Travel to Jasper

June 3 Sunday Woke up to 33 degree temperature on our last morning in Lake Louise. We headed to Jasper, Alberta which is about 180 miles away on the scenic Ice Field Parkway. I found myself snapping pictures at every turn in the road – each mountain view more stunning than the next. By the end of the day we had taken 147 pictures. I have narrowed it down to four of our favorites for this blog

The Endless Mtn. Range 18 miles long

Snocoach

We had a planned stop about halfway to Jasper to tour the Columbia Ice Field at Athabasca Glacier. There are special vehicles to do this-- a six wheel, all wheel drive Snocoach, the size of a greyhound bus with tires that are 5ft wide and 5ft in diameter. The glacier was a thousand feet deep and we could walk on it once the snocoach got us there over a steep, narrow access road – 32 degree incline, 18% grade. We spent about 30 minutes on the actual glacier and it was cold.

Gary & Mr. Skunk on the Athabasca Glacier

Original snocoach -re purposed Greyhound Bus

 

After lunch we continued our trip to Jasper and on the way we saw another black bear with her cub!












We are staying at Whistler National Park in Jasper and in addition to the bear warnings, we were also cautioned to be aware of the elk. It is calving season and if we spot a female elk we should keep a safe distance as they will attack. So, as we are driving to our site we pass an elk grazing in the campground. Later on, coming back from the village of Jasper we passed another, larger female elk alongside the road.