ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log

[oricale]

Outstanding Mission Log!......I will see you at carlisle.

[GOLDCYLON]

Outstanding post up! I plan on doing this someday Jim. Nothing like driving there in style. GC

[vilant]

You're travel log is awesome, and I'm jealous. Would love to travel across the country some day. Keep the pics coming, they're great. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[QB93Z]

Wednesday night in Lake Louise, our internet connection was blocking uploads so I got behind.

On Wednesday we drove from Jasper, Alberta to Lake Louise. This route is the Ice Fields Parkway through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It is advertised as one of the more beautiful drives in North America, and we would agree with that.

As we left Jasper we were greeted by three pretty ladies on horses:


Just a few miles out of town we found this female elk walking down the roadside. She was calling out, and seemed upset about something:




About an hour south of Jasper we stopped and made a very short hike to Athabasca Falls. The head waters of this river is the Columbia Glacier, 50 miles to the south. The river has carved a deep gorge and these falls are about 30 meters tall. There are excellent hiking trails and overlooks. In this shot, Lyndi is standing in the overlook area to the left of the top of the falls:


This shot is looking across the gorge. You can see people on a viewing bridge in the upper part of the photo as a measure of the height:


On the way back to the car, we met a nice couple from Ontario who were having wine and muffins on a picnic table:

[QB93Z]

As we continued south on the Ice Fields Parkway, the clouds burned off and the weather was perfect. Looking to the west the mountians were getting larger and more rugged:


The Parkway runs down the east side of the two ranges and here is a nice shot looking south of five peaks:


At one of the many, convenient rest areas along the Parkway, we met this Raven who was content to hold a conversation with Lyndi as long as she didn't get too close:


This is on of the first glaciers visible when driving south on the Parkway. The shot is looking west, and a nice hanging, horseshoe glacier is visible:


While I was taking the pictures of the glacier, a hawk circled over the parking area and I got a picture as he was landing in a tree just in front of the Z:


Here is a nice view of the Athabasca River and some more glaciers to the south west:

[ZZZZZR1]

WOW what a picture!!!!!



David

[QB93Z]

As we continued south on the Parkway, we came to Triangle Falls on the east side of the road. The falls are over 120 feet high are are easily accessible from a nice parking area on the opposite side of the road. I did a north-bound drive-by before we explored the cliffs:


Lyndi and I took turns climbing up for photos and then we went way up, handed our camera to a couple from Edmunton that we met on their way down and asked them to photograph us from the road. Luckily, they were trustworthy and we got some great pictures and our camera back when we got down off the falls:


We continued south to the main attraction of the Icefields, the Columbia Icefields. Athabasca Glacier has been retreating for decades and is now accessible by a hiking trail over the terminal moraine:


Here is the view from the top of the moraine, looking back to the east across the Parkway to the Icefield Centre:


In the very center of the that photo you can see the ZR-1 parked:


As we hiked up and over the valley floor and the moraine, the power of the glacier to shape the valley was clearly evident in scratches in the bedrock floor. Another 1/8 mile hike brought us to the toe of the glacier:


It is very hard to get a good picture of a glacier up close. The surface is very "dirty" with rock chips and dust, so it blends in with the terrain. We were not allowed to cross the melt streams along the front of the ice without a guided tour group. Standing there, looking up at the mass of ice that has shaped that valley for hundreds of thousands of years was awe inspiring.

[QB93Z]

About another hour south of the Icefield Centre, the Parkway rises to a high crest and then descends down a switchback to a bridge across a river. The parkway can be seen way in the distance in this beautiful view:


Here is another nice view of the river and the mountains. The interesting green-blue color of the river is very beautiful and is characteristic of a stream that is glacier-fed. The color comes from the minerals disloved in the water and the very, very fine silt suspended in the water:


When a glacial stream forms a lake, the color is even more damatic. Here is a shot of Bow Lake:


In the south, where the Icefields Parkway joins the Trans-Canadian Highway, we turned west into Yoho National Park and drove toward Field to see the Canadian Pacific Railroad's Spiral Tunnels. Completed in 1909, the tunnels solved a problem the railroad had getting trains over the very steep grades at Kicking Horse Pass. By tunneling two mile-long spirals into the mountain, the over-all grade of the route was reduced enough to make rail connections to the west coast economical.


Here you can see the two portals (openings) of one of the tunnels. A long freight train will exit the upper portal before the last car goes into the lower portal:

[QB93Z]

We returned to the Icefields Parkway and arrived at the town of Lake Louise:


Here is the very beautiful and very famous view of Lake Louise, the surrounding mountains and the glacier at the far end. We found the view wonderful, but the crowds of people at the attraction spoiled the thrill. On a busy day, 10,000 visit the lake:


We decided to drive further up the mountain to see Moraine Lake. We were rewarded with a beautiful drive up a steeper, windier road, surrounded with beautiful mountain views:


Moraine Lake is a wonderful place:


The lake is very calm and the resort cabins facing the lake are very beautiful:


Since I haven't shown a wildlife photo for a while, here is one:


The travel planners for this part of the world make a big deal about how bad the bugs are. We did get a few mosquito bites, but we never had a problem. The Cutter Insect Repellent Spray we used ocassionally worked fine. We learned to not leave the car doors open at night, or the bugs would come in for a take-out meal.

Jim

[Tyler Townsley]

Saw you guys today. Friend and I were en route to Jasper and saw you going south, south of Banff. We are in Jasper tonite and out tomorrow.Tyler