Day 16 - June 17 Banff, Alberta to Jasper, Alberta, 187 miles

Wonderful drive up Canada Highway 1 to Lake Louise, where we had visited a couple days earlier, then north on Highway 93, the Icefield Parkway, to Jasper.  One bear sighting, and one antelope paced us on the right side of the highway, then darted across the highway in front of us.  Fortunately, I saw it, and slowed down enough so that it would make it across without incident.

 Columbia Icefield was beautiful, but we opted not to take the hike out to the Athabasca Glacier, nor did we take the snowcat tour.   We will see more glaciers in Alaska, and we had more travelling to do.   It was a nice break from driving, to walk around the visitor center area and have some lunch.

 Driving from the Icefields to Jasper was quite depressing, as almost 60% of the forest has been killed by the pine bark beetle.  Lots of brown trees, ripe for a forest fire.  This problem has increased exponentially in Jasper in the last three to four years, having spread from British Columbia.  Fortunately, this last winter was very cold, killing up to 90% of the pine beetles.  But the damage to the forest is done.  Part of nature, and it will eventually regrow, but it will take a couple generations.  Sad, and we pray that there are no devastating forest fires!  (My own opinion is that it needs to burn, but controlled so that it doesn't spread too fast and destroy homes and buildings.

 The campground for the next three nights is without hookups, so after levelling the trailer, I took one empty propane tank into town for a refill, just to make sure we had enough for hot water, cooking, and heat.
Dianne riding a bear, with Clancy wanting to get on board!

Athabasca Glacier, at Columbia Icefields.  This glacier recedes at a rate of about 5 meters per year, and has receded more than 1.5 km and lost over half is volume in the past 125 years.


Athabasca Glacier

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