Bow Lake - Athabasca Glacier - Peyto Lake

Today we drove from Banff on Trans-Canada Highway No. 1 towards the north to Lake Louise. There we turned onto the Icefields Parkway. Between imposing mountains of the Canadian Rockies, the road meandered past many lakes, forests, and wide plains.

At Bow Lake, we made the first photo stop. Unbelievable color display in the sun!

On our way again, there was suddenly a traffic jam. Up ahead, there was actually a black bear running next to the road! 🐻😳

Then we continued to our destination for the day, the Glacier Skywalk in Jasper National Park, an observation platform 30 meters high with a glass floor. However, we missed the visitor center beforehand, from where the visit would start. You couldn't park at the Skywalk by car, and as we drove by, we saw the long queue. 😳

At the next viewpoint, we had the same beautiful view, just without the adrenaline rush at high altitude... Instead, we hiked up to the Athabasca Glacier, which was also very impressive.

On the way back, we stopped at a rest area for a picnic. Berni cooked salmon with rice and peas for us, which we enjoyed at a wonderful shady spot with a view.

Then we continued and made various stops at the Waterfowl Lakes and the Bow Summit with a view of Peyto Lake for photos.

Back in Banff, an old locomotive from the Canadian Pacific slowly passed by the train station. So we stopped at the train station to take a closer look at the locomotive and the old wagons...

Then we refueled and bought the essentials, and then, shortly before 9 p.m., we went to Banff Golf Course. According to an insider tip (thanks, Escher 😝), you should be able to see elk there in the evening. A narrow road meandered along the golf course. It was a bit strange for us with the large camper next to a small golf cart. We were also not sure if we could turn around at the end of the road... Unfortunately, we didn't see any elk 😏, so we played it safe and turned back at the golf house. We were tired and shortly after that back at our campground.

Summary of today: Very impressive nature with the Rockies, glaciers, and the many beautiful lakes! Pure nature! 😝