Mt. Robson Provincial Park
Labour Day long weekend (a day off to celebrate going to work - go figure!) saw us heading North up the Icefields Parkway to the Mt Robson Provincial Park where we were to meet Simon and Chantale.
We left Golden at 5pm, it was the last long weekend of the summer and it was rush hour. Prepared for the worst we found the extent of the traffic delays to be one car ahead of us at Golden's single traffic light.
"The splendour of the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) can hardly be overstated: a 230-kilometre road from Lake Louise to Jasper through the heart of the Rockies, it ranks as one of the world's ultimate drives. Its unending succession of huge peaks, immense glaciers, iridescent lakes, wild-flower meadows, wildlife and forests – capped by the stark grandeur of the Columbia Icefield – is absolutely overwhelming." (Pacific Island Travel)
Sunset at start of Icefields Parkway
Unless you end up traveling along it at night like we did, then it is just very dark!
However in 4 hours (less time than it would take to travel from Birmingham to Wasdale on a good day) we were camped below Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. What's more we had 3 glorious days of weather, a less frequent ocurrence at Wasdale despite Tommo's best efforts to book the sun each year.
On Saturday we borrowed a cute Golden Retriever and went for a hike while Simon, Chantale and friends went kayaking.
Mount Robson
A tired dog cools off in the river at the end of a long hike
A relaxed evening with beers around a campfire was a great end to the day.
Sunday saw us hiking again, this time to Kinney Lake which is on the approach route to Mt. Robson.
Dinner at the campsite and another campfire rounded the day off.
Early Monday morning saw me back in a kayak and paddling with Simon for the first time in fourteen years. It appears that kayaking is like riding a bike, you don't forget how. Although I was a bit wobbly and have to confess to a capsize.
We then packed up camp and went our separate ways. Sheelagh and I went to visit Maligne Lake just North of Jasper as we didn't manage to fit this in on our trip with Mike and Mary.
We hired a sea kayak and went for a paddle on part of the lake, but at 23km long we were never going to get that far in an hour.
A bald eagle keeps a beady eye on us
On the return journey we visited Maligne Canyon and some lakes just outside Jasper where we ended up a little closer to some Elk than the guidebooks recommend. Luckily they were too busy eating grass to be bothered by us.
Dinner in Jasper meant a late return down the Icefields Parkway where once again it was "very dark". However for what is billed as one of the busiest bank holiday weekends of the year we only passed 6 cars in 4 hours on the way home. Fantastic.
We left Golden at 5pm, it was the last long weekend of the summer and it was rush hour. Prepared for the worst we found the extent of the traffic delays to be one car ahead of us at Golden's single traffic light.
"The splendour of the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) can hardly be overstated: a 230-kilometre road from Lake Louise to Jasper through the heart of the Rockies, it ranks as one of the world's ultimate drives. Its unending succession of huge peaks, immense glaciers, iridescent lakes, wild-flower meadows, wildlife and forests – capped by the stark grandeur of the Columbia Icefield – is absolutely overwhelming." (Pacific Island Travel)
Sunset at start of Icefields Parkway
Unless you end up traveling along it at night like we did, then it is just very dark!However in 4 hours (less time than it would take to travel from Birmingham to Wasdale on a good day) we were camped below Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. What's more we had 3 glorious days of weather, a less frequent ocurrence at Wasdale despite Tommo's best efforts to book the sun each year.
On Saturday we borrowed a cute Golden Retriever and went for a hike while Simon, Chantale and friends went kayaking.
Mount Robson
A tired dog cools off in the river at the end of a long hike
A relaxed evening with beers around a campfire was a great end to the day.
Sunday saw us hiking again, this time to Kinney Lake which is on the approach route to Mt. Robson.
Dinner at the campsite and another campfire rounded the day off.
Early Monday morning saw me back in a kayak and paddling with Simon for the first time in fourteen years. It appears that kayaking is like riding a bike, you don't forget how. Although I was a bit wobbly and have to confess to a capsize.
We then packed up camp and went our separate ways. Sheelagh and I went to visit Maligne Lake just North of Jasper as we didn't manage to fit this in on our trip with Mike and Mary.
We hired a sea kayak and went for a paddle on part of the lake, but at 23km long we were never going to get that far in an hour.
A bald eagle keeps a beady eye on us
On the return journey we visited Maligne Canyon and some lakes just outside Jasper where we ended up a little closer to some Elk than the guidebooks recommend. Luckily they were too busy eating grass to be bothered by us.
Dinner in Jasper meant a late return down the Icefields Parkway where once again it was "very dark". However for what is billed as one of the busiest bank holiday weekends of the year we only passed 6 cars in 4 hours on the way home. Fantastic.
posted by Julian and Sheelagh at Sunday, September 24, 2006
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