Northern Rockies: Day 8

We got another early start to this day and after breakfast were on the road. We were headed northwest to drive the Icefields Parkway into Jasper National Park and back while making several stops, similar to our Going-to-the-Sun Road day. The clouds were hanging low and covering most of the mountains in the morning so we skipped a few early planned stops. At Bow Lake there was fresh snow on the ground and in the air. We stopped for a few pictures but decided not to spend too much time here until later when hopefully the skies would clear. Bow Lake was also where we got our first taste of what was going to be the case at just about every viewpoint and stop--tour buses chock-full of foreign tourists. We skipped the Peyto Lake overlook for later and continued driving. Near Big Bend we stopped for a view of Nigel Falls below a bridge and then pulled over to check out North Saskatchewan River Falls. This is one of the most unique waterfalls that we've ever been to. The North Saskatchewan River is happily rolling along near Big Bend until it runs into a crack in the ground and plummets an imperceptible distance. Only the top 20-30' of the waterfall are visible. We could hear the water down below but the crack is so narrow and full of curves that we couldn't make out how deep it was but it was at least 75'. At Big Bend we also made a quick stop to get a view of Sideways Falls to the south.

From here we continued to the northwest and crossed into Jasper National Park at Sunwapta Pass (6,637'). The snow was still coming down a little and most of the mountains were shrouded. We drove past the Icefields Centre and Tangle Falls before stopping for a quick view of Kitchener Creek Falls to the west and reaching our turnaround point with a view of Woolley Creek Falls to the west. Back at Tangle Falls we parked and walked up to the oft-photographed waterfall. We took a few pictures of the waterfall surrounded by the newly fallen snow. For a little while we had to wait while a couple of people decided to climb up for views of the top tier. While scouting out information for this trip, Z read that there was another waterfall immediately downstream of the parking area for Tangle Falls. This waterfall, known as Lower Tangle Falls, is very seldom visited because most visitors don't know that it is there. While B waited for a clearer view of Tangle Falls, Z followed a use-trail steeply down from the parking area and found this beautiful waterfall completely deserted. It's amazing how much difference a few feet and some cover can make for the popularity of an attraction. Z enjoyed having the waterfall to himself and took a few pictures before rejoining B. We drove back to the Icefields Centre to see what was inside. What we found was the tourist bus Mecca.

As soon as we walked in we knew that we weren't going to stay very long. The aroma of Hot and Sour soup spilled out of the cafeteria and we were very much in the minority. We quickly checked out the gift shop before moving on. We next drove across the road to check out the Athabasca Glacier. For ~$60/person you can take a glorified bus onto the glacier but we decided to go the free route and take a trail. What we didn't realize is that the trail ends before getting to the glacier. Apparently park officials are worried about tourists walking into crevasses, so unless you pay up you don't get to step onto the glacier. Z was particularly disappointed with this fact, especially considering the anticipation of walking up the rise below the glacier to find that you're still ~1/2 mile away from the glacier and it is roped off. We made the rounds along the trail to near the foot of the glacier before looping back to the car. There are some placards sprinkled along the trail marking where the glacier was in years past. The most eye-opening of these is along the road to the parking area and marks where the glacier was in 1908 (~1 mile from the 2013 location). Along with retreat the glacier has experienced severe deflation since the turn of the 19th century into the 20th. Back in the car we began driving back toward Canmore.

We passed back into Banff National Park and stopped at the Panther/Bridal Veil Falls turnout just above Big Bend. We eventually found the Panther Falls Trail and followed it to the base of the waterfall. Along the way was a great view of nearby 281' Bridal Veil Falls. At the base of the 218' Panther Falls we were finally alone. We took some extra time here just to breathe before climbing back up to the car. Now the clouds were beginning to lift a little and we were hopeful for good views at the Peyto Lake viewpoint. We made a quick stop as we crossed over the Saskatchewan River before deciding to skip the short walk down to Mistaya Canyon Falls. We did however stop at the Peyto Lake viewpoint. It is a bit of a walk along a paved trail but the fresh snow added a lot of beauty to the walk. At the viewpoint we found absolutely gorgeous views despite some cloud cover, however we were bummed to find the viewpoint packed with more tour bus tourists. Peyto Lake is another glacier-fed lake with utterly gorgeous color surrounded by towering peaks. We next headed back to Bow Lake and parked next to the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge again. This time the clouds were a little higher and it was not snowing. This allowed us to get beautiful views over the lake with Crowfoot Mountain towering over the center of the lake.

At the western end of the lake we could see Bow Glacier Falls cascading down the headwall. We enjoyed some time away from other people near an inlet before moving on once more. We made a quick stop at the Hector Lake viewpoint because it was more visible than in the morning. Our last stop of the day was beside Herbert Lake. Mt St Piran and Mt Niblock in one direction and Mt Bosworth and Waputik Peak in another were almost perfectly reflected in the little lake's waters and we couldn't resist. Back at the hotel we got another simple take-out dinner and enjoyed our last night in Canmore.