Day Nine: The Icefields Parkway

You’ll have to excuse us, our eyes have suffered from ‘extreme beautiful scenery around every corner’ fatigue. By the end of the day we were so over mountains!

The Icefields Parkway is a stretch of highway between Jasper and Banff which is renowned for being one of the most scenic journeys in the world. And it is. If you drove the route at the usual speed and didn’t stop anywhere, it would take about two hours. If, like us, you stopped everywhere and dawdled, it can take the whole day. We left Jasper at 10am and arrived at the Mosquito Creek campground on the outskirts of Lake Louise at 5.30pm. We'd been dodging hoards of japanese tourists in coaches all along the road, and many a white RV had been sitting behind us on the highway. Seeing as it was a Saturday, we were a bit worried that the campground would be busy – however, it was very peaceful with a nice set-up. (and self-registration again! Ch-ching!)


Some of the spectacular scenery along the route

As I mentioned, we stopped at pretty much every look-out point and some other sights too – like the Athabasca Falls, which were very impressive. Jethro made an inukshuk sculpture on the beach which he was very proud of. We drove on to the Sunwapta falls whilst seeing lots of familiar faces that we'd just left at the last scenic spot. We spent the whole day bumping into the same middle-aged English couple who seemed to think we were following them on purpose.


The rushing water of Athabasca Falls


Interesting rock formations caused by the flowing water


Jethro's work of art

The main attraction on the Icefields Parkway is the Columbia Icefield – a glacier near the road that you can walk to. There are many other glaciers along the way, but most of them can’t be seen from the comfort of your car, or coach…


The large section of glacial ice creeping back year after year

We were a bit disappointed when we got to the Icefield – it was chaos with bus-loads of tourists and as soon as we set foot in the visitors centre, there were kids, pensioners, harrassed parents everywhere. We’ve been used to the quiet life of late, so we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. We drove to the car park near the bottom of the glacier, having decided against paying $33 each to go on one of the snow buses that drive over the glaciers surface. All the way up to where the massive field of ice meets rock, there are signs to show you how much the glacier has receeded over the years and how we should be doing our best to stop greenhouse gases. And then they go and have bloody great buses driving over the surface of the glacier! Seemed a bit daft to us, but there you go…

We set foot on the ice – just to say we had. The various drawings depicting how you could die if you fell into a crevasse were enough to put anyone off venturing any further than the roped off areas anyway, so we went back to the van to carry on our journey.


Slip sliding on the ice


Immediate evidence of global warming - large chunks of ice breaking away from the glacier

We did want to go for a hike to get off the beaten path a bit, but seeing as we were taking so long to drive to where we needed to be by nightfall, we thought we’d press on so that we didn’t have to rush the drive.




The seemingly never-ending highway 93

Another minor disappointment of the day was the lack of wildlife. We’ve seen turquoise lakes, crystal clear rivers, snow-capped mountains, more goats than is strictly necessary and beautiful autumnal trees turning yellow to brown. But a bear sighting would have been nice too!


Jethro taking in the scenery. There was a Mount Wooley along the route but we couldn't find it for sure.


Bow Lake - check out the colour of the water!

Day Eight. Jasper again

We got up at the ungodly hour of 7am to go horse-riding today. We had to be at the Pyramid Riding Stables by 8.30am so I made a hasty breakfast and drove to the stables to be confronted by lots of young men in cowboy hats – I was in seventh heaven… ;-)

The boys showed us to our horses – mine was called Plinko, which sounds like a nice name for a nice horse – wrong! Plinko – or ‘Mr Grumpy’ as I shall forever refer to him as, decided he’d got out his bed the wrong side and proceeded to bite anyone and anything that came near him. Once I was on top, he was fine. A bit stubborn, but deserving of the occasional pat. Jethro’s horse was gorgeous – called Smokey and just a real gentleman – really steady, looked half-asleep the whole time and liked to eat a lot.


Jethro and his good ol' boy


Plinko really didn't want to pose for photographs!

