2017 Alaska adventure - Banff to Grand Cache, Alberta, Canada

Today we left Golden, British Columbia to head north on the Icefields Parkway. The Parkway heads through the middle of the Canadian Rockies from Banff to Jasper. It was a beautiful trip. The mountains, glaciers, streams, lakes were so beautiful that it is hard to come up with enough adjectives to describe. We did manage to see some wildlife along the way – elk and mountain goats, but unfortunately I was only fast enough to capture the elk in a picture. There were a lot of signs warning us to watch out for wildlife but alas no luck for us.
At the beginning of the trip we had a sobering sight of a vehicle carrier that had been totally consumed in flames. We were hopeful that no one was injured. Next we saw the elk in the distance. I will try to zoom in on the elk so that you will be able to see him in the picture. After that it was the Icefields Parkway.
The first Glacier that we came to was Bow Glacier. The melting ice from the Glacier fed into a lake that was smooth as a mirror and reflected the Glacier on the surface of the water. Next were the Waterfowl lakes. Didn’t see any waterfowl but the lakes were beautiful just the same. It is hard to capture the height of the mountains in pictures so I have captured our friend’s motor home in some pictures just to try to give a perspective. Some of the mountains that we saw were strange in that there would be a large section of sheer rock topped with a line of pine trees then more sheer rock and sometimes another line of trees. Next was Columbia Glacier. This is one of the most accessible glaciers. Although we didn’t go, there are several companies that take tourists up to the lower partsof the glacier.
We completed our trip on the Parkway by passing through the town of Jasper. Jasper is very picturesque. Unfortunately we did not have time to stop other than to get gas. If anyone decides to head to the Rockies definitely include a stop in Jasper on your schedule.
We completed our day at a very nice county campground in Grand Cache, Alberta. Tomorrow we head to the AlCan highway.