Banff to the Icefields Parkway.
I spent literally the whole day driving, almost all of which was driving the incredibly scenic route 93 north, the Icefields Parkway, which connects Lake Louise to Jasper, and passing through Banff and Jasper national parks. I drove the parkway about 80 miles of its full 144 miles, which took some time because of the poor, and at times, very poor, weather conditions. I drove a little further than the Columbia Icefield, which is the area for which the road is named, before turning around. Had I traveled less than another 5 miles, I would have reached the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, which would have been nice, but again I didn’t do my homework, and didn’t realize how close I was until later in the day.
On the other hand, it was uninvitingly cold and wet out, and I didn’t feel much like getting out and hiking around, let alone getting tickets to and taking the shuttle to the skywalk, which is apparently the only way to get to it. Still, on another day, a warmer, dryer, and more inviting day, I suspect I would have felt differently.
The weather was poor most of the way north, vacillating between light and heavier rain, slush, and some snow, and no rain at all, changing quickly from one state to the next, with temperatures ranging between low and upper 40s, and not very inviting, and especially when it came to getting out the car.
The Icefields Parkway, which is known as one of the most scenic, is pretty amazing, with high mountains and glaciers (I’m not sure of the difference in this case) lining and surrounding the road, today partially or almost entirely veiled in mist, and in some cases just seen as distant mysterious shapes that flowed into one another because of the combination of mist and snow cover. By the afternoon, the mist had cleared up considerably, and the weather was dry and a little warmer, with much clearer views of the glaciers, most of which were partially, but heavily, covered in snow, and sometimes thick snow, with patches of clear autumn colored vegetation, although some of the mountains had little snow, and were mostly vegetation covered.
I got out of the car at various points, mostly for photos, and in some cases some scenic lookout points, but again, the weather conditions were just too poor for me to feel like staying out of the car for too long, let alone walking about much.
About 75 miles in, the road entered the Jasper National Forest, and just ahead the Columbia Icefield.
And just after entering the the Columbia Icefield, about 80 miles in and perhaps 2½ hours of driving, I turned around and headed back, this time all the way to Calgary, as that’s where I’m spending the night because I’m heading back down to the U.S. tomorrow.
The weather had definitely improved by the time I started heading south, back toward Lake Louise, and I had a much clearer view of the mountains and the autumn colors along the way. It remained cool, however, until I reached Lake Louise, at which point the weather was back in the late 60s and early 70s and pretty nice. For all I know, the weather had been like that all day, and it was only along the Icefields Parkway that things were artic.
It was a bit of a long haul driving back to Calgary, past Lake Louise, then Banff, and then Cochrane, taking close to four hours to get to Calgary from the Columbia icefields where I turned around, although the drive back along the Icefields Parkway was glorious.
I stopped at Lake Louise and again tried heading to Moraine Lake, but the road remains closed to personal vehicles and can only be accessed by shuttle bus. Bah. I even tried to get a shuttle bus, as the weather was far more inviting now, and I wanted to take a walk, but no shuttle tickets until tomorrow. Bah again!
I later thought about returning to Columbia Icefield tomorrow, as the weather promises to be nicer, and I now know where the hell I’m going, whereas I really didn’t this morning, and just sort of took the road north, but it’s a little too far from where I am in Calgary (about 3½ hours) to do again. So, adios Icefields, Lake Louise and the unseen Moraine Lake, and Banff. Thanks.
Tonight, I’ll map out how I’m getting to Portland , Oregon, and when, and tomorrow I head south.
