July 1st, as we had just learned on this trip, was Canada Day, and it was also the day we would depart for Jasper. We were planning to leave at around 9am, however, it was almost 10:30am when we finally said goodbye to the woods behind our condo....
...and the two-story structure that sheltered us for the past four wonderful days.
Icefields Parkway was like a moving postcard. There was a vista point almost at every turn. We had three scheduled stops, however, the first stop we made was not among the scheduled.
It was Bow Lake, right on the side of the road. Its water looked a lot different from that of Lake Louise. What captured me the most was the reflection in the water. It was simply mind-blowingly beautiful, mesmerizing and magical, and it almost made you forget it's actually in this world.
The pink structure in the background, as we learned later on our trip back to Calgary, was the Num Ti Jah Lodge, a historic structure built in the 1940s.
The first scheduled stop was Peyto Lake. In our little boy's eyes, it looked like an animal claw.
The fox tail on our little boy was, after careful consideration, his pick of souvenir from Banff. He got it the day before and insisted on wearing it ever since:-). At one point, a big doggie kept sniffing his tail and must be mistaking him for his own kind :-)!
We continued on our way to our next stop, the Icefield Center..
The Columbia Icefield seen from the Icefield Center..
The icefield has retreated considerably and alarmingly, probably by about 5km, over the last 200 years or so. It may eventually create another glacier lake just like Lake Louise.
After a simple lunch, we started our glacier tour. After a short shuttle bus ride, we boarded one of these monstrous ice explorers that took us right to the icefield. These ice explorers, at about $750K a pop, are only made in Calgary. There are 23 in total 22 of which are employed at this icefield. The remaining one is being used by scientists to explore Antarctica.
I was awestruck looking at the snow and ice that had been there for eternity.
Glacier water at the purest - before it picks up all the other elements along its journey to a lake or river. Everyone was trying to get a taste of the water, and the water was chilling to the bone.
We passed by a few bighorn sheep leisurely grazing on the side of the road on our way to our last stop, the Athabasca Falls.
The Athabasca River runs along the Icefields Parkway..
...and the Endless Chain Ridge to the right...
The viewpoint for the Athabasca Falls was such that we were looking at the fall from the top.
Pyramid Lake Resort was our destination. Just as its name suggests, it's right by the lake.
At the time of our checking in, there was a power outage. Fortunately, shortly after we unpacked, the power was back.
Dinner was had at the restaurant on premise. It was way past 9pm when we walked in. We were seated by the window and clearly saw the lake despite of the late hours.
Judged by the ingredients it used for our dishes, there was absolutely more than a hint of Asian influence.
We were told that there would be a fireworks in town, but except for the kids, everyone was too tired to go. So we called it the day and retired to our rooms.
Another perfect day passed.
- The Canadian Rockies-Day Four
