Photo Essay – Icefields Parkway

The main part of our 2015 road trip is The Icefields Parkway , commonly known as Highway 93 in Alberta , Canada. The said parkway connects Jasper National Park to Banff National Park. This 230 kms (140 miles) scenic road together with the rest of the park , Yoho National Park and Mt. Robson, is a World Heritage Site that aims to protect its legacy for all people , for all time.

This very beautiful highway is at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, where pristine lakes, waterfalls, rugged snow capped mountains surrounded by evergreens and colorful trees abound. Wildlife includes moose, elks, bears , squirrels and deer among other things.

We left the town of Jasper after breakfast. The sun was up so it was bright with shades of blue in the sky. But mountain weather does change drastically, so it is a must that you come prepared for the trip even if it’s just a few hours. 🙂

So come, travel with me, through the photos below. Click on them if you want larger image.

The sky was clear when we left Jasper.

A few minutes later, it became cloudy. With the fall colors though, even an overcast sky cannot dampen the Rockies’ beauty.

Then fog moved in and covered the mountains…

We found snow at the higher elevation.

It looked like winter wonderland. 🙂 It was so cold but notice the grin on my face. haha… Coming from a tropical country, seeing snow is always a treat to me. No, this is not my first time. I’ve seen some at the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming before, but still it never ceases to amaze me seeing and touching some. 🙂

You can see from the photo above the milky colored river right? That is as common as the azure and aquamarine colored lakes at the rockies. The reason of which is that they are glacial fed waters and in most of the lakes and rivers, a rock powder sinks at the bottom creating the blue / green effect. I only learned about that during this trip. Traveling taught me a lot of things. This trip taught me about the glaciers , (story can be found here – leawalkerblog.com/2015/09/17/columbia-icefield ) and the life of the salmon, which I will write soon in my British Columbia page of this blog.

Along the road, there are so many stops. That includes overlooks, where you can see the majestic view of the Canadian rockies. It is imposing, specially when you are faced with it as you travel infront of it. But their presence reminded me how powerful earth can be. Imagine these mountains jutting out from underground due to a strong earthquake millions of years ago. Scary and powerful huh… I just feel that you know, our environment deserves more respect from us.

Okay, so moving on. 🙂

This waterfalls is just along the road. It is called Tangle Falls. Mind you, this is a very small one compared to the other water falls you will find in the parkway. There’s Sunwapta Falls. And the Athabasca Falls. Two of the biggest waterfalls in the area.

Then there are pristine lakes, which are so beautiful I have no words for it. It is enough to just sit beside them and contemplate about the wonders of this world.

The pictures below are just two of the many lakes in the parkway. That is why a 2 hour drive isn’t enough. It takes at least one day to enjoy all of the stop overs. 🙂

And then there are the glaciers. Standing in one and drinking its water is a one in a lifetime experience. Like I said before, I feel so blessed to have been able to experience such. I was in awe the whole time I was at the Columbia Icefield.

I drank that water! 🙂

Fall is a wonderful time to visit the rockies. Why? Look at the colors below. 🙂 Also during this time, it isn’t as crowded as summer time. That means you will have more time to enjoy the place as much as you can without bumping to thousands of tourists visiting the park.

I mentioned earlier that the weather changes drastically in the mountains right? This is one example –

It snowed as we continued on our trip to the town of Lake Louise in Banff National Park. It got so thick we could not see the road clearly. I’m just glad that the hubby is a very good driver. So thank God for him. He even told me that it was nothing. ha ha…

See, someone is even taking pictures of the evergreens, blanketed with the snow. It reminds of the song… ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…. ” Right? 🙂

Still, I would not change any of those experiences. Who would not want to see these? The rocky mountains is beautiful, when it rains. When it snows. And when the sun is high. It doesn’t matter what the weather is, this place should be included in everyone’s bucket list.

Amazing, awesome, astonishing are just few of the words I can think of. Maybe you can think of more. Or better phrases.