11/5/2023 0 Comments Mounty canada![]() Its power peaks in the spring, when glacial runoff is at its height. Actually a pair of waterfalls separated by a short hike, Sunwapta is just off the Icefields Parkway and well worth the detour. On a trip in my youth, my dad hopped over the barrier to get a better photo and I about lost my mind.ĭown the way, Sunwapta, named after the Stoney word for “turbulent river,” is Athabasca Falls' main rival and it’s as dramatic as its name suggests. Do yourself a favor and stay on the right side of the viewing fence-the mist makes the stones slippery and people have drowned trying to get an ideal photo. In the winter, the water turns into majestic ice crystals straight out of Frozen. The eponymous Athabasca River might not sit at a high elevation, but it’s nonetheless responsible for the most powerful waterfall in the Canadian Rockies. Point your car south and you’ll next encounter Athabasca Falls about 20 miles from Jasper. | CoolPhoto2/ShutterstockĬruise the Icefields Parkway down to Abraham Lake ![]() Abraham Lake is spotted with frozen methane gas bubbles. And if that’s your thing, for heaven’s sake, be careful-Parks Canada has to rescue two or three people a year, and one guy recently shattered his pelvis doing it. But it’s still totally worth it, especially if you’ve got the cajones to jump off cliffs as high as 80 feet into the deep, crisp water. Stationed 18 miles south of Jasper, this pristine body of water is no longer a secret, especially on hot days when it gets packed with brave swimmers (the water is always chilly!), scuba divers, and fishermen reeling in rainbow trout, largemouth bass, and channel catfish. The face of the summit was always covered in elk droppings, so keep an eye out for those gentle beasts.įrom Jasper, you’ll take the Icefields Parkway to Horseshoe Lake. When I lived in Jasper, I used to run up to the summit after work each day, and then flirt with knocking out all my front teeth by tripping on the way down. Your next stop, Old Fort Point, is a five-minute drive from Jasper, and its incredible view of the Athabasca River greets you about a third of the way up. Otherwise, there’s kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboarding on the lake itself.ĭon’t let anyone tell you that awesome views of the Rockies require huge hiking expeditions. If you care to stretch your legs, a 2.4-mile loop encircles the lake and should take just an hour to complete on foot. Located beside the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge-Jasper’s answer to the posh Banff Springs-Lac Beauvert produces dazzling emerald colors on any sunny summer day. Once in Jasper, make a beeline for the water. From here, you’ll continue south to the town of Jasper, Alberta, home to Jasper National Park. An annual ultra-marathon in the area attracts the truly determined and the outright masochistic, while a gift shop selling ice cream caters to the rest of us throughout the summer. The British Columbia provincial park that surrounds the mountain spans 868 square miles and has plenty of trails for some real alone time with nature-just you and the mountain goats, caribou, and 182 species of birds. You came to the Rockies for some big-ass mountains, and Mount Robson is the biggest, climbing almost 13,000 feet into the sky. Start your trip off with a bang by checking out British Columbia’s impressive Mount Robson. Enticed to plan a road trip? Here’s the best route, peppered with the most beautiful views around.Įxplore the north country from Mount Robson to Horseshoe Lake The scenery is gob-smacking any time of year, with summer the ideal time for swimming and fishing while winter calls for soaking in hot springs and zipping down the mountainside on a pair of skis. The Canadian Rockies are a region you’ll want to drive through over and over again, basking in its vast glory at your own pace. These can take on downright surreal colors thanks to “rock flour,” the microscopic bits of ground-up mountain that slide off a glacier when it melts. Their youth (relative to mountains, of course) shows in their sharper edges and rough faces, which contrast beautifully with the curves of the glacial lakes they hold. Spanning some 3,000 miles between Alaska and New Mexico, the Rocky Mountain chain began forming 80 million years ago. Over time, the scenery made me the world’s most spoiled pack mule. Come summer each year, work would take them up into the highlands, and as a kid, I’d tag along, hauling gear and loading film. ![]() My parents were professional photographers, and not coincidentally, I grew up in the shadow of the most gorgeous mountains in the Northern Hemisphere: the Canadian Rockies.
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