We opted for a three hour ride along Cottonwood Creek which went past Patricia Lake – there were only three of us to start with plus our guide Jimmy, who was a real cowboy and owned five horses of his own. When I asked all of their names, he said he just tended to call them all ‘bud’ to be on the safe side! We were joined by another party at the end of our first hour and became a regular little drive – all we needed were some cattle and some wagons and we would have looked the part…


Cowboy Jimmy (whose surname wasn't Dean)

We heard a funny story over the radio that one of the other guides had been bucked off his horse and had to run after the beast to try and grab him – very amusing. Particularly as he was guiding a full days ride for two people who had never been on a horse before. After all that had happened they decided to cancel their ride and come back to the ranch!

It was a steady trek through some fantastic country, but not that easy for someone whose never been on a horse before. The fastest I got to go was a steady trot on Plinko, but I was riding western style which I’ve never done before. It was nice and comfortable, but very different to the english style.

As we ambled past Patricia Lake, Jimmy told us an interesting fact that there’s a shipwreck in the water – of a gunship that was built entirely of wood and ice as an experiment - 'Operation Habbakuk' was charged with building a prototype aircraft carrier as the theory was that 'ice ships' might be cheaper and more durable than standard ships, and that they wouldn't attract magnetic mines. In 1943 fifteen men spent two months building a 1-to-50-scale model prototype. It was considered seaworthy but full-size versions were never built because of the cost, and because the war ended. With spring thaw the ship melted and the wooden forms and refrigeration equipment sank.


Hard to believe they built a warship right there.


Another shot of Patricia Lake from higher on the trail.

Surprise surprise, it was a british chap who thought about making a ship out of ice – it was impermeable to radar and wouldn’t burn if hit by missiles. The Canadian government found him in a mental instituion and when the operation ended, they put him right back in there! Meanies!

We finished our ride and felt a bit saddle sore afterwards. It had been a long time since we’ve been on horses and my legs were a little wobbly when I jumped off. We put aside the rest of the day for chores like finding an internet café, doing the laundry and some souvenir shopping.


We had to sit down after a few hours in the saddle!

Day Seven. Jasper

We woke up in the morning and opened the car door to find a bunch of elk staring at us. Bit of a surprise but a nice one none-the-less. We decided that today was a hiking day, so we went on a 10km walk up a steep hill to the Bald Hills.


One of the lady elks hanging around our campsite.

No, seriously, it was worth all the effort. We took the road out to Maligne Lake (a very famous lake – the most photographed in Canada apparently) and before we’d even got to the lake, we saw a wonderful large bull elk having a bit of chow on the river plains – fabulous. (Jethro would like to add that we wouldn’t have seen this if his map-reading was better as we missed the turning we were supposed to take.) We carried on along the correct road and saw another bull elk just at the side. (My turn to point out that wrong turns in a park as big as this one are generally a Very Bad Idea and if you’re meant to see an elk you will.)


The impressive bull having a bit of brekkie.

I must confess that the best wildlife spot of the day has to go to Jethro – he may be a rubbish map-reader but he more than made up for it by spotting a black mummy bear and her two little bundles of fur in the form of cubs, eating some berries at the side of the road. Every other car missed it (as they were going so fast – idiots), but we saw them and stopped to marvel at the cuteness of it all. The mum was so small, it quite took away my fear of bears. The only problem was that in typical sods law fashion, we were snapping away when the memory card decided it was full on the camera. Aaaaaargh! And then, just as we were trying to rectify that, a ruddy great yellow school bus full of noisy children came around the corner and scared the bears away – double aaaaaaaargh!


Look! It's a bear!


And two cubs!

The hike up was tough, there’s no getting around that. It was uphill all the way in varying degrees of steepness and we were the only souls on it, so we made a lot of noise in case any more bears were lurking. We saw a lot of red squirrels, and were beginning to understand them when they squeak a lot – they have different squeaks depending on their mood and are quite good at posing for the cameras when they want to. I think they're are my favourite animals here so far.


The old fire access road that was the trail up the mountain


The view from the top


Jethro on bear patrol


Another great view of the lake - with the glacier in the middle of the peaks opposite


Lunchtime!

We followed the dirt road steadily for about an hour and a half – with lots of rest stops – and made it to the top. What a view. We could see down to Maligne Lake, across numerous peaks and the most breathtaking sight of all was a glacier – really fantastic. Had a spot of lunch looking at all this marvellous scenery and saw a few more fellow hikers had braved it to the summit – there was no way we were going right to the top – the onward path looked like a killer.

