Day 8: Banff to Jasper, via the Icefield Parkway - Friday, 5/17/24
Sorry to those who rely on a new blog posting each night to fall asleep. We couldn't get this done at night due to a lack of connectivity. But don't fret, it is time to help you with an afternoon nap!
Picture of the day:
Us at Waterfowl Lake
This morning we woke to a chilly 34-degree drizzle that quickly turned into snow. Since it was snowing and since we emptied our tanks yesterday, we got an early start toward Jasper.
Before we go on though, a quick logistics item. Many readers have asked how the bed works, so we decided to video us retracting the bed. Here's the video.
As you guessed, many readers haven't really asked about how the bed works, but we figured we'd share anyways. One other logistics item, and it is real. We needed a way to hold garbage in the front of the RV and a bungee cord plus grocery sack did the trick. Center console looks messy, huh? It is.
As we drove, the cruise control stopped working, stating the collision prevention sensor wasn't working. We figured it was snow/ice buildup on the front of the RV, which is what it was. At our first gas stop, we brushed the front of the RV clean and didn't have any more issues with the cruise control.
Our first stop was Lake Louise, which turned out to be a very popular spot. Luckily we got there around 8:30 AM, so it wasn't too crowded. We first got gas and looked for LP (which we didn't end up getting until later in the day - LP must be dispensed by a designated worker, and some places that have LP don't have a worker there all day).
We've seen beautiful blue/green pictures of Lake Louise before, but we found a lake that was mostly still frozen and white. There was a couple inches of fresh snow in the area and it continued to fall through most of our visit.
After taking a couple pictures at Lake Louise, we started the Lake Agnes Hike, which is a moderate 4.3 mile out-and-back hike that gains about 1,200 feet of altitude. The trail was narrow and snow-covered, which slowed progress both on the way up and even more so on the way down. We saw very few people on this hike until we were part way down.
On the way to Lake Agnes, we passed Mirror Lake which was not mirroring much of anything today.
Lynda and I noticed we look the same on all the pictures.
At Lake Agnes is a tea house. However, the tea house doesn't open until June 4 this year, so no tea for us. The hike was still worth it, though. After a short stay at the top, including putting some coats back on, we started the descent. The steepness of the trail combined with the fresh and sometimes packed snow made for a slippery trip down. We passed numerous groups heading up, confirming our assumption that it was better to get started earlier to avoid the crowds.
Lake Agnes
Lake Agnes Tea House
Small waterfall near the Tea House
These are our hiking poles, sitting in the RV. We found out again today that the poles don't help at all when they are in the RV and we are hiking. We'll remember them next time - probably.
Also on the way down, we ran into a guy who was stopped and eating some snow with bare hands. He asked us how far he had left and whether we thought he needed bear spray. All that was good. The part we found funny is that he was carrying a small, open umbrella and using it to keep snow from hitting him. It was just a strange sight to see someone a couple miles into nature on a solid uphill hike carrying an umbrella.
When we got back to Lake Louise, it was really crowded. Lynda compared it to Disneyland. We can only imagine how much more crowded it becomes when the weather is nice. We worked our way to our RV and headed out. We still aren't sure if we were supposed to pay parking, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough if we were supposed to.
We departed Lake Louise and headed to Jasper on the Icefield Parkway. Despite rain, snow, and clouds that obstructed our views, the drive is truly amazing. For long portions there are mountains on both sides plus a beautiful aqua blue-green glacier-fed river. There are numerous pullouts which all seem to have great views (and hikes) of rivers, mountains, and lakes. We highly recommend this drive and making sure you have plenty of time to stop and take in the views.
We finally found a lake that wasn't still frozen - Waterfowl Lake. Well, it was partially frozen still, but still showing off the famous green color.
A short while later we stopped at an overlook of the North Saskatchewan River. The rivers here are very wide compared to what we've seen in other places.
From the roadside after climbing a steep hill. The road is in the center of the picture.
Our last stop on the Icefield Parkway was Athabasca Falls. This is an amazing waterfall that shows the power of water over time.
We headed directly into Jasper for some gas and propane. We swung by Jasper Brewing Company for a beer and quick snack before heading to the campground. 1 of the 3 beers was good (Jasper the Bear Ale). 1 was okay (a peach Kolsch), and 1 wasn't a match for our tastes.
Tonight we are camping in Jasper at Whistler's Campground. It is a mostly open plot of land surrounded by mountains with around 700 sites.
Action shot of Dave dumping!
There are elk (and elk poop) all over the place, which is pretty cool (the elk, not the poop). The elk are good supervisors - the one below made sure I was plugging in the electrical connection according to code.
Lynda says this one struck a pose!
We took a picture of the facilities (bathroom and showers) because they are so nice. They even have little lock boxes inside with a USB connection to charge your devices. These campgrounds get tons of visitors each year and the Canadian Parks system seems to have figured out how to manage these numbers and maintain the natural environment.
Tomorrow starts our trek into less populated and less visited areas of British Columbia and the Yukon. We have some rough plans in place and plan to cover more miles each day than we have been doing. But we'll see what happens and adjust accordingly.
Total Miles today: 291km; 181 miles
Total miles to date: 1971. I imagine a few of you will go through each preceding blog and add up the daily miles, possibly even using Excel, only to suffer great disappointment when you find your total doesn't match the total here. Don't worry, some rounding has been performed. We got the RV with just about 3 miles on it, so total miles for the trip is easy to calculate.
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