A pretty terrific 11 hour journey along the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper was today’s itinerary. We had to pick up people at Lake Louise so there was a quick stop there and with the sun out the lake looked even better than yesterday.

We saw Castle Mountain from another angle and stopped for a look at Bow Lake which is fed from one of the glaciers and has that blue colour that comes from rock flour, very fine sediment that reflects that turquoise colour.

We had about 20 minutes at Saskatchewan River Crossing (I think) to eat our packed lunch. I didn’t quite finish my huge and very tasty chicken wrap. 

Then it was on to the Athabaska Glacier where we went up onto the glacier in an ice explorer vehicle. We were all rugged up for walking on the ice but it wasn’t as cold as I expected, and fortunately not as slippery either. We were so lucky to have a lovely sunny day.

After this we transferred to another bus which took us a few kilometres to the Colombia Icefield Skywalk. This is a semicircular glass walkway suspended high over the valley. I was not too keen on doing this but decided I should have a go and after a few moments of hesitation stepped on and round without looking down. Not my favourite attraction as you could get the views from all along there but it was one of the few things disabled people could do so maybe worthwhile after all.

Continuing along the way, the woman in front of me suddenly shouted “Bears!”  The bus driver went a little further and turned the bus back for us to see them - a mother and two cubs, one of which ran across the road and disappeared. We had a really good look at the other two. Further along still we saw another one. These were black bears. And then the driver once again turned the bus around for a grizzly bear! So we really hit the jackpot. 

No moose but apparently they are calving at this time of year and go deep into the forest.

Our last stop was for the Athabasca Falls. They were lovely but nothing compared to the excitement of the bears.

Arrived at my hotel sometime after 8 and decided to eat the rest of my packed lunch instead of going out to find dinner. Not the healthiest option but they’ll feed me well on the train tomorrow. Have to sort out a few items fro the train as my case will go into the luggage carriage.

There won’t be any wifi on the train so you won’t be hearing from me until I get to Toronto in 4 days.