Valemount to Lake Louise
We headed off a bit earlier than normal as we were off to Whistler's Campground in Jasper, which was now just 89 miles away! Also, it meant that when we crossed the border into Alberta we lost an hour of the day.
The fall colours are now looking awesome!!
Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954mtrs was on our route for today. Here is Mount Robson in all its glory, hiding away behind the rain clouds!
The visitors center for Mount Robson was really interesting. Loads of local info about hiking trails etc, from what I read there are plenty of trails you can use. But I believe you need to register before you can use some of them. As it was raining we didn't go walking! We mainly spent our time drinking coffee and tea!
We next travelled along Highway 93, Icefields Parkway. Our Canadian Parks Pass allowed us to drive along this amazingly beautiful road.
After a few miles, and to my amazement my vision of Canada came to life (well almost). It was raining and not sunny (plus I couldn’t see any bears). But there it was, a fall coloured tree lined road with a beautiful blue lake, Moose Lake.
Alberta arrives, so do we, and more importantly so does the so far elusive wildlife!
Jasper
Jasper has a lot to offer. On our list was a boat trip on Maligne Lake to see Spirit Island, possibly a 25k e-bike food tour, a wildlife tour, souvenir hunting, Jasper planetarium, and eating out. We knew that we wouldn’t have time for everything, and we hadn’t booked anything in advance as things were very weather dependent and again time was short. As rain was forecast, we opted for the lake cruise and then the wildlife tour which we booked in the local tourist info shop. Whilst we were there, we also got a very good recommendation for a place to eat.
I really wanted to see the planetarium and use the telescopes and maybe even the northern lights as this is one of the things Jasper is famous for. Sadly with cloudy skies all we could do was to book a late evening planetarium experience which is just a 45min show in a small domed theater. Still, this now gave us time to eat at The Jasper Brewing Co and to sample their own ale, followed by a leisurely stroll around Jasper.
I will say, that the planetarium wasn’t easy to find, and it was even harder to park the RV there! The skies did clear slightly as I left planetarium but not enough to do anything with.
Today was gonna be a good day. We were booked on the Maligne Lake Cruise at 11.30 which would take 2.5 hours, then a wildlife bus tour at 16.30. It’s only an hour drive to the lake and then an hour back and just 70 miles return journey, so we were hoping we may even get time for more souvenir hunting between the two trips! Well, that’s what we thought………….
We left the campsite in drizzly conditions, then winter arrived!!
Now I love snow, I find it very peaceful. But we don’t ever see snow in our hometown, in fact the last real snowy winter I saw was 1986 and I had just left school! So, to be faced with this on a windy mountain road and the fact that I’d never really driven in conditions like this was a bit worrying!! But surprisingly we did still make it to the lake on time for our cruise. However………….
Maligne Lake looked like this, and all trips had been cancelled for the day!
The irony of this was that no snow was forecast, even the staff were surprised! The upside was that it was really beautiful in the snow, we were dressed for the occasion, we had plenty of amazing pictures and more time between our trips!
Luckily, we received a full refund for the boat trip and then we gingerly made our way back to Jasper, stopping for a winter's picnic on the way! And also to view some of the gorges. Tis a shame though , as we really were looking forward to seeing Spirit Island!
Back in Jasper, you guessed it, no snow!! But there were more trains. I like trains, and the trains here are enormous!!
Fortunately the evening wildlife trip we booked with Maligne Adventures was still going ahead, so we were excited to see what we could find in the next 3 hours!
This didn’t disappoint at all, it’s ‘Rutting Season’ so the male elks were out in force and being all frisky they were rounding up the lady elks. They were getting ready for some action!
Disclaimer, male Elks are very dangerous, one must not get close or in between them and the lady elks, they will beat you, damage your vehicle or even worse!! You have been warned!!
So we saw, Elks, loads of Elks, Deer, Bald Eagles, and even a female Moose with its baby! But still no Bears!!!
Overall this was a major success!!
The evening was now dry. Now that we were in Alberta, and we knew there was no fire ban here plus we had been gifted plenty of logs so it was time for our first fire pit of the trip!
Even the ‘Supermoon’ made an appearance!
We really enjoyed Jasper and everything the weather threw at us, but with more to see and do we will have to return!
The next day, we were headed to Lake Louise Hardside Campground in Lake Louise. This is about 157 miles further along the Icefields Parkway. I’d booked us onto the ‘Columbian Icefield Glacier Adventure’ and the ‘Glacier Skywalk’, which is halfway between Jasper and Louise. We knew this was going to most certainly be spectacular!! As should the drive.
The weather was also looking much better than the last few days. So, our first stop was at the ‘Goats and Glacier Lookout’
You don’t even need to hike to see the amazing views!
The further you drive along the Icefields Parkway the better the scenery gets!
Next stop, the ‘Stutfield Glacier Viewpoint’
The Columbian Icefield.
Here you get to ride on a bus that takes you to a big purpose built Ice Explorer bus, which then takes you onto the Athabasca Glacier and back. Then another bus will take you to the amazing Glacier Skywalk. Then finally yet another bus will take you back to where you started the tour, which all takes 2.5-3 hours.
The Athabasca Glacier, or the point where we were allowed onto is around 2200mtrs above the sea. Even though it looks cold with the sun out it was nice and warm! If you can find a quiet spot away from all of the tourists then it can also be very peaceful!
All of the bus drivers are full of knowledge and have a lot of useful information about the local area and the glaciers. It’s like having one big history lesson combined with amazing scenery!
In total there are six different glaciers at this icefield.
Columbia Icefield Skywalk.
This is a glass-floored observation platform which opened in 2014, it is suspended from a cliff 280 mtrs above the Sunwapta Valley floor. Now this isn’t for everyone, but you can still enjoy the walk alongside the valley and not have to stand on the glass floor. Result!! However, I do enjoy a good glass floor so that’s where I could be found!
This was truly an awesome experience. We had just enough time to eat at the visitor’s center before it closed and admire the views one more time before heading off to Lake Louise.
Just 30 minutes outside of Lake Louise is Bow Lake. We arrived at the viewpoint just after the sun had gone down and as it started to rain, again!!
This has to be one of the best photos taken on the whole holiday.