BANFF TO JASPER

Thursday, May 29

We pulled out of the campground in a steady rain and headed for Jasper.  We had originally planned to drive up the Bow Valley Parkway again because the views were terrific and the highway was good enough for our big rigs.  However, because of the rain and clouds, we elected to go on up the Trans-Canada Highway 1.  During the day, the weather came and went--actually, the sun timed its reappearance almost perfectly for the stops we wanted to make as we drove up the Icefields Parkway.  At Bow Pass [elevation 6810], we even caught a few snowflakes!

Canadian Rockies on the way to Jasper

View from Bow Pass on the Icefields Parkway

Break in the weather at Bow Pass

The featured stop was at the Columbia Icefields with a tour up onto the Athabasca Glacier.  We rode a regular bus to a transfer point and climbed aboard a special "bus" to take us up onto the glacier.

Each bus carries a price tag of $1.3 million!!

The wheels are 5.5 feet tall, and the bus features all-wheel drive to manage the route up to the glacier.
At one point, the "road" goes down a 34% grade!  The driver put our chariot in SuperLow to crawl down this steep grade--and had to use it again coming back to the transfer point!!

We had about 10 minutes to wander around on the glacier and take pictures.



Athabasca Glacier

The glacier is receding about 10 meters per year

Jack and Betty in front of Athabasca Glacier

Tam and Ray at Athabasca Glacier

"Bus" returning from the glacier about to climb 34% grade hill up a moraine.

Up close and personal:  the "face" of the Athabasca Glacier

Bundled up against the wind chill at the glacier

The tongue of the Athabasca Glacier

From the mountains just to the north of the glacier, there is a unique feature:  from Dome Mountain, the snow melt drains in three directions--one river flows to the Arctic Ocean, and a second flows all across Canada to the Atlantic (Hudson Bay), while the third flows into the Pacific Ocean.  A very unique triple continental divide!