My DH and I will be driving from Banff to Jasper on 9/11 (Yikes!). Am confused about whether we need reservations ahead for the Col. Icefield Glacier excursion. If so, how far ahead? Thanks,

isy

Whoops! Guess that's the Athabasca Glacier bus excursion in the Col. Icefields. Sorry. It's all so confusing trying to plan and picture the lay of the land, never having been to Alberta before.

isy

You cannot reserve the Ice Explorer ride onto the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefields. Tickets are sold on a first come first serve basis. The system is efficient, and things move along pretty well. Although September still is somewhat busy in the mountains, it's not as busy as July and August, so you should be fine.

Don't worry about getting the name wrong. I knew what you meant.

The names around here are very confusing. Here are some duplications:

* Banff - national park and town in national park share a name

* Jasper - same as Banff

* Lake Louise - lake, village and ski resort, all a few miles from each other, share a name

* Athabasca - Glacier, river, falls, county, town, university, and oil sands deposit share the name. There also is an Athabasca Hotel in Jasper townsite.

* Glacier National Park - there are two of them, one in Montana and one in British Columbia

* Maligne - canyon and lake in Jasper National Park share the name

Wow! Thanks, Judy. Didn't know all that. Oh, my.

isy

irishswampyankee: We will be traveling there at the same time. On 9/11 we will be driving from Canmore to Jasper. We also plan on taking the Glacier Excursion. Hope we have good weather. Enjoy you trip.

If I had it to do over again, I was just there and took the ride up, I would just drive down to the parking lot at the foot of the glaicer and you can walk on it there as much as you like, on the ride you only stay about 20 minutes, just long enough to extract your money, unless you just want to ride in the glacier buggeys with the huge wheels. both are fun never the less your choice, Buck

sharrin and irishswampyankee,

It's looking pretty friendly there around that time! We'll be there also, taking along another couple. sharrin, maybe we'll bump into you in Canmore. In the area 9/9-14.

sludick:

We'll be in Canmore 9/9 and 9/10. We leave for 3 nights in Jasper on 9/11, then 3 nights in Field 9/14-16.

I am getting excited. We leave in less than a month (9/5).