we are taken to the sky walk which is a beautiful glass bridge out over the valley. It is absolutely beautiful and has amazing views but unsurprisingly Dad is not a fan and stays at the edge. While admiring the view we spot some wildlife - baby mountain goats! They are absolutely adorable and we love watching the little family climbing across the side of the steep valley. Em Alex and I spend some time on the bridge before we head back to the main centre.
There is a lovely restaurant there with a beautiful view so we decide to treat ourselves to a nice meal - lush food and amazing view. As we want to do a hike around here tomorrow we decide to camp in the car park here and save an hour ish journey each way.
We wake up ready to tackle a good walk, the Wilcox pass which is supposed to be one of the nicest around. After admiring some ‘interesting’ stickers on a van we start our ascent to the pass - it’s an uphill slog for the first part before opening up into a beautiful open meadow with glacier views. Bonus, it’s lovely sunshine! We reach the top at an elevation of 2400m, which causes our crisp packets to expand much to our amusement. We have a beautiful picnic on the pass watching chipmunks scamper around and try to decide whether to head up to the ridge for more views.
The weather makes our decision for us - it starts closing in so we head down the pass! Once at the bottom we head back to the visitor centre to take advantage of a nice warm coffee and also free wifi to back up everything. I take the opportunity to FaceTime Lewis, bean is also very excited to see him. Once everything is backed up we begin our journey back to Jasper, however only about 20 minutes in we encounter a large queue. It’s quickly clear this is not a moving queue and we hear through the grapevine it’s going to take 3-5 hours to clear - there has been a massive accident. We are lucky enough that we have Wendy so don’t have to worry about toilets or food etc and that we don’t have anywhere to be imminently. Making the best of a bad situation, we get chatting to our neighbours and make some friends. First there’s a couple with a gorgeous Bernese mountain dog puppy (who they got that day!) and have some lovely puppy cuddles with her. We pull Wendy off into the pull out which has a beautiful view of the river and mountains while Alex has a go at some fishing. We get chatting to two families over tea and coffee, one from Taiwan visiting family in Vancouver, and another American family on holiday from North Carolina. I get on well with Cam and Sophia from NC, especially as Sophia is a med student too! It’s clear we aren’t moving anywhere fast and end up having a kind of street party - we cook some food and the others brings bits and pieces that they had, all ending up having an impromptu street party.
Alex makes friends with a group of Iranian students who are building a fire by the river, we all end up going at sitting by the fire chatting and roasting marshmallows. They introduce us to our new favourite food - fire potatoes.
Around 10:30 the road finally reopens and our new friends head on to their destinations (sad emoji), but we decide to stay out and stay by the river. We have some wine by the fire and river which is beautiful and peaceful then head to bed.
We wake up not in our campsite again (oops) but to a beautiful view of mountains and rivers. A lovely breakfast by the river before we pack up and head back to Jasper. On our way we stop at the Sunwapta falls, and the Athabasca falls which are both very impressive. The goats and glaciers viewpoint is less so - we can see the glaciers, but no goats! Lastly we stop at horseshoe lake which is a beautiful green and surrounded by cliffs. Em and Alex enjoy a little very cold paddle and we watch the much braver group of Aussies jumping off the cliff into the cold water below. After some lovely stops we head back to Jasper and have a nice chill evening.
The next morning we decide to head to Maligne lake which is perfect chill time for us all.
Em edit - We have a quick stop at medicine. Lake to take a picture of za (had to be done!)
Em and Alex have a paddle around the lake while Dad and I relax. (Em edit - another glacial lane so about 3-4 degrees so full wetsuits required!)
Once back from paddling, Alex and I attempt to catch some fish but no luck! We enjoy just chilling by the lake admiring the view before we head over to Maligne canyon. This is an impressive canyon filled with waterfalls and crevices. We have a quick wander around before heading back to Jasper as we desperately need to do laundry. Five loads are speedily put into the machines as the last time to do them is fast approaching! Dad, Alex and I attempt to get Mexican from the campsite while the laundry is on but it’s completely sold out sadly. I send Dad back out to help em bring the laundry back but she is too speedy and arrives back looking like a pack horse!
It’s quite the sight to see but very grateful to have some clean clothes. A delicious takeout pizza is enjoyed by the campfire before the task of washing Wendy is completed. We decide to stay another night in Jasper as we like it so much.
A lovely relaxed start to our day, and Alex gets to colour on a big yellow school bus that some lovely camp neighbours have. We decide to do the Edith Cavell trail and see the angel glacier which is supposed to be beautiful. It’s quite a steep trail for the first part but we enjoy the beautiful views and try to spot some wildlife. We spot both pika’s (so cute) and marmots on our way! The top of the trail is a beautiful open meadow covered in alpine flowers and a dusting of snow - just enough for snow angels!
It’s a very hot day so a dip in the snow is needed. We admire the view from the top with some snacks before heading back down to Wendy. Dinner is a bit of a fail - we burn the fire potatoes and salmon oops! All is saved with some pudding and Gin with homemade lemonade.
Zara
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