On the Road - Day 33

Started off with Danish and hot chocolate in the RV. Found our way to "The Other Paw", Jasper's only bakery. I had hoped to buy a bear claw there, but they did not sell them. The muffins will be for tomorrow.

Vance and I have agreed that the woods here have a friendly feel, with grass between the trees. This is a day of wide Canadian Rockies panoramas. The scenery is vast in scale.

Driving south from Jasper on the Icefields Parkway (Rt. 93), we stopped at the Athabasca Falls - by itself, worth the trip! The Athabasca river thunders through a narrow gorge - quite a sight! We walked through a former channel of the river to see the undercutting, striations and large potholes that the powerful flow of water and the churning of sand and gravel had created.



Next stop was Sunwapta Falls - ice cold and full of fine particles. At this falls the river "abruptly changes course and plunges in a cloud of spray into a deep canyon."










And then there were the WOWS! I couldn't help myself, so many Wow sights. Thick snow shelves way up high. Turns out these are glaciers or icefields. And utterly impossible sites like monumental sized mountains.








Also stopped at many Viewpoints along Rt. 93 to take photos.

[<-- Athabasca Glacier]


















We got into the icefield area and climbed up to Athabasca Glacier [above] which has been receding, as have all the glaciers in these fields. Saw a marker where it had been in 1948, the year of my birth; also 1982 and 1992. So everyone could see how fast it is receding.

On hike up I paused to catch my breath - altitude 6,500 km., and took photos of the lateral moraine, the top of which marks the maximum height of the glacier. Melt-off water from this particular field of glaciers goes to 3 different oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Took photos of several other glaciers and icefields. Though I tried, I could not get them all. Travelling in the opposite direction would reveal even more.

Seen along the way: Restaurant in Jasper called Soft Rock Cafe -- a beaver dam! -- people we had met at Dutch Lake Resort -- Caution sign for Caribou crossing

Words seen frequently: alpine, chalet, Nordic, raft, hot springs. waterfall, glacier, icefields, gondola

Vance napped and I drove to the Saskatchewan River Crossing where Rt. 11 meets Rt. 93. Nice motel with mountains all around. Dining room closed minutes before we got there because "too slow" - so we had chicken, scallions, potatoes (prepared from scratch), green beans and salad at chez RV - which I think was better fare. Vance spotted a tiny four inch chipmunk outside of our unit which we claim as ours.

Ended at The Crossing - resort, on Hwy. 93 between Jasper and Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta
(On highway 93 In the national park)
Odometer 60,847.5 (102.7) Total: 2703.0