Someone Stole the Clouds

Just a little nippy this morning.  Tough girl Kaye gave me the gears for turning on the heater.  My tender tootsies were frozen.  We flipped a coin on whether to stay one more day or press on.  I have never driven between Jasper and Banff on 93 so we chose to start a new adventure.  Hyw 93 is two lanes all the way, a few tight corners still left but wide shoulders, lots of pull offs and incredible scenery the complete distance.

Someone stole all the clouds today.  The sky was South Pacific Ocean Blue and not a whisper of wind.  Our plan was to stop at the Columbia Ice Fields (1/3^rd way to Banff) and spend the afternoon hiking.

There were hwy warning signs for Elk and Caribou constantly but sadly we did not see any today.  A small brown bear eating dandelions and a large brazen raven eating pistachios were the sum total of wildlife.  That was all made up for by the mountain scenery.  As the hwy winds up to nearly 7000 feet at the ice fields, every corner we rounded gave us a different perspective of the mountains.  Dave, the ‘Japanese Tourist’ clicked way too many photos.

 

When we arrived at the ice fields we noticed that several trailers and 5^th wheel units were disconnected in the parking lot.  This led me to believe that we must be able to drive up to the top level parking lot of the ice fields.  Why else would you disconnect?  We followed suit and then headed for the park entrance.  The drive was actually about half a klm down to a gravel parking lot at the site where the toe of the glacier was in 1982.  The upper road is closed to public traffic but the tour busses were bumper to bumper.  We discovered later that you have to buy a $50.75 bus pass each to hitch a ride there!  Our National Park!  I was pissed and still am.

We parked at the very bottom and took on the challenge, along with a steady stream of other hardy folks.  Most of the young hikers were outfitted with toques, gloves and sturdy hiking boots.  Kaye was decked out in Birkenstock sandals and definitely no socks with sandals!  We had our canes and our three legged wonder dog.  It was a tough climb and would have felt chilly if not for the glorious sun.  Kyle was the talk of every climber and Kaye’s sandals drew comments from far too many of the female hikers.

After we descended and knocked the ice pellets out of Kaye’s sandals she did admit her toes were a bit chilly.  We made lunch in the parking lot, witnessed the tail end of a small avalanche and then hiked up to the main lodge, restaurant and gift shop. 

It was pretty obvious that this is still off season.  The walking trails were still blocked with snow, the outhouses had ice blocks on the floor and I took a picture of a phone booth that would be hard to use.

The lodge was absolutely jam packed with oriental tourists.  Turns out there is an upper parking lot on the Banff side of the building that was full of tour busses.  Note to self; if it is like this on an off season Sunday, don’t come here in July or August!  The lodge has an interpretive centre that was well laid out and very interesting.  We learned a lot.

Link to complete photo album.

Banff was a full two hours further and the scenery continued to awe us the whole way.  We are settled into Tunnel Mountain campground.  We, along with my Mom and her friends have all stayed here before.  This will be a two night for sure stay, maybe even an extra day.  The park staff said we are in for at least two more days of spectacular weather and the campground is deserted!