The Icefields Parkway

Our day driving from Banff to Jasper was amazing. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed the spectacular scenery that was all around us. We took the opportunity to stop at various roadside viewpoints as well as some that were off the road.

A view along the way

Liam in the wilderness

A glacier

On the road again

and again

Peyto Lake was a short walk from the road. I was almost speechless when I saw this fantastic turquoise lake. Frank and I both consider this one of our picks of all we have seen this year! It was gorgeous.

Peyto Lake

The Athabasca Glacier

We drove on to the Columbia Icefields, where we were able to drive out onto the Athabasca glacier on a special snow coach. We had about 20 minutes out on the ice. It was surprisingly warm, but the water we scooped up to drink was icy cold!!

Al and Liam on the glacier in front of the snow coach

The glacier up close

We had a late lunch before heading to Jasper via the Athabasca Falls, fed from the glacier we had been standing on 100 kilometers earlier!

The Athabasca Falls

We stayed outside Jasper at Pyramid Lake, which was another beautiful spot and we came across a herd of elk on the way there! We enjoyed a stroll to Pyramid Island to view the reflections in the lake.

Pyramid Mountain
reflected in Pyramid Lake