Banff Part 3

Trip Start May 09, 2009
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Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
Lake Louise Campground

Flag of Canada  , Alberta,
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

After a morning visit to Lake Louise (and it is as spectacularly beautiful as everyone said it would be), we headed out for a drive on the lower part of the Icefield Parkway. This is a scenic parkway that connects Banff and Jasper and has the best views of the Canadian Rockies.  It is called the Icefield Parkway because half way through the drive, you can see the Columbia Icefield, one of seven icefields in the area.  Similar to the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier NP, the Icefield Parkway was built in the 1930s by men who had been out of work and were hired through a national program similar to our CCC. 

If you just drive the parkway without stopping, it would probably take you only a couple of hours to get to Jasper.  But we were doing the scenic drive – stopping along the way at viewpoints to see mountains, glaciers and rivers – so it took several hours to just drive the lower half. 

Unlike Glacier NP, where it is difficult to see glaciers unless you hike to one, many glaciers can be seen from the Icefield Parkway.  As with the glaciers in Glacier NP, the glaciers here are also receding due to global warming, so we feel very lucky to have the opportunity to see them here.

We hope you enjoy the photos along the parkway…
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