Icefields Parkway and Jasper

From Lake Louise, we took the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. The Icefields Parkway is a 230 km long road through the Rockies and passes numerous glaciers. On the way to our first stop, Bow Lake, we saw our first bear. The small black bear was foraging by the roadside and was not bothered at all by the passing cars. Arriving at Bow Lake, you already have a great view of Bow Glacier and Bow Glacier Falls from the shore. If you follow the path along the clear lake, you will reach a beautiful plain on the edge of narrow canyons where you can walk all the way to the waterfall. Our next destination was Peyto Lake. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones who wanted to see this breathtaking turquoise lake, as one tour bus group after another was herded to the viewpoint. If you go a bit further into the forest and follow the small trails, you will reach some cliffs with an undisturbed view of the most turquoise lake of our trip. From Peyto Lake, we continued to Saskatchewan River Crossing. There, we didn't eat at the local restaurant but at the pub behind it. The funny thing was that we had to cook the food ourselves, which suited us very well as we could prepare our meal the way we wanted. We spent the night in the parking lot next to the pub, where we could stay for free.

The next day, we continued north. The Parker Ridge Trail takes you to a plateau from where you can overlook the Saskatchewan Glacier. The next glacier we visited was the Athabasca Glacier, which can be viewed from the Wilcox Pass Trail. If you continue a bit further up the trail, you will reach a viewpoint from where you can see the even more impressive Athabasca Mountain. A little further from the Wilcox Pass Trail, you will come to the Columbia Icefield Center, which also serves as the tourist information for Jasper National Park. The RV parking lot at the Icefield Center also serves as a first come first serve campground where we stayed for a small fee.

The next morning, we first went to see the Sunwapta Falls, which were not very impressive. Then we visited the more beautiful Athabasca Falls, where you can also see a part of the canyon. After that, we reached the end of the Icefields Parkway with Jasper. After securing a spot at a campground, we continued to Maligne Lake, the largest lake in the Canadian Rockies at 22 km in length. On the way there, we had our next bear encounter. This time, there were even several bears: a mother bear with two cubs. Maligne Lake itself was very beautiful, but the real postcard scenery is probably only achieved if you take the overpriced excursion boats. It was a bit too cold for swimming, so we opted for sunbathing instead. When we arrived at the campground in the evening, we had our next wildlife encounter. Due to the ongoing calving season, about 20 elk (wapiti deer) with their calves were roaming the campground, as it provided them with protection from predators. The adult elk cows were large and graceful animals, but during the calving season, they can become very aggressive if you get too close to them, especially to their calves.