436. Sunday 7th June 2015. Jasper to Athabasca Falls to Jasper to Edmonton…

Sunday 7th June

We spent the night in a cold basement of a private home in Jasper. Thank goodness there was a warm doona.

Jasper View along the main road.

Another Jasper view.

Another eventful day on the Rocky Mountains and beyond. Initially the plan was to drive to Edmonton where Donnis had previously arranged to meet family who were camped at a place called Smokey Lake. Her plan had called for us to be there on Saturday and stay over the weekend. Because we had an extra night at Lake Louise that plan went out the window. Just like many of our plans which are not set in concrete.
It was a wow day for us.

Before leaving Jasper we thought because we had missed Athabasca Falls yesterday, we could drive back into Jasper National Park for 30 Klms and find the falls. Wow, this is still the Athabascar River but has now been fed by numerous creeks, streams, rivulets and brooks all swollen with meltwater. The falls are huge with water rushing through a slot like chasm in the surrounding rock. The noise made normal conversation difficult.

Athabasca Falls

More Athabasca Falls

Doinnis on steps placed in an original slot chasm where perhaps the falls once raged.

Just below the falls was an area of relative calm where a white water rafting company launches its adrenalin charged tours. I have white water rafted and canoed in Australian Rivers where for the most part the water is if not warm at least not chilly. The water in this river is worse than chilly. It is hypothermia inducing cold. The paddlers have to wear wet suits to stay warm.

Athabasca Falls. Enlarge the photo and look carefully through the mist near the centre top you can see a whitewater raft has just been launched

Donnis on a lookout above the final swirling falls.

The river now rushes through another gap on its way to drain into several rivers and lakes before discharging into the Arctic Ocean.

We left the falls and instead of returning to Jasper on Highway 93 we took the backroad known as Highway 93a. Highway is not a good description as the road is barely wide enough for two cars to fit side by side and there are no shoulders but there are deep gutters along the side of the road. We took another gravel road to Moab Lake which we soon discovered led to an isolated camping carpark and a lengthy walk through dense forest eventually led to the lake. This is bear territory so we decided not to look for the lake.

Gravel road to Lake Moab.

Once back on 93a no sooner had I said, “with luck we will see a bear here” when we did! A Black Bear was wandering beside the road. We stopped, naturally, to take photos. It was an exciting moment for us. Donnis stepped out of the car with camera although the bear was walking away and she only went as far as the rear of the car. Despite that margin of “safety” we still felt a little nervous. What if another bear was nearby?

We spied this black bear on the road. By the time we stopped and got the camera ready it had moved passed the car and was wandering along the grassy edge.

After seeing the bear we drove back to Jasper and turned east to Edmonton.

Not far out of town beside a lake, traffic stopped. A young Elk was grazing beside the highway. Buses, trucks and cars all stopped and an amazing number of cameras and iPads and smart phones were taking photos.

This buck was grazing, unconcerned, beside a busy highway.

A few Klms further on traffic stopped again. This time a group of Long Horn Sheep were eating something on the road verge. Cliffs on the opposite side of the road also had a larger group of sheep looking on.

Longhorn Sheep

More Longhorn.

Longhorn caught in mid flight up the cliff face.

Less than a Klm around the bend was a group of Mountain Goats but there was no room to pull up to take photos.

Late in the afternoon we arrived in Edmonton Donnis home as a young girl and teenager. We met and had a meal with Melanie J, daughter of Darlene J, Donnis friend since elementary school who died tragically in Hawaii two years ago.

After dinner we arrived at Donnis cousin Pat K who still lives in the family home in downtown Edmonton. Sorry for arriving so late and keeping you up to midnight Pat. Thank you also for giving up your comfortable bed for us. We are grateful.

.We drove over 400 Klms today so no rocking was required to lull us to sleep.

 

 

435. Saturday 6th June 2015. Lake Louise to Columbia Icefields to Jasper…

Saturday 6th June After a late breakfast we still managed to get on the road by 10am.

View not far out of Lake Louise

There was a relay race from Banff to Jasper.     Www.bjr.ca.   Supposedly it is a 260 klm fun race through the Rocky Mountains but there are those who are serious. Naturally they started the Lake Louise to Jasper leg before we got on the road so we were slowed in many places by the racers and their support crews and changeover locations.

