poss

We said goodby to beautiful Lake Louise around 9:30 and headed up the Prkway to Jasper. I guess this was the most "disappointing" part of our trip, but I put the word in quotes because that disappointment is only relative: it, too, was wonderful, just not quite as wonderful and memorable as some of the other sites. I had expected the whole route up to be one awe-inspiring moment after another, and no doubt that's pretty much what it's like in truly ideal conditions. Again, we had the smoke problem, so we weren't able to see much in the distance, weren't able to see the far-off vistas of those terrific mountains.
Nonetheless, we stopped at just abt every vista point along the way and were still wowed despite the fact that we had the feeling the wows would have been even wowier had the air been more clear. Happily, each place that we stopped for a little hike or a look-see that wasn't far off in the distance was splendid. E.g.:

Bow Lake: very handsome. We strolled for abt 45 min.

Peyto Lake: absolutely breath-taking. Simply could not believe the color. Cannot imagine what the crayola people could come up with to try to capture it. As stunning a sight as we'd seen (or saw). An even more remarkable color, it seemed, than Moraine Lake (but we loved Moraine because it was right there, not off in the distance). I thought the little 10 min walk up to the viewpoint was a somewhat steep-- but again the trail/path was comfortable and easy; it's just that I had to do a lot of huffing. (There are benches along the way, and it really is short-- 15 min or so from the parking lot. I found myself wishing that we could park in the upper lot, but that was for buses and handicapped. We drove up, just to see, and it was virtually empty. Still....) In short, Peyto is a marvel to behold. Do Not Miss.
Had thought to stop at Waterfowl Lakes, but decided to pass it by for:
MIstaya Canyon! Spent abt an hour. Could have been happy there for many hours. Hoped very much to stop on way back down. (Alas, didn't have time.) I do love canyons!
Had thought to hike the Parker Ridge Trail, but were still kind of worn out from our LL hiking. Also, I told myself that the views might be similar to the ones at Sunshine Meadows. Also, we knew we wouldn't get much of the "long" view, so we regretfully skipped Parker. Tant pis.
Icefield Center: Found it totally uninteresting. For us, not worth the stop (I'm sure it would be for lots of others; this is just a very subjective thing.) We knew we had no interest in the snocoach (have spent time in Alaska), but it was kind of fun to see them off in the distance, shuttling their way along the glaciers. We knew abt moraines, glaciers, etc from former travels (and from watching a gazillion nature shows on PBS-- we're addicts of nature and nature shows), so we didn't find the Center at all enlightening. And I was sorry (and surprised) that there wasn't some sort of groovy film to ooh and ahh over for 15 min or so. It was a kick to see the Athabasca Glacier and the Columbia Icefield so close and so snowy though: real nice view. And I want to be clear: I'm not at all saying don't stop at the Center. I'm just saying it didn't do a whole lot for us. (Of course I did the touristy thing of buying a bottle of "glacier" water, just because I was parched and the word "glacier" sounded so inviting. Have no clue where the water came from. Tasted fine and dandy-- tho no different from any other nice cold bottled water.)
Will continue more another time. Please be sure to ask if I can answer any specific questions.

Devonmcj

Thanks for continuing the tale.

Is the Snocoach something you have to reserve in advance, or can you walk up, pay up, and get on?

We live in the Chesapeake Bay area like I believe you do. Even though we're somewhat rural, it's surprising how much ambient light brightens the sky at night. We would love to see a sky full of stars, maybe even some meteorites and auroras. What was the night sky like while you were there?

poss

Do not need to reserve snocoach in advance-- in fact, I think that's not even possible. (Not sure, but definitely not necessary, tho also not sure what things are like in high season, no doubt very crowded.)

Stayed light pretty late (9 or so I guess), so we didn't see much of the dark night sky. At home, we're great sky watchers, always make a point to spend time with the Perseid meteors in August, spend many nights swinging at anchor in Eastern shore coves, staring at the sky, etc. But we were pretty pooped each day and usually hit the sack by 10:00 (not that I actually slept much!) Saw a magnificent full moon the night we were at Lake Louise. But, yes, I imagine you'll have far less ambient light there-- must be a beautiful place to camp.

Tasha440

Poss, You mentioned that you left Lake Louise at 9:30, do you remember about what time you arrived in Jasper? Did the trip take all day? We are trying to plan how many nights to stay in each Lake Louise, Jasper and Canmore. From my research, I don't see much that will interest us to stay more than 2 days in Jasper. However, my problem is figuring out when to go there and how long it will take up the Parkway. I think we will need 2 full days to do Maligne Canyon, Maligne Lake (with Spirit cruise) and Mount Edith Cavell (Angel Glacier/Cavell Meadows Hike).

