Jasper and Banff National Parks

Starting in Jasper, AB I drove south through the icefields, glacial lakes, and beautiful mountains of these national parks. Here was another long stretch without services, although because its a park there were view points, lodges, and even a big visitors center at the Columbia Icefields.

Just outside of Jasper I saw a strange looking log bobbing higher than usual. A moment later I realized it was a moose. I was afraid it had fallen and was being swept down the rushing chai tea colored river. But it hopped out of the water on a little island, ran upstream, and then jumped in again and swam to the other side. It was not a graceful swimmer, but it easily made it across.

The rivers through the park were also above their normal levels, several actually making use of their floodplains. I stopped counting waterfalls after about 25. With the current rain and high temperatures the runoff is going strong. I only saw a few still sections of blue glacial water, otherwise the flows were all turbulent and sediment laden.

After hearing my grandparents talk about them so much I wanted to stop at Lake Louise and Banff. Being short on time and bundled in rain gear, I stopped for a quick picture in each. Lake Louise is a beautiful clear glacial lake. There’s even a tall hotel that overlooks it. In the parking lot I saw 2 GSs and a couple of Goldwings. It was easy to spot the owners by the lake in their motorcycle gear. One guy was trying to balance his camera and set the timer. I offerred to take their photo and asked where they were going. A couple were going all the way to Prudoe Bay while the others were going to turn back a little sooner. On the way back they’re going to catch a 2 day ferry back to Seattle. It definitely sounds like a fun ride.