Day 8 - 27.06.2024 Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Falls

Today we headed back to the Columbia Glacier, early (for our standards), along the Icefield Parkway about 100 km. We had booked a tour and despite the rain forecast, there were only short showers.

From the Discovery Center we took a bus to the station with the Ice Explorer vehicles (similar to a bus, with large tires instead of chains, which are gentler on the glacier). There are a total of 23 worldwide, 21 of which are in the Columbia Icefield and 2 are on explorations or research in the Arctic.

We then went to the glacier with the Ice Explorer, where we were able to walk around on the snow/ice. The glacier is now about 5 km long, but 100 - 150 years ago it was 8 km long. The Snow Dome mountain (also called the Water Tower) feeds the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans with water through rivers in three different directions.

Afterwards we went to the Skywalk from where we could also enjoy a great view.

On the way back to Jasper we stopped again at the Athabasca Falls and looked at the amazing waterfalls. They are also quite dangerous, as people have already died because they ignored the safety precautions. At the river we were able to watch a rafting boat launch into the water and travel down the raging river.

By the way, we have a Ford Edge, which is a reliable vehicle, takes us from place to place well and has room for all four of our suitcases. There are a lot of pick-ups here, but also some tourist cars from the USA, North Dakota, Washington, Utah... and also a few with German license plates. The roads in Jasper National Park are very empty, especially early in the morning, wide open, with over 200 km without cell phone reception and without gas stations... Excursions have to be well planned. But the nature is just great :-)