What an amazing drive today. 150 miles of stunning scenery through the Canadian Rockies.
First stop was Bow Lake.
The water colour is dictated by the amount of rock flour (particles washed down by the ice melt). Less rock flour creates vivid blues while more flour turns the reflected light green. Too much flour and the water becomes milky.
The Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier followed. The Icefields Centre was heaving.
The glacier is receding at the rate of 5m per year and lost over half its volume in the last 125 years. We decided our lives were complete without taking a tour up to it and headed onwards.
Suddenly the scenery changed and the views opened up.
Waterfalls were next on the list and we stopped at Sunwapta Falls where Matt decided he could only take photos from beside the river rather than the safety of the walkway
The Parkway followed the Sunwapta River for a while and we think we need to revisit in late spring when, as the ice melts, the rivers must be spectacular.
The trees are just starting to take on their Autumn colour, which we hadn’t noticed in Lake Louise.
Our final stop, before Jasper, was the Athabasca Falls. According to Kim, you can’t have too many cups of tea or see too many waterfalls!
Our next two nights are overlooking Pyramid Lake, a designated Dark Sky site. Our accommodation is definitely a step up from the rather dated ski lodge in Lake Louise
And this is our view from the balcony, thank you Trailfinders!
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