Icefields Parkway

We spent our third week in the Canadian Rockies on the Icefields Parkway, the very scenic 144 miles of Alberta Highway 93 that links Lake Louise in Banff National Park to Jasper National Park. It’s known as one of the most stunning drives in the world, lined with mountain peaks, glaciers, and glacier-fed lakes and rivers. We’ve wanted to visit this area for a long time and it is just jaw-droppingly beautiful.

We stayed at Silverhorn Creek campground. There were no hookups, no water source, no dump station, and no cell service. But our solar panels and Dishy worked great with the open sky. And we had views of glaciers!!

The furthest south we ventured this week was to Bow Lake and the furthest north was the Parker Ridge trailhead, all within the Banff National Park boundary.

Not wanting to miss a perfect weather day, we paddled Bow Lake on the Sunday we arrived.

Later in the week, we hiked to Bow Glacier Falls which flows into Bow Lake. You can see the waterfall in the above (barely) and below righthand photos.

We also hiked the ~4-mile roundtrip Parker Ridge trail. It had some of the best views for the least amount of effort we’ve put into a hike.

We also walked along Peyto Lake one afternoon. It’s one of the most famous stops along the Icefields Parkway and was just a couple miles from our campground. It changes colors depending on the time of year, depending on the amount of glacial flour in the water.

Saturday was Michael’s 40th birthday! We celebrated with s’mores after a morning hike to Helen Lake and an afternoon paddle on Waterfowl Lake.

Next, we explore the northern half of the Icefields Parkway and Jasper National Park.