June 26, 2025
To start our day Barry and I repeated my walk along the river to Waterfowl Lake before we headed north for more of the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park-into Jasper National Park.
When an animal suddenly appears and crosses the road, it can be treacherous for everyone. ONE lane each way, but luckily with a decent shoulder width for both directions.
The Icefields Parkway is a glorious drive with spectacular views the entire way, NOT just at the viewpoints highlighted along the way. FYI – MOST parking areas are found on the west side of the road.
Today’s Views and Stops:
Weeping Falls – When I saw the sign prior to the view area, I wasn’t expecting anything but a dribble of a “falls”
down the cliffside. I was pleasantly surprised. (Which continues to happen along this parkway!!)
Typically, you have to hike a good ways to see a waterfall like this, but this one we got great pictures just from pullout (and while Barry was driving.)
Wilson Icefield – Icefields in the Mount Wilson area.
Columbia Icefield Centre (now we’re in Jasper National Park).
We pulled into a fairly large parking area on the same side as the ice fields. (opposite overlook and pay parking/glacier tour groups)
I couldn’t believe how cold and windy it was here when we got out of Sadie!! I wanted to walk out to the glacier to our right, but the wind and cold stopped me. (And this was WITH wearing my Seahawks ski hat, and my winter coat and gloves! I believe this glacier section is known as the toe of Athabasca Glacier. They have tours that will take you to some part of the glacier, but we weren’t doing that (~$90+ per person (CND). It was amazing to be this close to this beautiful glacier! Blows me away how visible these are from the highway!
Tangle Falls
Easy parking pullout (June 2025)
Goats & Glaciers Viewpoint – No goats today on the rocky cliffs, but the glacier water was beautiful.
ATHABASCA FALLS – Popular stop with a larger parking lot. No problem for us. 🙂 Short hike, but so worth it!
Depending upon when you visit, the cold waters of the Athabaskan River can vary in color. In summer, swollen by the melting glaciers, the Athabasca River runs milky white. Glacier meltwater is heavy with fine silt, the product of grinding down mountains for thousands of years. Know as rock flour, this oil remains suspended in the tumbling water. The different sizes of rock particles reflect different wavelengths, coloring the water gray or white.
In other seasons the glaciers remain frozen and the Athabasca River is fed by run-off, rainwater and snowmelt. Only the smallest of particles remain in the water. There microscopic bits of rock reflect the green and blue parts of the light spectrum, painting the river an icy blue.
Listen to the roar!! There’s a LOT of water moving!!
Just prior to pulling into Jasper, we saw this guy! WOW
Our site in Whistlers Campground JUST south of town of Jasper was the perfect location for two nights.
We drove into town to check things out. Jasper is a pretty small town.
We grabbed something for dinner at Maligne Range. I tried the Brisket Poutine (a Canadian dish). Something I’ve never had before. The brisket was super tender! The gravy that went over the brisket, the cheese curds and fries had a bit of a peppery bite to it. I wasn’t a fan. I’ve never been much of a gravy person, anyway. Too much gravy underneath also made the fries soggy. Barry had a great burger. Halfway through we switched. 🙂 Poutine is not on my repeat list.
Maligne Range was a whiskey tasting place, but we did not indulge. I thought this was interesting though…
After quickly checking out a couple stores, we decided to get laundry done right here in town! A laundry with a coffee shop within it – a first for us. We were the last customers for the day.
Saw this on our way back to the campground.
I think of both my brother, Montana, and my dad when Barry and I explore places like the National Parks – USA and Canada! I miss them both.
Maligne Lake is supposed to be quite pretty and is supposedly where to go for the best chance to see both bears and moose. We briefly thought about getting up extra early tomorrow morning to make the winding, hour+ drive to Maligne Lake. It would be a quick there and back to head to Banff. Knowing it could be an unproductive drive, especially with the weather still to be rainy with low clouds early in the morning, we agreed that the bear and moose will have to wait. Our next visit we will plan to drive over in the morning and enjoy the day there. But for tonight no early morning alarm is needed. 🙂
A great surprise is included in tomorrow’s drive south on the Icefields Parkway to Banff for a couple nights. Great surprise included!