For a long while, the Canadian Rockies have featured pretty high on our list of places to visit. Now that we live in the Pacific Northwest, it is an easy day drive (approximately 11 hours) to get to the Rockies. Once there, however, we planned on spending 10 days there in a dash to visit 6 national parks (Iisted in the order visited):
We ended up putting 2300 miles on the car, and over 40 miles on our feet hiking around. The scenary and wildlife were spectacular. In fact, trails.com claims that the Icefield Parkway, which links Banff and Jasper National Parks, "is one of the premier mountain drives on earth". You can be the judge when you see our photos. We all found the scenary spectacular, and in some cases, other-worldly. In fact, Amelia said some of the landscapes seemed so out of place that they reminded her of the Myst video game series, known for mixing gorgeous scenary with odd features.
Hiking
We hiked 41.4 miles in 9 days (average of 4.4 miles per day), nudging our previous vacation high of 37.8 in Glacier National Park
| Hike | Location | Distance (miles) | Elevation (feet) |
| Meeting of the Waters | Glacier | 1.0 | Minimal |
| Abandoned Rails | Glacier | 1.6 | Minimal |
| Loop Brook | Glacier | 1.0 | 120 |
| Rock Garden | Glacier | 0.2 | Minimal |
| Hemlock Grove | Glacier | 0.1 | Minimal |
| Giant Cedars | Mount Revelstoke | 0.3 | 50 |
| Inspiration Woods | Mount Revelstoke | 1.7 | 100 |
| Bear Creek Falls | Glacier | 0.9 | 180 |
| Takawkaw Falls | Yoho | 0.8 | Minimal |
| Emerald Lake and Hamilton Falls | Yoho | 1.7 | 150 |
| Lake Louise Shoreline | Banff | 3.0 | Minimal |
| Consolation Lakes | Banff | 4.7 | 210 |
| Cascade Falls | Banff | 0.5 | 230 |
| Stewart Canyon | Banff | 1.8 | Minimal |
| Johnson Lake | Banff | 1.8 | 50 |
| Bow Falls | Banff | 0.1 | Minimal |
| Hoodoos | Banff | 0.3 | Minimal |
| Paint Pots | Kootenay | 1.2 | 50 |
| Marble Canyon | Kootenay | 1.0 | Minimal |
| Silverton Falls | Banff | 1.5 | 180 |
| Johnston Canyon | Banff | 3.0 | 90 |
| Peyto Lake | Banff | 0.5 | Minimal |
| Mistaya Canyon | Banff | 0.6 | 200 |
| Sunwapta Falls | Jasper | 0.1 | Minimal |
| Wilcox Pass (Columbia Icefield Viewpoint) | Jasper | 2.5 | 800 |
| Toe of the Athabasca Glacier | Jasper | 1.0 | 180 |
| Athabasca Falls | Jasper | 0.3 | Minimal |
| Moab Lake | Jasper | 0.3 | 50 |
| Mount Edith Cavell - Path of the Glacier Trail | Jasper | 1.0 | 210 |
| Maligne Canyon | Jasper | 2.6 | 300 |
| Annette & Edith Lakes | Jasper | 0.5 | Minimal |
| Pyramid Island | Jasper | 0.3 | Minimal |
| Moberly Homestead | Jasper | 0.2 | Minimal |
| Valley of the Five Lakes | Jasper | 2.8 | 200 |
| Horseshoe Lake | Jasper | 0.5 | Minimal |
TOTAL | 41.4 miles | 3300 feet | |
Highlights
- Panoramic scenery is everywhere! Thanks--as always--to hugin for seamlessly stitching nearly 40 panoramas, comprising anywhere from two to nine photos each, such as the following which Amelia took standing on the roof of the car to get above the power lines... Great job, Mia!
- The lakes and rivers have such an amazingly beautiful color to them, made possible by the glacial flour. The blues and greens are so striking that park personnel have been asked what chemical is used to make the colors. We especially enjoyed canoeing on Moraine Lake in Banff and our boat tour on Maligne Lake in Jasper.
- There are simply too many glaciers to count, especially driving along the Icefield Parkway. In fact, the Athabasca Glacier is one of the closest glaciers to a highway anywhere in the world. From the parking area, it is a very short hike to the toe of the glacier itself.
- We expected wildlife, but were surprised that black bears were practically as common a sight as anything else. We saw black bears (and a cub), mountain goats (and a couple of kids), bighorn sheep, elk, moose, bald eagle, the songful and elegant Clark's Nutcracker, pika (Amelia's favorite), and the ever-pesky (even aggressive!) food-seeking chipmunks.
- Spectacular mountain vistas are around every corner. In fact, one glacially-carved range on mountains is called the Endless Chain. As you are driving the Icefield Parkway, it is easy to agree with its moniker.
Lowlights
- One piece of wildlife we could've done without are the mosquitos.
- Visiting the Canadian Rockies in any way is expensive! We went the cheapest route (driving and camping), and even then campsites cost $30 per day, and that's without a burn permit. To have a campfire costs $8.80 per day, but this includes all the wood you can burn. For gasoline, we paid anywhere from $4.12 per gallon to $4.88 per gallon. Tip of the day: Buy your gas east of the Continental Divide... Gas is significantly cheaper in Alberta than British Columbia.
- While Alberta calls itself "Wild Rose Country", we think they should consider changing their motto to "Wild Driver Country." Apparently, the speed limit is just a suggestion to Albertans. Tailgating and risky passing seem to be pastimes as well. Interestingly, we only saw one traffic patrol pull over a vehicle in all of our time in Canada, so we suspect the problem is a simple lack of accountability.
- Weather is apparently very unpredictable in the Canadian Rockies. We consider ourselves lucky to have only had a couple of nights of significant rain, and a couple of planned days modified due to concerning weather. While we would've loved to have some better weather to enjoy the amazing scenary, we are glad that we were able to do nearly everything we had planned and wanted to.
Favorites
Here's what each family member said was their absolute favorite activity of the trip:
| Raymond: | Mount Edith Cavell, along with its Glaciers and icy pool |
| Amelia: | Spirit Island and the Hall of the Gods on Maligne Lake |
| Suzanne: | Marble Canyon |
| Mike: | Moraine Lake and the Valley of Ten Peaks |
