2015 Summer Roadtrip: Day 31–Tues—7/14: Epic day! Elk in the morning, Mt. Edith Cavell, glaciers, iceberg pond, Athabasca falls, Columbia Icefield, Athabasca glacier, all while driving along the scenic Icefield Parkway (we saw a bear too).

Today was a favorite for all four of us! This is the best the Canadian Rockies has to offer. We left early and when we exited the campground, there were 5 large elk right by the side or the road. They were incredible. We enjoyed watching them eat and then we drove along the Icefield Parkway—one of the most scenic highways in the world. There are jagged, huge glacially cut mountains and many glaciers can be seen. There are rivers and marshes alongside the road and one can see many different animals along the way. The views are absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring. We drove to Mt. Edith Cavell and hiked about 1 mile to the overlook of Angel Glacier. It is a thick glacier with quite a bit of blue ice hanging high on the cliff. At its bottom is a glacial waterfall feeding Cavell Pond, which is filled with floating icebergs. We walked down to the edge of the iceberg lake (as we called it) and loved seeing the larger masses of the ice underwater with only the small portion above. We touched the water, which is just above freezing. We also touched an iceberg—it was amazing. The far side of the iceberg lake was a 20 foot+ tall portion of the glacier, also with blue ice. It would periodically sprinkle and the clouds would blow in and out of the area. We stayed here admiring the sheer beauty for at least 30 minutes. The wind started to pick up and it started to blow the icebergs slowly across the lake. Incredible!!! Some people even brought their inflatable paddleboards and paddled amongst the icebergs.

From there, we drove to the Athabasca waterfall. This is a powerful fall that then shoots through a narrow canyon it carved out of the rock. One can really see the power of nature here. We walked to many overlooks of the gorge and the falls. It was sprinkling a little and overcast but beautiful.

We then continued south on this incredible highway looking for animals and just being stunned by the sculpted mountains and huge glaciers and ice fields on the tops and sides of the mountains—all feeding the river and stream next to the highway. The drive itself is magnificent—even if you never left your car. We stopped at a few turnouts to look at glaciers, mountains, rivers, lakes and to look for animals. Then we arrived at the Columbia ice fields and drove out in a huge 4-wheel drive bus onto the Athabasca glacier. We loved walking on the glacier—which is thicker than the Eiffel Tower is tall in places. We were amazed at the glacial river running down the center of it. We filled our water bottle and all drank the fresh, ice cold glacier water. We learned that right here is one of the few Triple Continental Divides in the world, where water flows into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. That’s amazing. We really loved being on the glacier, walking, drinking fresh water, throwing snowballs. Although it was stormy with thick clouds and rain, when we got onto the glacier, it was partly cloudy/sunny.

After returning from the glacier, we looked for animals. We did see one black bear briefly before he went into the bushes. The drive back was equally as gorgeous as the drive to the ice fields. We’re excited that we will drive this road again in a few days when we head southeast to Lake Louise and then Banff. Wow, Jasper and the Canadian Ice field is a must see. We felt like serious explorers and just loved seeing the many glaciers, walking on one, and also being next to the iceberg lake.

Wifi is so bad here. Sorry for the excessive pictures posted on this one and the lack of order. Here they are.