2023 Canada – Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise

We left Jasper this morning bound for Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway. This road is featured in ‘National Geographic’s Top 10 Scenic Drives’ and is definitely the most scenic drive I have driven, although there’s a couple in new Zealand I rank highly (Milford Sound and Queen Charlotte Drive in Marlborough). We only needed to cover about 250 kms, but there were a number of stops to make on the way. It was about 3 degrees outside of the car and we did drive through some fog patches, but when the fog cleared, the views were amazing.

Our first stop on the road was Athabasca Falls, which is on the glacier fed Athabasca River, but more on this later. There are lots of viewing platforms around the falls are known more for their power and volume of water than their height (24m).

At the site there is a sign that tells the story of David Thompson (1770-1857) fur trader, astronomer and surveyor, who mapped more of North America than anyone else. He travelled some 90,000 kms by horseback, canoe, dog sled and on foot, (equivalent to circling the globe twice). His work in mapping these areas was instrumental in the development of Alberta and British Columbia. He also had time somewhere in between all the exploring to father 13 children with his wife.

We stopped to take more photos along the way, but the Icefields Parkway is truly relentless. Every turn reveals another postcard view of the mountains and the glaciers. The road continues to climb to over 2,000 metres above sea level at the Columbia Icefield. The tours from the main tourist pavilion really focus on the Athabasca Glacier. We did a tour where we got to walk on the glacier and could really see how far it is receding and how quickly. Current estimates suggest that it will be completely melted within 30 years. The glacier feeds the Athabasca River with fresh water used for drinking water and irrigation downstream, so the knock on effects are quite concerning. You’ll see in the picture it is cold on the glacier, we had to put our beanies on!

We continued along the parkway continuing to be amazed at the stunning scenery. If I stopped for photos at every turn, we’d still be driving now. Our last stop was Peyto Lake. This features in almost every youtube video bloggers trip. What they don’t tell you it is quite a steep walk to get to the viewing platform. I think Deb felt deceived as the cold mountain air played havoc with her breathing, resulting in a bit of a coughing fit.

Luckily, a fellow traveller offered bon-bons (Tic Tacs). I still maintain the view was worth it.

We are staying at the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise as we continue our tour of Fairmont properties. This is the the hotel in the iconic pictures which was originally opened 129 years ago. The service and attention to detail is much more like the Empress in Victoria. We arrived around 6PM and took a quick walk to the lake for a couple of photos before dinner.

We had dinner in one of the restaurants because the hotel is a bit out of town. We started with drinks and I had a beer from Calgary which was like an Asahi with a bit of extra hops (very nice). For food, I had a veal cutlet, which was very large, while Deb had scallops and truffle mac cheese (perhaps continuing a theme). For dessert, I had Limoncello sorbet while Deb had an eclair that came with pecans.

Lastly, we didn’t come across any major wildlife updates, but here’s a couple of birds we saw today. As always there were a few squirrels and chipmunks about, but there where all a bit quick for me today!