Day 170: Angels in the ice

Our last day of touring in the Rockies. I dropped off Mum, Dad and Maria at the parking lot below Mt Edith Cavell, returning to Jasper to get petrol (I'd foolishly ignored the gauge as we drove down the Icefields Parkway). If I ran out, I figured it was better to inconvenience just me rather than all four of us. I made it OK (phew!) but I let the car coast in neutral on pretty much every hill, and kept the engine speed below 2000 rpm at all other times. Fortunately the roads were quiet and I was very glad to see the petrol station in Jasper. Heading back up to Edith Cavell I could now afford to push the car a little harder - and I must admit, although the CR-V did quite well on that twisty road, I think the old Integra would have been more fun...

The star of the show is undoubtedly the Angel Glacier, with its outstretched "wings" lying in a bowl above a 400-m cliff on which the head of the angel is draped. Personally, I think it looks like a dragon :-) Whatever your interpretation, it's a stunning sight, especially with the remnant glacier at the base of the cliff calving icebergs into the green meltwater tarn. Last time we were here, with Susannah and Kevin, we hiked up into the meadows. I didn't feel the need to do that today, and just enjoyed sitting in the warm sunshine, admiring the view.

The Angel Glacier

Day 169: Rhymes with maleen

Maligne Lake is the longest (largest?) lake in Jasper National Park. It was named by a French (or was it Belgian?) visitor in the early twentieth century, which means that the "maligne" rhymes with "ma-leen", not the usual English "ma-line". Either way, it's a gorgeous lake and we took the boat tour (again) out to the famous Spirit Island, the sight of which graces the bodywork of many recreational vehicles. As we reached our destination, the pilot of the boat slowed right down and proceeded to turn a big lazy U-turn to give everyone the best chance to take in the view south. The lake was mirror-calm and the various peaks were reflected perfectly in the blue-green water. Not to mention that the sky was free of cloud once again. Another perfect Rockies postcard picture!

Mountain reflections in Maligne Lake

Day 168: Jasper

To our amazement, the good weather has continued and what better way to get a feel for the Jasper area than by taking the tramway up to Whistlers Mountain to take in the view. From up here we could see Patricia Lake, Pyramid Lake, Annette and Edith Lakes, Beauvert Lake and Jasper Lodge, the Colin Range of mountains, the greyish Athabasca River and the banana-shape of the Jasper townsite. To the west we could see a bright white Mt Robson standing tall above its neighbours, and to the south (once we climbed a short way up the mountain) we could see Mts Kerkeslin and Edith Cavell. We haven't been up in the Banff gondola before - somehow it's never appealed - but this is the second time we've been up to Whistlers Mountain. Of course it helps that you can get a discount when you book the Maligne Lake cruise as well (that's for tomorrow!).

Jasper

Day 167: Glacier fed

When we drove from Jasper to Banff back in 2008, we stopped at the Columbia Icefields centre and took the snowcoach tour out onto the Athabasca glacier. As we made our way back onto the bus, a heavy storm came over the Columbia Icefield and set about drenching everything in its path. Today we had perfect clear skies, and it was warm! Even out on the glacier we only needed a single warm layer. And I was amazed to see that we were the only coach out there - last time there were three or four out there at the same time - so we had a very peaceful time walking around on the ice. We filled our water bottles with fresh glacier meltwater, took a load of pictures and marvelled at standing on a glacier.

On the Athabasca Glacier