Also, you mentioned that the snocoach didn't interest you because you have been to Alaska. Can you elaborate on that? We went to Alaska last month, and although we went to Glacier Bay, College Fjords and Aliak Glacier, we did not do any glacier landings. I was wondering if the snocoach would interest us, or if it might pale to our Alaska experience. This could be one of those time consuming things that might not be worth it, and I'd hate to miss out on something else...On the other hand, it might be a unique experience to walk out on the glacier.

poss

Hi Tasha,
Depending on how many stops you make, and how long you linger at each stop, the Icefields could for sure take an entire long day. Even if we'd left LL at 7 or 8, if we'd done all we might have liked to do, we'd still not have been to Jasper by dark. We left out a number of things (like the Parker Ridge hike) because we were tired (and one, finally, does have to pick and choose), and some things we purposely left for our return trip (mainly Horseshoe Lake and Beauty Creek waterfall trail) Even so, as you'll see from my most recent post (north part of Icefields) it was getting to be around 7:30 by the time we neared Jasper. Being the senior citizens (and sickies!) that we are, we'd had enough of touring by that time.
For the things you want to do in the Jasper area, you absolutely need 2 full days. You'd be seriously short-cutting, I think, if you tried to zoom through faster than that. (And don't forget the gondola is there, too. We didn't get to do it, but I'd have liked to. And we didn't even get to do the meadows part of Cavell; spent abt 3 hrs just at Angel Glacier. I could have spent double-- triple!-- the amt of time we spent at each place.)
Columbia Icefield: When you're there, you're so close to the glacier anyway (and also at Angel Glacier-- which we liked even better) If the snocoach thing had been, say, 45 min instead of double that we'd probably have hopped it. Would be a kick, no doubt, to be smack in the middle of all that vast whiteness. (It doesn't have that gorgeous blue that we kept seeing all over Alaska.)It's just that time being finite (at least our time) and the things we'd like to do on this earth infinite, we had to make choices. Maybe do a "snocoach" search on this site? My memory is that many people have reported on having done it (or chosen not to). Same with the Spirit Island trip-- there's lots of in-put.
May your Rockies rendezvous be as lovely as ours was!

newretiree

Tasha440 - we did the snocoach last year, and enjoyed it. We had just done the cruise to Alaska, and had seen Hubbard Glacier - so impressive. But like you, we did not do any glacier landings, partly because we knew we were going to the Athabasca Glacier. If you want to stand on a glacier, this is definitely the easiest way to do it in the Canadian Rockies. You can also walk to the toe of this glacier, and walk up on it (within the specified area). We took this approach this year - however, with the incline of the trail to the toe, and having to go down and then back up again to get to the actual toe - and with the wind blowing at gale force with around 0 degrees C - my husband and I opted not to go all the way to the toe, since we had actually been on the glacier last year.

It is mighty cold on the glacier, so if you go (either snocoach or walking to the toe), make sure you bundle up - scarf, hat, gloves, layers, etc.

As far as time is concerned, we bought our tickets, and were called within 2 minutes. We then boarded a regular tour bus, which took us up the road next to the glacier to the snocoach loading zone (5-10 minutes). We then boarded the snocoach and took about a 15 minute ride out to the designated area on the glacier. The bus driver was knowledgable and entertaining on the way. We had about 20 minutes on the glacier itself to take photos, throw snowballs, explore the stream running along one area, etc. It was so cold, I think we got back on the bus within about 15 minutes. Then another 15-20 minutes back to the snocoach unloading area, then the tour bus and back to the center.

As Judy in Calgary has mentioned, and maybe others, the cafeteria at the center is not worth writing home about - but if you need something warm to drink, it will do. We didn't spend time at the exhibits, so can't comment on those.

You won't see the blue of the ice that you saw with the glaciers on the Alaska cruise, because you will be on the surface. I think the blue ice is where the ice and snow have been so compacted that only the blue reflects through the ice - and you see it typically at the edge of the glacier, not on top.

I would like to echo Poss's comments about the timing of the ride up the Icefields Parkway. The day we came south from Jasper to Canmore, it took us 8 hours - mainly because of stopping at viewpoints and enjoying the various areas. We didn't do any hiking that day other than getting to the Peyto Lake viewpoint, so you can see that it can take you a while to go down (or up) the parkway. It is so beautiful, with so much to see, that it can turn into sensory overload after a while. That's why it's not an issue to go north to Jasper and then later south from Jasper. That way you get to see it twice! I actually put the Icefields Parkway in the top 3 things I wouldn't miss in this area - along with Moraine Lake and Takakkaw Falls - oh, and now I also need to add Angel Glacier - so that's top 4 things!

Have a great time when you go!