Day 46: Banff National Park, AB to Mount Robson Provincial Park, BC via Jasper, AB

Welcome back to Winter! It seems we just can’t escape the snow but it sure is beautiful.

We departed from Banff this morning and, after briefly getting tuned around and heading into British Columbia towards Yoho National Park (oops!), we course corrected and headed back into Alberta down the Icefields Parkway toward Jasper. 

Wrong way!

Back in Alberta - whew!

It got snowier and snowier as we headed to our first stops - Crowfoot Glacier and Peyto Lake. We slipped and slid down the trail to the Peyto Lake lookout. While the lake wasn’t the usual brilliant turquoise that it is in the sun, we were glad that the flurries paused briefly so we could see something. 

Crowfoot Glacier. See the three “toes”?

Next up was turquoise rivers and snowy mountain passes. Luckily the road conditions were perfect. We passed by the Columbia Icefield for a look at the glacier but didn’t hike up to touch the ice.

Welcome to Jasper National Park! The sign was on the wrong side of the road.

This is where the Columbia glacier was in 1890. It is definitely receding. See it way in the distance?

Columbia Glacier now. It is way up in the mountains.

Our journey over the remainder of the day was full of waterfalls - many, many wonderful waterfalls. We started at Sunwapta Falls, then on to Athabasca Falls, and finally ending up at Overlander Falls.

Roadside waterfall.

Sunwapta Falls.

Athabasca Falls.

Overlander Falls.

Our time in Jasper was minimal. After the 2024 wildfires, they are rebuilding. There is still so much burnt forest and many, many houses under construction. 30% of the town’s buildings burned down. The Fairmont Jasper Lodge avoided harm but the Maligne Canyon trail (one of our favourites) is still closed.

Burnt all the way up the mountains.

Temporary houses for residents who are still rebuilding.

Tons of construction.

Avoided disaster but the fire reached 2.5 km from the resort.

We ended the day by crossing the provincial border into British Columbia (again, this time on purpose), moving into the Pacific time zone, and pulling into campsite 15 in the Mount Robson River Campground.

Mount Robson under cloud cover, which apparently is normal. This is the Rocky Mountains’ highest peak at 3,954m.

Dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow.