Icefields Parkway & Lake Louise
Updated: Oct 16, 2021
Day 7 - September 22nd, 2021
The sun rose, and we awoke in freezing weather, wrapped in our sleeping bags like hot dogs in a bun.
Today was the day, we'd be going indoors. For two nights, at least, and we were looking forward to it. It hadn't been real cold, but it was cold enough to be constantly uncomfortable outside and in our tent. As a result, we'd been spending a lot of time inside Numa, who could keep us cozy and warm, but was not as spacious as you might expect.
The most affordable indoor places I could find were homestay accommodations, officially sanctioned by the town of Jasper. The website listing had a single photo, that it was $80/night, and it was hosted by Bill and Gloria. Looked good to me! They asked for an e-transfer for a deposit but gladly waived that upon learning that we didn't have the capability as non-Canadians. Nice folks.
We were lucky that moving day was also less than ideal weather -- cloudy with a chance of rain (gotta save the sunny days for hiking!). We ran some errands in town and then showed up outside our homestay unsure of what to expect. Would we have to talk about the weather every time we walked in the door?
We parked on the street and went inside the gate. No one answered the door but an older gentleman was out back puttering around. He didn't know what room his wife had us in and said she would be right back from the store but he would try to ascertain where we would be. After a minute he came back out and said he wasn't sure and we should just wait for Gloria.
So we did, and after 15 minutes he came back saying he had figured it out, bless his heart. I know if it were Vitali and I hosting a homestay, Vitali would have been just as clueless. He lead us around the side of the house and down into the basement. Our room was just what we needed -- original mid-century furniture, dry, and warm. Best of all the private entrance meant we didn't have to talk to anyone! There was a small kitchenette and shared bathroom, who we were only sharing with another couple.
Gloria got back and came down to give us the tour and she was a very sweet person.
We walked to the Downstream Lounge in town and picked up dinner, which ended up being excellent. BBQ ribs, steak bites, falafel, and muscovy duck!
Being well-fed and warm, we drifted off to a peaceful slumber.
- - -
This post covers what we did along the Icefields Parkway and around Lake Louise, covering trails in both Jasper and Banff National Parks.
Day 8 - September 23rd, 2021
It was clearer this morning -- for once, Mount Edith Cavell was not shrouded in weather, but visibly cloaked in snow. We drove south to hike Chephren & Cirque Lakes, which could be combined to be about an 8 mile trip. As we headed south it turned overcast.
I didn't talk too much about it in the last post but the weather had been fantastic -- low 60s, even near 70 a few times. Besides that 24 hours of rain we had the weather had consistently been partly cloudy/partly sunny. The clouds travelled extremely fast and breaks in the cloud cover meant occasional sunshine when we were lucky. It was never fully clear though.
Incredibly, the townsite of Jasper was not covered by radar, and we found the 7 day forecasts to be no better than flipping a coin. You could rely on the next day's weather about 80% of the time and anything beyond that was subject to change.
We pulled in to the trailhead and were surprised to see we were the first car there. We headed out and the trail started off innocently enough.
We headed towards Chephren Lake first. After the split the trail quickly deteriorated -- standing water, mud, and roots were not just covering the trail, they were the trail. It was slow going avoiding all of the hazards. We were also a little nervous being alone out there.
We reached the lake before long and was rewarded with a beautiful scene. We weren't overly impressed though, our dopamine receptors having been blasted with everything we'd done the six days prior.
We headed back towards the other lake, and ran into a solo woman hiker who nervously asked us if we saw any bears. We were glad to tell her no.
We didn't think it would be possible but the trail got even worse headed towards Cirque Lake. It was near constant jumping from root to root and slip sliding around. We approached the lake from the outlet and spent the last 30 minutes dodging water, rocks, and huge roots. Oh, and I was also wearing running shoes, taking a break from my boots for my tendon. Vitali was extraordinarily unhappy and I felt similarly.
Finally we made it. Cirque was prettier than Chephren although the sun was not out so the water looked more gray than the brilliant aqua that it hinted. It had also gotten cold and windy.
We turned around, dreading the trip hazards ahead, and eventually made our way back, leaving the walking sticks we had picked up from the forest floor at the trailhead for the next unsuspecting hikers.
We stopped by Mistaya Canyon on the way back to Jasper. It didn't have the length of Malign Canyon but it was still very picturesque.
We stopped by Sunwapta Falls too -- my friend had recommended we visit these (or so I mistakenly thought! She had actually recommended Wapta Falls, not SUNwapta Falls). It was another popular hotspot and the trailhead was busy, even being on a gray day later in the afternoon. We went all the way down to the lower falls where there were far fewer people.
The sky was dreary but the falls were still stunning. I stood on the bridge at the upper falls for ten minutes waiting for people to stop vibrating the walkway so I could take a picture...
We headed back to our rented room and enjoyed another delicious dinner from the Downstream Lounge -- bbq ribs and REAL poutine! The poutine was excellent, everything I hoped the savory meal would be -- real hearty, calorie dense, comfort food. I think the depth of flavor in the brown gravy is the secret to success.
Day 9 - September 24th, 2021
We packed up from Grandma's basement and headed south towards our campsite in Lake Louise. We'd stay there for three nights, and the campsite would close the day after. We were riding the wave of closing campsites!
We left early again to catch the sunrise along the parkway, and also to hit Athabasca Falls, before our Columbia Icefield Adventure!
We pulled into the Athabasca Falls parking lot (which was huge), and walked over to the falls. Fortunately for me and my tripod there was only one other person around at that early hour. The water was a stunning aquamarine.
Waterfalls sufficiently photographed, we hopped back on the parkway and headed towards the Columbia Icefields.
We stopped by Tangle Creek Falls right before the Discovery Center -- I had 10 minutes to shoot these before we'd be late!
My Dad told me about this tour he and his wife had went on when they visited here a few years back. We looked at it and it was relatively affordable for a guided tour (154 CAD), so we decided to splurge and do it. It included a drive out on to the Athabasca Glacier in a giant glacier tractor (as Vitali described it) and then a visit to the Skywalk down the road.
I had also read that one of the glacier tractors had rolled over and killed three people last year, so I was a little nervous.
We were bussed from the Discovery Center over to the Ice Explorer loading zone and then loaded up on to the behemoth of a vehicle. They had installed seatbelts in response to the accident but they were only strongly suggested. We intended to walk away with our limbs intact so we buckled up and prepared for the journey.
These things were pretty slow, and it took about 15 minutes of crawling for it to travel probably less than a mile to the glacier.
The ice explorer weighs a whopping 55,000 lbs, with special made low pressure tires designed for jaunts onto the snow and ice. There are 22 of them operating here, by Brewster Tours, founded by two brothers who were in the right place at the right time to get a contract with the government! There is one other ice explorer operating out in the world -- at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
The ride was uneventful -- up a hill then down a very steep hill and on to the glacier. There seemed to be a lot of safety checks in place. We could see earthwork vehicles staged nearby -- Brewster has to constantly maintain the road to the glacier as the glacier is constantly moving beneath it.
They let us off and we had 30 minutes to play on the ice. Vitali stripped off his clothes to the whistles and catcalls of onlookers and later we posed with the Canadian Flag. We even filled our water bottle with glacial meltwater. It tasted kind of like a freezer...
Above the glacier were the actual Columbia Icefields, the largest icefield in the North American Rocky Mountains, about 240,000 years old. Icefields form over long periods of time when massive amounts of snow compress and turn to ice. These icefields outflow to glaciers below, Columbia itself feeding six, including Athabasca. The ice slowly flows down the mountain, advancing about 8 feet per year, but receding 16 feet.
We also learned that nearby is a triple divide hydrological apex -- one of three in North America, where water flows in to three separate watersheds. This one flows to the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and Hudson Bay.
We got the "off-peak" discount on the tour, it being so early at 10:15AM. Lucky for us early-birds we got the sun for our visit and as soon as we were off the glacier it clouded back up.
We took the ice crawler back and from the loading area were put on a coach bus and taken to the Skywalk.
The skywalk was a beautiful feat of engineering, designed over a period of five years, and constructed over two summers, utilizing over 386,300 lbs of steel. It confidently projects from a steep slope (some would call cliff-like), some 900 feet above the valley floor below, supported by both a steel cable and steel girders.
The obvious design challenge was to create something that didn't detract from the magnificent scenery on all sides. I think you'd be hard pressed to design something that completely faded away, what with the gravity defying cantilever and all that... The weathering steel was a nice touch, and probably the only solution it could have been.
The glass walkway is 1.25" thick. I thought I would have a hard time walking on the glass -- I had done it once before when I was young at a science museum -- and I remember my body fighting against my command to move my feet across the clear surface. This time was fine.
There was a series of waterfalls far below that you could see from the walkway that were quite dramatic. There was a small exhibit on the design and construction that was interesting to read too.
We caught the bus back to the Discovery Center and south we continued towards Lake Louise.
Each time we drove by this particular feature the leaves were a little closer to peak.
One thing I noticed -- the vastness of the waterways everywhere, filled with water and ice smoothed rocks. In late fall the last trickles of water were merely meandering downstream. I would love to see the rivers in the spring, with the heady rush of winter's meltwater.
We had one more stop for the day, Bow Lake and Bow Glacier Falls. The trail ran around the lake and up behind it -- passing by a summer lodge with a striking red roof.
The hike was pleasant -- mostly flat except for a small hill to be climbed up and over near the end. A large black dog off leash (shame on the owners!) ran at me and jumped and nearly knocked me over. They didn't even apologize. I was pretty mad, and thought of how I'd tell them off ten minutes later.
The waterfall was just okay. It was pretty windy so we didn't stay long.
We followed the runoff back towards the lake, which travelled through a short canyon, which was quite pretty.
The sun had come out in the time we were at the falls and Bow Lake was LIT!
We saw a couple getting their wedding photos taken and I told them IT'S A TRAP! They laughed nervously.
After a long day we finally arrived at the Lake Louise Campground, which is surrounded by an electric fence to keep the large wildlife out. This was impressive and we ate snacks in our tent with reckless abandon.
We had noticed a similar fence along the parkway. Whenever you'd exit the parkway you would either have to cross the rounded bar road barrier or pass through a gate in the fence at the trailhead. There were also wildlife crossing bridges over the parkway, that I suppose the animals eventually learn to use. I learned this system was recently installed and has cut down wildlife-vehicular fatalities by 80%.
The fence did not keep out small wildlife though and we found a nibbled peanut butter cup a few days later...
We had a good campsite, right near a restroom and not too far from the shower building. We arrived on a Friday night and the campground was full. I didn't realize the dates until we were already there -- we hoped the trails wouldn't be too busy on what we were hearing was the last nice weekend of the year.
Day 10 - September 25th, 2021
We woke up around 5:00AM to get up and head to Lake Louise in order to secure parking. I had read on Alltrails that parking was competitive and on top of that it was the weekend. We arrived around 6:00AM, got a spot and sat in the car for an hour. We watched the parking lot fill, with hundreds of people heading off to the trail. I couldn't understand why people were hiking in the darkness. We've done several sunrise summits before so we get why, but why here? I doubted all these tourists were summiting anything anytime soon, just heading up to Lake Agnes and the Big Beehive. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It got closer to sunrise and we headed to the lake to try to get some photos. Us, along with a hundred other photographers. The shoreline was crowded with people, even with the below freezing temps...
What really got me as I looked around is that everyone was taking the exact same landscape shot.
Two chicks pushed their way through the crowd to launch their sups into the lake. You could practically hear the rage from the photographers. Fortunately, they paddled out quickly and didn't detract from the scene.
Once I had enough light to shoot handheld, I did. The sun rose and we got a blush of pink on the mountain but it quickly disappeared behind clouds.
We waited until about 45 minutes after sunrise before calling it and heading up the trail. Once we left of course, the sun came out and hit the mountains.
We too, were heading up to Lake Agnes, but then beyond to Devil's Thumb and the Plain of Six Glaciers. A ranger at the Jasper Visitor Center had warned us of a group of 4 restriction in the area, which I hadn't been able to confirm -- but knew that this hike would be busy, so we probably didn't have to worry about it. At certain times of the year the park will require 4 hikers in a group on some trails to avoid grizzly encounters...
The first part of the trail was a steady climb up to Mirror Lake. We passed quite a few groups on their way up.
The final stretch up to Lake Agnes was quite scenic. Views to the left dropped off steeply and you could see mountains in the distance, the sun illuminating the famed larches. We kept meaning to google what the larches looked like but saw them in person first.
Up at Lake Agnes is a tea house, which was absolutely swarmed when we got up there. A hot beverage was tempting but there was already a long line and we wanted to beat the crowd further up so we left. We continued along the north shore of Lake Agnes, which was framed by larches, looking to be at about peak.
They were stunning! A warm amber, like fall sunshine made corporeal. I have throw pillows the exact color and I didn't know it before but the evergreen and yellow pillows I put out for fall matched the scene exactly. Lake Agnes was quite still and almost a perfect mirror.
At the head of Lake Agnes we split, intending to come up to Devils Thumb from the north side. We went a ways and lost the trail though, so we turned around and went up from the south.
The trail split at the top of a series of switchbacks, where everyone headed left to the Big Beehive. We headed to the right, to an easy scramble up to Devils Thumb. So named based on the shadow it casts.
The trail immediately started off with a short scramble up about 10 feet, showing us the block-like make up of the rocks in the area. The trail then narrowed and hugged the steep slope for a ways, then made a sharp turn up through a pretty sketchy area of loose rock and dirt. The view was epic. Massive peaks suffused our field of vision, and we were right up among them. We even heard the booming cracks of the moving glaciers in the distance!
After we gained the saddle, there was only a steep hike left and then a short scramble up to the summit. We met a guy heading down who gave us some tips on where to visit. He said he been planning this hike for 3 years! We asked him if the Plain of Six Glaciers (a cashier had recommended it to us, and followed the valley below) was worth hiking after being up here, where we could see the valley and surrounding mountains clearly. He said no, so that cut quite a few miles off our hike.
We also met a couple coming off the thumb who happened to speak Russian!
We topped out and were rewarded with a spectacular 360 degree view of the Lake Louise area, the Big Beehive and Little Beehive, and Lake Agnes clearly in the foreground, the larches aglow with sunshine. Spectacular.
After snacking and talking to some folks we headed back down, retracing our steps through the sketchy part, where we watched someone knock a rock off the trail that violently hurtled directly across the trail below. Then a very large rock in front of us came loose and almost slid down the trail towards other people. Vitali caught it and put it somewhere safe. Yikes!
We passed quite a few people coming up, including some folks who asked if the trail would get any worse than it was. We had to tell them, unfortunately yes.
Lake Agnes was now partially in the sun and showing its true colors, a deep emerald green.
We decided to head back down a different route. This one was practically deserted, although we did catch back up with the Russians and hiked down with them the rest of the way -- they live in Calgary, and Vitaliy was a mechanical engineer!
We went back to camp and enjoyed the hot showers, which were in a recently remodeled building and very nice. All of our shower experiences were far superior than what we endured this past summer.
Day 11 - September 26th, 2021
The next morning we planned to visit the other major tourist attraction in the area -- Moraine Lake. I was reading trail reports of the lot being even more competitive (smaller) and being almost full at 4AM and I was NOT down with that. Very conveniently, Parks Canada has a shuttle that will take you up from a park n ride in town to either lake. I don't know why more people didn't take advantage of this.
We bought tickets two days before for the 6AM-7AM departure. I wanted to make sure we were there for sunrise. We showed up on time and saw some people rolling up and asking for tickets on site... which the website clearly states they don't do. SMH
We arrived at Moraine Lake and weren't sure where to go so we wandered around in the dark for a bit until we figured out we should head to The Rock Pile, where several other people and photographers were already gathered. It was maybe 6:45 and the sun was still below the horizon for another hour so we sat and waited.
Eventually, the sun rose, but once again, clouds obscured the light from illuminating all the peaks. We got a little bit, but not much. A lady came over and commiserated with Vitali -- her husband too, was a photographer, and this was the first time she had come out with him on an early morning sunrise quest. She had spied Vitali sitting behind me pitifully and felt a pang of recognition.
We left the rock pile and prepared for our hike -- through Larch Valley and up to Sentinel Pass. From what I had gathered, this was the spot to see the larches, and now was peak larch viewing. We did confirm there was no group of 4 restriction here.
The first part of the hike was a fairly steep climb up to the valley. We passed a TON of people. Finally we made it up to the bench. There were a few folks here and there but it wasn't too busy. The Valley of the Ten Peaks provided a dramatic backdrop.
We took a moment to turn around and the sun was doing its best to outcompete the mountains. We walked through the larches for maybe 15 minutes before popping out into an alpine area. It was mostly cloudy at this point and we hoped the sun would come out for our return journey.
We passed a few small ponds, and turned our gazes towards our next goal -- Sentinel Pass.
It was a bit of a grind to get up, sometimes steep with loose gravel, but pretty quickly we gained the saddle. Our Russian friend Vitaliy told us Sentinel Peak to the right was a good climb but we weren't feeling it -- it was very windy.
From the pass, the Valley of the Ten Peaks was to our south, and Paradise Valley was to our north. I had wanted to hike into Paradise Valley on another day, but we ran out of time.
Vitali did his best impersonation of a Greek God astride a marble pedestal.
We realized passes were our new favorite kind of hike. You got 360 views just like peaks with only half of the effort! On the way down we passed an actual non-stop line of people slogging their way up. Some people didn't even have water with them... I guess there are stupid tourists everywhere!
We were waiting for the shuttle to take us back down and we got about 60 seconds of sun on the lake, before it passed and once again became grey.
We got back to camp that night and found it empty. We were all alone! We picked up some gluten free cheese filled tortellini from the store and talked about what we were most excited about -- not waking up at 5AM the next day. Vitali then went off to set a course record at a nearby segment!
Day 12 - September 27th, 2021
We packed up camp and headed to free wi-fi until we could check in to our next campsite in Banff. The free wi-fi was found at the Visitor Center where I picked up the hiking guides for Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier, and Mount Revelstoke, and realized I hadn't set aside enough time to see them all! I figured an extra week would be great, as long as the weather held. After some discussion we decided to extend our stay and we made all the arrangements.
We set up at our new campsite, in Tunnel Mountain Village I, which was pretty nice. Right across from the restrooms and no one in the site across from us. The campsite as a whole seemed very empty too.
We headed over to the Banff Upper Hot Springs (which begged the question -- where were the lower hot springs? Find out in the next post!), one of three park-run hot springs in the area. It was okay -- it was just a pool behind a building with a nice view of Rundle Mountain. There were a lot of people even with covid measures in place, and we didn't stay too long. A guy in the pool recommended Radium Hot Springs to us, which we will visit soon.
Stay tuned for more 100% Canadian rocky mountain goodness.
Comments