headed north to the Ice fields highway. This road is considered by many to be the most spectacular drive in the planet. The Ice fields Parkway follows the Bow, Mistaya, North Saskatchewan, Sunwapta and Athabasca valleys. Twelve ice fields flank the road, five of them can be seen of a fair day.
The road passes through remote, high elevation terrain, and the scenery takes your breath away at every turn.A Canadian National Park pass is required.
Our first sight was this bear as he ran across the road in front of us. We had seen several other bears and on the Park Radio station, they report sightings of bears in the area. If a bear has been seen in the area there is a "Group of Four Hiking" rule. It is felt that a
"tight" group of four is less likely to surprise a bear, or be attacked by a bear than an individual hiker. There were many trails that we had seen the Hike with Four sighs.
This guy ran across the road and into the bushes......The scenery
along the road was beautiful in every direction! We came upon the Crowfoot Glacier. A century ago, when this glacier was named, three "toes" of ice clung to the mountainside. Since then, the lower toe has melted and the middle toe is also disappearing. A glacial retreats go, that of the Crowfoot Glacier has been dramatic. Photographs take in the early 20th century showed ice extending to the moraines at the base of the mountain.The last photo is of the Weeping Wall.
In the upper reach of the North Saskatchewan Valley, tremendous limestone cliffs sweep 1968 feet skyward, blocking the sun until midmorning. These cliffs support many waterfalls - the product of melting snow.
The greatest concentration is at the Weeping Wall. The cascades are most prolific on hot days in late spring and early summer. In winter, pillars and curtains of ice drape te Weeping Wall, creating a playground for waterfall ice climbing. From this point we have reached the Columbia Icefield.... more on that below.
Candy
and Johnny
