Forest fire closes highway
 

Anyone planning to travel from Kamloops to Jasper (or the reverse) in the next few days should check the highway conditions.
Because of a large forest fire, some small south central BC communities have been evacuated.
Highway 5 between Kamloops and Tete Jaune (the junction with Highway 16) is CLOSED effective this evening (August 1, 2003).
For updated information check the following website:
http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/roadreports/...me=closure.txt

borealis:

We fly to Calgary tomorrow. We are scheduled to arrive in Canmore on Monday & stay there 3 nights and Jasper 3 nights.

Do you live in that area? How's the visibility? Is the Icefield Parkway backed up with cars?

Any additional info you (or anyone else) can provide is much appreciated! Thanks.

chrisMLU -
No I don't live in the mountain parks.
As far as I know there are no problems on the Icefields Parkway. Once you get to Jasper however, depending on which way the wind is blowing, it may be smoky due to an out-of-control forest fire east of Jasper (to the east over the mountain range and in the next valley). I have also heard that there are delays on Highway 16 from Jasper to Hinton. (Miette Hot Springs is closed).
You may want to check out the following website for updated raod conditions:
http://www.ama.ab.ca/cgi-ebs/start.jsp

As for cars backed up on the parkway - I have never seen that happen except when there are wild animals (usually sheep or elk, and sometimes bears) on the highway or next to it. People stop their cars and scramble out to take photos. That usually brings some of the traffic to a halt for a bit, but you can slowly drive around it and continue on, no problem.
Enjoy your stay in the Rockies - the weather forecast is for clear sunny and very warm days for the next week.

Thanks for the reply.
We are gonna give it a shot. Hopefully the smoke won't be too bad.

Just got back from jasper on August 1st. We didn't see any smoke in the Jasper area. Also the Icefields Parkway was all clear and easy going. No traffic backups or problems. Actually, relatively easy driving. I was surprised. Visibility on Parkway was superb!