Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Valemount to Rocky Mountain House

We left Valemount on the Yellowhead Highway and started the morning with a short hike when we got to Rearguard Falls.
It was difficult to believe that people actually raft from here.
Yes, the water was cold!
Nice uphill climb back to the car.
Soon Mt. Robson came into view, all 3954 meters of it.
We spent some time in beautiful Jasper, had some coffee, did some souvenier shopping, just forgot to take pictures! Sumwapta Falls was next.
Beautiful falls into a narrow gorge.
Still in short sleaves...
We slowly climbed up in elevation eventually reaching the Sunwapta Pass (2035 meters), the scenery was breathtaking. Suddenly we arrived at Athabasca Glacier.
After an uphill climb we ignored the warning signs and barracades and walked out on to the glacier.

Note the stream of people in the background and also that the temperature had suddenly become much colder!

Hunter with a piece of the ice as Grandma takes pictures. Safely down in the rubble at the tongue of the glacier visible just behind us. Truly an amazing experience.
The scenery on the icefields parkway was just amazing, no wonder it is one of the top 10 drives in the world. But this is Abraham Lake on the David Thompson highway from Saskatchewan River crossing to Rocky Mountain House!
Our only disappointment was seeing no wildlife all day, but then, having left the national parks behind we were surprised by a large black bear who climbed under the guardrail and passed just behind the car. Then a few deer of all descriptions just before we arrived at our destination right at 7pm. What a day.

No comments: