But before I go any farther, I must point out that last Sunday evening, we were able to spend several hours with Phil and Karen, who are owned by two Boston Terriers, named Oliver and Zoey! Phil and Karen are long-time Alaska residents who have recently moved to Arizona after retirement (smart!). They are returning to Alaska for the summer in support of the birth of twin grandchildren, and stopped in Jasper for a couple of nights before continuing north. Lovely people and great dogs; we have tentatively made plans to have lunch next spring in Arizona!
So, anyway, we left "home" a bit early, anticipating another long construction delay on the Yellowhead Highway, but we sailed right on into Jasper, and turned south on highway 93, the Icefield Parkway. Smoke from the British Columbia fires continues to hide the famous Jasper mountains, even though we had a nice, soft, rain overnight.
Our first stop was at a viewpoint to have a look at Athabasca Pass, which was a major route to the west and lead to the development of the western provinces. Unfortunately, the view was minimal:
From the signpost, this is what the pass should have looked like:
This is todays view:
The Athabasca River continues to meander from the Glacier Fields toward the east, with an eerie gray-green hue. We've been told that glacier fed rivers have this special color.
At Sunwapta Falls, the entire river is squeezed into a narrow crevice about 20 feet wide. The river drops about 20 at this point as well, and the sight is spectacular!
Exiting the narrow confine, the rushing water immediately hits a rock wall and makes a hard left turn.
We finally reached the Athabasca Glacier and the Glacier Interpretive Centre. It turns out that a vast majority of Canada's diverse population is visiting this area, making the parking and walking experience somewhat less than enjoyable. From the parking lot, we took a pic of the glacier, or at least, what we could see of it.
To the left of Athabasca Glacier, Mount Andromeda is home for a multitude of small glaciers.
The Interpretive Centre was disappointing, in spite of it's majestic setting. It is nothing more than a glorified ticket sales office for tours of the glacier and surrounding areas. Busses leave the Centre every few minutes, carrying hundreds of families to walk the glacier and ride specially built vehicles that traipse across this formerly pristine glacier. The Centre also contains a restaurant, selling prepared cold food at exorbitant prices. In case you hadn't guessed, we were not impressed!
The Centre is built on the gravel moraine left by the glacier some 100 plus years ago, before it began to recede to it's present location. Somehow the concept of preserving the glacier for future generations doesn't quite dove-tail with the heavy traffic and abuse the glacier is subjected to. I guess that's above my pay grade, however, to worry about.
On the return leg of our 217 mile day trip, we were fortunate to see a very calm Cariboo munching along side the road!
Tomorrow will be a catchup day, so unless something extraordinary happens, I won't post. Our next move will be to Banff Provincial Park!
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