The lighting was much better for photos than the night before.
We had to get a photo of us to show we had actually been there :-)
Another shot of the spectacular view.
The color of the water was unbelieveably blue.
I had seen a similar photo to this in the tour book, and had been disappointed we couldn't get a chance at a similar shot the night before. Lucky for us, it was early enough that none of the canoes had gone out for the day yet and the sunshine brought out the canoe colors.
Another shot of the canoes and mountains. You can see a hanging glacier between the left set of mountains.
We caught up with Quent & Christina again, and were off to drive along the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. Our first stop was the lookout for the Crow's Foot glacier. There used to be three 'toes' but the lowest one has since melted.
Unbenounced to us at this point, we would soon get an even better view of these mountains and clouds.
I had read in the tour book that the Peyto Lake lookout offered some nice views, but did not realize we would be treated to this amazing view. This has to be my favorite photo of the trip.
The glacier that feeds Peyto Lake.
All smiles for this view.
The lake was so calm we could see the reflection of the mountains.
The atmosphere was so clear we were able to get a shot of the moon with the telephoto lens.
After we returned from our trip, I read in our photography magazine that several pro photographers consider the Icefields Parkway to be the most scenic stretch of road in the world. I can definitely see why!
Next was Mistaya Canyon. The narrowness of the canyon and orientation of the sunlight did not lend to real great shots, but this one was pretty decent.
Mountains upstream offer a nice backdrop for the canyon view.
Looking downstream to the beginning of the canyon. Since the river is glacier fed, it was also really blue.
This bench was just outside what I think was the only gas station/grocery store stops along the Icefields Parkway (Saskatchewan Crossing). We stopped to enjoy some ice cream since, contrary to what you would expect from the highway name, the weather was pretty warm.
Quent then thought it would be fun to make some hand gestures at the camera.
And after this it just plain got out of hand....
I think by this point people were wondering how long we had visited the pub!
We setup camp at the Wilcox Creek campground prior to setting out for a short trip before to bedtime.
Next stop: Athabasca Glacier on the edge of the Columbia Icefield.
Snow covered mountains adjacent to the Athabasca Glacier.
One of the snocoaches for the tours of the glacier. I would have liked to take a tour, but unfortunately they charged an arm and a leg per person.
Rocks left behind by the glacier. There were several signs showing where the edge of glacier had been in years past. The toe is quite a ways back from where it was 10 years ago, as you would expect as part of natural geologic processes.
A view of the toe of the glacier. I was pretty bummed that we couldn't go up near the glacier like the ones in Alaska. Oh well, that's what you get when stupid people ruin it for everyone.
A section of ice covered by moraine gravel.
It is pretty neat to see geology in action.
Next stop was a waterfall. I thought I would get a shot of the Parkway itself on the way to the waterfall.
Tangle Falls
Pat climing up the hill to get a closer view of the falls.
A closer view of Tangle Falls.
And a closer view of some rapids at the base of the upper falls.
And a really close view before heading back to camp.
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