Jasper to Banff

Leaving Jasper we drove the Icefields Parkway, a 200 mile (300+ kilometers), which links Jasper and Banff National Parks.  Perfect weather and too many amazing photo opportunities.

The first glacier encountered driving south is the Stutfield Glacier.

We stopped in at the Icefields Visitor Center, grabbed some lunch and scored table out on the deck.  We ate and had a view of the Athabasca Glacier.

We decided NOT to take the tour that took you on a sky bridge walk (yeah, who cares) and drives you on to the glacier itself.  But we did walk up to the toe of the glacier, or as close as they would allow.

It's an alluvial fan!

Big Horn Sheep

It got hot, so I waded in.

The amazing Peyto Lake.  It was SO crowded that I couldn't enjoy the view.  There were so many people bumping into me trying to take a picture.  It bothered me on this trip how much I noticed that when coming to a beautiful place, they look at it through their screen.  I really tried to take a moment, and find the beauty and then figure out what I wanted to remember and then take one or two photos.

Ok, Ok, I'm just like everyone else.

Entering Banff, we arrived at Lake Louise late in the day.  Turns out during the day, it's so crowded the parking lot fills and you have to take a shuttle.  Again, too many people, too many people and their screens.

Lake Louise is so famous, but I found Maligne Lake in Jasper to be much more stunning.

Find Onions!!!  Next stop of Moraine Lake.  For some reason, I've had a harder time of late with climbing steep uneven surfaces, so I didn't think I could join Onions at the top....

...but I found the regular trail and here is the view!

Our full day in Banff wasn't that exciting, we did a quick walk up Johnston Canyon to see the falls.

But then drove to Radium Hot Springs for another afternoon soaking.

On the drive home, after an afternoon at the hot springs, massages and a big dinner, we saw goats on the way back to camp.

Jasper National Park

Up early driving to Pyramid Lake, and we get to hang out with an elk.

Alas, we spend some time at Pyramid Lake hoping to see Pyramid Mountain, but the clouds were still low and yet to burn off.

So we went driving and found this amazing riverside picnic spot!  And the sun was beginning to do its magic on the clouds.

Starting to see some mountains....

A quick stop at Athabasca Falls

Athabasca Pass

Now, later in the afternoon, seeing the tops of mountains.  From here on out, for the rest of the trip, BLUE SKIES.

Late in the afternoon, we took a cruise on Maligne Lake.  I was blown away at the beauty and spectacular combination of glacial lake and snow covered mountains.

The mountains that surround Maligne Lake are named the Queen Elizabeth II mountains as a gift to the monarch for her coronation.  She's never visited the mountains named for her.

Turns out the cloudy and rainy weather on the day and days before we arrived blanketed the mountaintops with snow.

On our way back to Jasper town, we spent some time with this black bear.

I put the car between the bear and myself.  Onions is sitting the the passenger seat with the open door.

We decided to head back to Pyramid Lake and have a picnic dinner and here's the cloud formation we were treated to.

So, this is Patricia Lake.  I was listening to a podcast that very day about a crazy idea to build an ice ship called Project Habakkuk (check it out on 99% Invisible).  Crazy, but true, turns out it was right here at Patricia Lake that they build the prototype.

The remnants of the prototype are at the bottom of the lake.  And there it was, on the plaque!

There, at the far end of Lake Patricia, the remnants of Project Habakkuk.

Mount Edith Cavell

A final drive through the northern end of the park.  Late light on the mountains.