Vacation 2011–Day 11

Today was a lot like yesterday. The big difference was that we went further along the Icefield Parkway into Jasper National Park. Before we reached Sunwapta Pass (the boundary between parks), we saw Elk, Robins, Ravens, and another Grizzly wandering along the side of the Parkway. Within Jasper National Park, we saw Chipmunks, Squirrels, Goats, and Ravens. We saw Tangle Falls without too much effort. We also looked at some of the glaciers from roadside viewpoints. While most of our stops were simple, we did a little hiking today.


Our first hike was along Beauty Creek. This creek rushes through a narrow canyon with a series of drops. We took pictures of many of these drops including what we believe to be Stanley Falls.


At one point, we pulled off of the road to look at some glaciers. One looked lower than the others. I guessed that is was the Athabasca Glacier. As we headed for the parking lot, I knew that I was right. We hiked up a large moraine (this glacier used to be huge) to see the glacier. Since there were people hiking on the glacier, I never got the shot that I wanted. I also didn’t have a wide enough lens to fully capture what I saw. Obviously, I struggled to shoot pictures showing the size of the moraine.