Day 7 & 8: Lake Louise and Icefields Parkway
Day 7: May 17, 2003. Today was Lake Louise day. After our awesome breakfast of twice baked croissants; sliced juiced strawberries; and bagels with poached eggs, Canadian bacon, and a wild mushroom sauce, we all piled in the rental Exterra and headed up to Lake Louise, a beautiful mountain lake. It was a sunny day, though still cool in the upper elevations. The lake was still frozen, but we hiked around it anyway. Then we took a gondola ride to 6850 feet for spectacular mountain viewing. We then went into Banff with the ‘rents briefly before going to dinner in Canmore at the Grizzly Paw brewery for awesome nachos and burgers. We took Sue to the airport late that night.
Day 8: May 18, 2003. Had breakfast with the P’s before their departure, and enjoyed looking at the photographer’s results of the wedding. Then left for Jasper NP via the Icefields Parkway. Can not adequately describe with words or pictures how specatular this drive is. Around every bend is another massive mountain peak, or waterfall, or glacier, or river. Wildlife sightings along the trip included big horn sheep, a bald eagle, deer, elk. We took our time for the drive, spending about 8 hours for the 150 mile ride. We stopped often for little hikes down into picturesque valleys with waterfalls, lakes, or a particularly good view of a glacier. Highlights along the trip included Mistaya Canyon, Athabasca Falls, and the Columbia Icefield, but all of the trip was awesome. We camped in Jasper, NP at Whistler’s CG. Mileage today = 201.
We are thinking of yalung the same trip but ate wondering about the road conditions. Was the highway in good shape?
The drive between Banff and Jasper National Parks was spectacular. We only took a day to do it, if you are a hiker, I would allow three, at least. There are so many side excursions. We did this in late May, and it was pretty cold still. I would say July would be ideal. Good luck!