The Marchon Family - '00 Canada

Day 15

September 22, 2000
Jasper, AB - Banff, AB
202 miles

The Icefields Parkway - well, what can I say? The expectations were certainly high - but it really was all that and even more. Of course, we were really lucky with the weather. After almost a week of mostly rainy (even snowy) and grey weather, the morning came with a stunningly clear blue sky and the sun greeting us from the mountains. It was still cold, though. It gave us an idea how cold it can actually be in winter, when it's below freezing in september already!

So we set off, traveling along this road situated in a high mountain valley, running in parallel to mountain ranges, which is really only there for the tourists. Nobody lives up there. It's just wide (well, sometimes narrow, but they seem wide) empty valleys and mountains. It's not that there are no mountains like this in Switzerland - there are and they are maybe just as beautiful. But it's a lot different here anyway, maybe because there's this road up there in the middle of it all and you can see it all comfortably from your car, not having to feel the cold outside. And yet except for this road, there is basically nothing ...

In the evening, we arrived in Banff and had to stop at a few hotels to find a room, as it seemed to be a busy weekend ahead. We only got a room for one night, so we would have to look again the following morning.

top | << Bear Country II | Athabasca Falls I >>