We took a different route down – and were pleased that we hadn’t taken it up. It took us 17 minutes to scramble down the path but it would have taken about four hours to climb up it – it was very steep. I felt extremely embarrassed to pass a fifty year old–ish couple lugging camera equipment all the way to the top who were barely breaking sweat. Oh to be old and fit as a fiddle!

More squirrel natterings on the way down and we were back at the edge of the lake. We took a breather in form of a cup of tea in the large restaurant near the lake and feeling fortified, went for a wander. We were going to take a boat ride over the lake, but at $41 a pop each, we decided against it. We booked in to go horseriding tomorrow for three hours and that’s something we're very excited about.


A view from the shoreline


The two of us trying not to look too pooped

On the drive home, I commented that I’d love to see some bighorn mountain sheep. Lo and behold, we turned a corner and there they were, standing in a little herd in the middle of the road and sticking their heads in all the cars that had stopped to gawp – including ours. We got a little worried when they started nibbling bits of the car, but what the hell, it doesn’t belong to us!


Talk about getting up close and personal!


Are you looking at me funny, eh?

Day Six. Obed Lakes to Jasper National Park

We arrived in Jasper, possibly the most amazing place ever to have graced the front of my eyeballs. Waterton was special, yes, but this place was wowza…


Travelling into the park, along the Athabasca River


Mountains here, there and everywhere

I couldn’t help but feel a little put-out by all the other people around… we're not used to that after all this time, particularly as it's supposed to be the off-season. Once we’d visited the information centre and got our bearings, we felt a bit better. We set up camp in a place called Whistlers, which is the only campsite near Jasper town itself that is open in the winter. It was very big, but nice all the same – showers, hot water, free firewood. All for the princely sum of $23 per night…

We had some lunch at a place called Earls, which Jethro’s parents liked very much on their visit. We sat on the terrace in the blistering sunshine – yes, it was still sunny - and had a look at all the leaflets that were heaped upon us in the Visitors Centre.

We also managed to squeeze a small hike into the day – we did an hour’s walk up to a place called Old Fort Point – the views were pretty stunning across the mountains and the town itself. We had a bit of a ‘mini’adventure’ having taken the wrong turn and ended up scaling down a cliff-face – there was a beaten path there, but it was a bit sketchy and very steep in places – all good fun though. We didn’t see anything bigger than a squirrel on the hike, even though there are warnings everywhere that it’s rutting season, so the bull elks are getting their game on with all the lady elks and are a bit over-protective because of it – hence, we could get trampled by one if we get too close. Bears are the least of our worries, it would seem!


The hiking trail up to Old Fort Point


Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Fnar fnar!


One of the views on the way up.


Another wonderful view.


Jethro at the top with Jasper in the background.

At the end of our hike, Jethro was convinced that all the wildlife in the park were hiding from us – apart from squirrels. Not so, as I spotted a herd of elk meandering across the road so we stayed and watched them for a bit. We heard the bull elk calling to his females – it sounded very strange as a mating bugle – a bit like a squeaky gate!

Day Five. The Cowboy Trail from Cochrane to Obed Lakes Provincial Park

The huge RV park was pretty souless, even if the showers were hot and the toilets were clean. You generally get about four or five minutes for a dollar to take your shower – it’s amazing how much you can get done in that time! I’ve been dealing with a lack of hairdryer pretty admirably. I just wash ‘n’ go! Without brushing my hair! Desired rumpled effect works! Huzzah!

The lady in charge was good to let us stay at the park as she doesn’t usually let people sleep in the back of their vehicles on the premises. (which made us feel like a right pair of pikeys!) We were surprised at how busy it was but she said that lots of workers sleep in RVs provided by companies as they’re cheaper than hotels.

We were woken from a pretty good nights sleep by rain on the roof of the van. Seeing as we hadn’t had any rain since we left Fernie, we thought it was about time. It’s been pretty warm compared to our first night in Waterton when we thought we’d freeze to death by the end of the holiday. I got my first full seven hours of kip so I was feeling very much refreshed. Because of the drizzle, we declined to make porridge on our little camping stove and opted for a Stabucks latte and a muffin for breakfast instead. Yes, we know that’s against the rules of camping but if I’m cold and wet I’m past caring!


We saw some pretty impressive things on our trip, including a house move with a difference!

We put a lot of miles behind us and finished our journey along the Cowboy Trail. It might seem as if we rushed it a bit, but we’re cramming a lot into this trip. We stopped at a place called Rocky Mountain House for lunch – it’s not a house as such – it’s a town. We found a quaint little spot in a campground by a river and had some hot soup and a sandwich. Jethro wandered off, just at the precise time I needed the camera to take some shots of the most darling little red squirrel being a complete comedy genius and sticking it’s bum in the air while it rummaged in a bin. I could have watched the little critter all day and I wished I could have got a picture of him! Oh well…


Our picnic spot.


Beaver attack!


The leaves turning with a crazy sky above.

The trees along our route were spectacular as the leaves are turning all sorts of lovely colours which has made for a pleasant drive. One thing that struck us on our journey along Highway 22 – all the small towns look the same. There is inevitably a Canadian Tire, a Walmart, an A&W and a huge mall of some kind. We found this a bit sad in a way as we preferred the smaller blink-and-you-miss-them towns along the route. At least there were numerous places to stop and buy essentials like whiskey, marshmallows and firewood. Staple ingredients for a successful camping trip!

We found a great little camping spot in a provincial park called Obed Lakes for the night. It was a really pretty area and very cheap – the camping fee is done on a trust basis which they call Self Registration – you turn up and put $5 in the pot to stay the night as there are no wardens around. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere with forest on both sides and a lake in between which gave us the jitters when it got dark, so we lit another fire and were soon joined by two other camping groups – safety in numbers I say! (I’d just like to add, for the record, that this campsite was awesome – you got free firewood too – that’s a pretty good deal for a fiver in my opinion.)


Our camping area in the trees at Obed Lakes.


Man chop wood. Make fire. Woman cook.


Obed Lakes at sunset.

Day Four. The start of the Cowboy Trail.

The Cowboy Trail is a 700km stretch of highway nestled between the rocky mountains and Alberta's prime ranching country in the Canadian prairies. Some of you will know that I have a bit of a thing for cowboys, so when I heard about this route I thought I'd rather like to travel along it. A lot of the attractions are now closed for the season, but a few were still open like Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump, which we visited in the morning.


Quite possibly the funniest museum sign we've ever seen.

What is a buffalo jump, you may be thinking? Good question, but it’s a place where native people used to be clever enough to channel a herd of buffalo over a cliff to their deaths, so that they could kill vast numbers and live off the meat for the winter – a bit like lemmings if you will, but hairier…


The actual cliff where the buffalo were herded to their deaths.


The large-scale model within the museum (no buffalo were harmed in the making of this!)

And another interesting fact – it’s not called Head-Smashed-In after the buffalo. Oh no – a young brave wanted to see the killings for himself one year, so he found a spot under the cliff to watch the proceedings. Big mistake – it was a bountiful kill and the buffalo carcasses were so many that he ended up getting squashed underneath them all – doh!

It was a great museum, and we learnt a lot about the history of the native people of the area - the Blackfoot tribe. We also saw the actual cliff, which is very well preserved and cordoned off with a viewing platform and a trail that winds around the area. We could see why it's been given world heritage UNESCO status and is of such cultural importance. It is crazy to think that once 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of North America before they were practically hunted to extinction by the white settlers that first came to Canada. We also discovered that it was Europeans who introduced the Indians to horses, which I never realised.

Having finished up our visit, we continued along Route 22, which was very picturesque, driving across the plains, some of which was on a dirt road which made for some interesting driving. Oh well, it’s a hire car!


The joys of travelling down empty roads - you can chuck a U-turn to get a great photograph of the car and nobody cares!


We saw loads of wind farms along the route - the prairies are the perfect place as there's so much space and no trees. It would be interesting to know how much power they can generate, per turbine.


A typical shot of the farmland we were travelling through. Cows, cows and more cows.

We camped in a place called Cochrane overnight in a huge RV park – a complete change from our previous two nights in a secluded woodland area. We were surrounded by mahoosive white vehicles that resemble houses on wheels with names like ‘the intruder.’ I can see why RVs have such a reputation now. As we'd eaten 'in' as it were, using the stove since the start of our trip, we decided to treat ourselves and went for dinner at Canyon Rose Steakhouse - a traditional saloon.

BEST STEAK EVER. We have to say it was one of the best meals we've eaten in Canada. If you're ever in Cochrane, go there. You won't regret it.