Driving the 'Backbone of the Canadian Rockies!'

On Wed- nesday, August 8th, we awoke to bright clear blue skies, the first of many different weathers we would experience today. We ventured south down the Icefields Parkway toward Highway 93A, a short detour past some interesting sights. First, we drove up to Mount Edith Cavell, a narrow and winding road full of switchbacks among the pine trees. The forest floor along the way was covered with thousands of little plants and mosses, a veritable kaleidoscope of colors in miniature.

Mount Edith Cavell

We could tell we were getting close to the end of the road when we saw the stream of cars and pedestrians on both sides of the narrow roadway. Amazingly we found a parking spot. We hiked over to the Astoria River where we walked along the gravel bars through the middle of it and could smell the nice pine scent wafting in the air. The mountain, towering above us, was named for a WWI nurse executed by the Germans for helping allied soldiers escape Belgium. After admiring the scenery and sweating in the warm sunshine, we drove back down to the main road.

Soapberries

Typical of this park, a small clog of cars indicated the presence of wildlife. Just beyond the shoulder, a black bear hastily denuded the nearby bushes of all their soapberries, an irresistible treat for bears. Foolishly, several tourists were out of their cars watching and photographing this big hungry animal. After a few pictures from the relative safety of our car, we did not stick around to see if he next decided to snack on them.

Athabasca Falls

Further along the road we stopped at Athabasca Falls, a raging waterfall of the Athabasca River through a narrow canyon. The intense rush of the water and carving action of the sand suspended within it cause 'potholes', huge depressions in the surrounding bedrock where the water carves a deeper and deeper column until the river eventually changes course. We hiked two short trails near the falls and saw the old path of the water (now a trail) and some of the ancient potholes. As we made our way back to the car to eat our picnic lunch, we noticed the skies darkening and the clouds thickening.

Athabasca Glacier with the
Columbia Icefields above

Just down the way, we drove through a brief but mighty rainshower. On the other side of it we found blue skies above us and menacing clouds above the mountains to our south, right where we were headed. We pressed on, passing beautiful views of the churning Sunwapta River, rivaling only the cars trying to pass us for speed. As we neared the Icefield Centre, we spied several glaciers to the west. The dark mountain valleys are filled with the white and blue overflow of the vast Columbia Icefield above.

Mountain Goat!

This Icefields Parkway, nicknamed the 'Backbone of the Canadian Rockies', allows views of scores of ancient glaciers and their moraines. After a brief detour into the visitor center, we drove to the small lot nearest the Athabasca Glacier. Like all the other glaciers we've visited, this one has been steadily retreating for at least a hundred years. While first wearing my sunglasses to combat the glare in the brilliant sunshine, we climbed the steep moraine trail to the top of the glacier and took some pictures, now under overcast skies.

Ken and friends at the
Icefield Centre

Ken added a rock or two to a few stacks started by other visitors when we first heard the thunder. We headed back toward the car and we were most of the way there when we saw the first bolts of lightening. We were not quite there when the downpour of rain and hail began, however. Along with several other nearby tourists, we dashed into a wooden bus shelter with no windowpanes, so the rain and hail simply came in sideways at us until there were enough other people to block us from the brunt of it. Nice. Within minutes the hail subsided and the rain slowed, so we ran for the car.

Sunwapta Falls

Driving back north along the parkway in the now angry rain, virtually all of the stunning scenery we saw on our way down was obscured in the downpour. Not 20 minutes later we were once again in sunshine, admiring the colorful peaks around us. During this spell of sunshine, we stopped at Sunwapta Falls, another torrent of water rushing through a narrow and steep-sided canyon. We took in the awesome power of the water beating relentlessly against the opposing canyon wall and wondered how long it would be before the water undermined the rock entirely.

Back on the Icefields Parkway and still under blue skies, we noticed the horizon to our north beginning to cloak itself in grey clouds. We had scarcely returned to the RV and began making dinner when the strong winds began. Buffeted by the powerful wind, our neighbor's RV visibly swayed with each gust. Soon after the rain blew sideways and we were without power for at least the second time today. As we ate the awesome salmon dinner Ken both caught and cooked for us, we listened to the rain coming down in sheets and saw how the clouds had blotted out the mountains otherwise visible from the window at our table.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

About 30 minutes later the wind died down and the rain quit. The sunshine returned first along the dark horizon and then cumulatively until blue skies were above us once more. Just a short time later we watched a beautiful sunset. Wow. What a strange day of weather...but lots of fun!