Mountain range known as the Endless Chain. The runners in the relay seemed like an endless chain of traffic disruptions.

The entire length, well at least the parts that we have seen of the Rocky Mountains drive is …umm err, spectacular all the way. Sorry I cannot find other words to describe the voyage. Like the Great Ocean Road in Australia I can enjoy the drive – both ways – as often as possible.

We stopped at the great Athabaska Glacier in the Columbia Icefield.  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_Glacier.  We opted to walk over a moraine created by the receding glacier to the toe of the glacier.

Enlarge the photo to see the people – like us- who had to hike over this glacier created moraine to reach the toe of the glacier.

Carpark at the base of t Moraine created by the receding Athabasca Glacier. Way in the background can be seen the carpark for the Icefields Discovery Centre.

The wind whipping down from the glacier was both fierce and chilly.

At least Donnis had better cold protection.

Other people opted for a guided walk on the glacier

The Athabasca Glacier seen from the top of the moraine created by the receding glacier.. An idea of its size can be gained by enlarging the photo – twice. In mid fram slightly to left can be seen a group of about 9 people on a guided tour. A little to the right and further back is a couple who hiked further up the glacier. In both tours the guide and guided carry rescue ropes and ice picks and pitons etc as there are crevasses which can open up unexpectedly. Several deaths have occurred with unprepared and unauthorised hikers.

while others went for the comfort of a bus ride.

Enlarge the photo. Tour buses can be seen on glacier. They are dwarfed by the towering glacier walls.

Anyway to view this giant moving grinding frozen wall of snow and ice is awe inspiring. The top of the iceberg, where the guided tours walk, to the valley floor, is higher than the Eiffel Tower. I would have happily stayed here walking around but the frigid wind whipping past my ears gave a painful earache. We were simply not dressed appropriately for the conditions. My gloves and Tuk were in the bottom of our suitcase. Across the road is the Columbia Icefields Discovery Centre which thankfully had hot food and huge lines of tourists waiting to book either a foot guided tour of the glacier or the more popular bus tour onto the glacier.

Just a little north of the icefields is the Glacier Skywalk. A glass bottom suspended platform over the Athabasca River where several glaciers can be seen. We opted not to stop here as we were on a schedule and the $30 each admission fee.

This is the Glacier Skywalk with the glass walkway.

Next along the road was Tangle Falls which is accessible beside the Icefields Highway.

Tangle Falls beside Highway 93, Icefields Parkway.

The highway for the most part follows the raging Athabasca River all the way to Jasper. http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/canada-tangle-falls.html I felt a little uncomfortable here as the only parking is on the opposite side of the highway. A pedestrian crossing is on a steep curved section of the highway with cars and buses zooming along are expected to suddenly brake to allow a pedestrian cross the road. It is the only pedestrian crossing in a 150 Klm stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere.

We next moved on to Sunwapta Falls where the meltwater swollen Athabasca River roars its way through a deep and narrow chasm.

At the top of Sunwapta Falls. The difference of less than 100 Klms from the icefields meant it was comfortable for short sleeves to be worn.

The water of Athabasca River forces its way through this narrow gorge.

Another view of the gorge.

A lack of navigational skills on my behalf meant we missed the turnoff to Athabasca Falls. (directional signs in the Jasper, Yoho and Banff National Parks are a bit scarce and are not placed at the actual turnoff, often they are placed up to 1 klm before the turnoff)

A few Klms outside of Jasper we saw a Cow Elk with a calf.

Mother Elk intimidating traffic so she and her calf can cross the hiner pastures just outside Jasper.

The mothers are very protective of their young and will charge people who get too close. While Donnis was busy learning how to use the zoom we ran out of memory on the camera and the Elk crossed the road, with calf and disappeared into the forest.

Once in Jasper we searched for accommodation which we found to be scarce, probably because the relay race finishes here. Eventually we found a room in a private house basement. Jasper has a system of home stay accommodation which provides basic accommodation …at a price. In the winter ski season all other mainstream accommodation is booked solid. The homestay takes up where the usual hotels, motels and bed & breakfast are booked out.