Icefields to Jasper

June 8, 2009
Whistlers Campground, Jasper NP, AB

What a day! Remember the nice snow from yesterday afternoon? Well, it made for a beautiful sight in the morning, covering the trees and the glacier across the road with a fresh blanket of white. Only one problem: it was a frozen mess on top of the slides, which we should have brought in the night before. It wasn't a huge problem, as a couple of sweeps with a borrowed broom (thanks, Bob & Marlene!) and just a little morning sunshine got things clean enough that we were able to put the slides in and hit the road pretty close to our scheduled departure.

While we waited for things to melt, we spent a few minutes talking with a nice couple from the Netherlands who were touring western Canada in a small van camper. Like last year, the somewhat favorable exchange rates are bringing a lot of Europeans to North America on holiday, and the RV rental outfits are doing a landslide business.

As we continued along PH-93 (Icefields Parkway), we stopped at Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls for pictures, then got settled in Whistlers Campground (no Wal-Marts in the National Parks!). Once hooked up, we piled into the cars and headed off for a drive to Maligne Lake. The side road to the lake (48 km) was a twisty two-lane, passing Medicine Lake before getting to Maligne Lake at the end. Near Medicine Lake, we encountered an elk grazing on the side of the road, and then a group of bears (Momma and two cubs) in a meadow near the lake. I got out the 70-200mm lens with the 2x extender to get the long distance shots. Similar to Yellowstone, you can tell when there's wildlife by the number of cars parked dangerously along the side of the road.

Once we were at the lake, we spotted a White-tailed deer and a large group of rainbow trout swimming in the stream that exits the lake. After we got a few pictures, we found out that it was a spawning ritual. Felt like voyeurs after that...

Today's pictures: click here.