Day 13 – 6/30/09 (Part 5) --- 121 miles (Banff, Alberta to the Columbia Icefield Center via the Icefields Parkway)
50 at 7 AM --- 60 in the evening
After arriving at the Columbia Icefield Center, we booked a tour to go onto the Athabasca Glacier. We checked into our room in the chalet and relaxed a little. The tour was a fabulous experience. We walked on ice that was over 1,000 feet deep. It was windy and cold and snowed most of the time we were on the glacier. We had supper and watched the sun setting over the Athabasca Glacier from the warmth of our room. Snow Dome is a mountain to the right, rear of the glacier. It is considered a “triple divide.” Water from here flows three different ways: to the Pacific Ocean, to the Arctic Ocean and to Hudson Bay. The sun did not set until well after 10 PM.
Here is a link to a map of the Icefields Parkway. The Icefield Center is at kilometer marker 127.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/~/media/pn-np/ab/jasper/pdfs/visit/PkwyEn.ashx
The “Tour Bus” on the Athabasca Glacier
Navigator on the Left Side of the Athabasca Glacier
Gilligan on the Right Side of the Athabasca Glacier
Both of Us Near the Center of the Athabasca Glacier
Looking Back Down the Entrance Road Toward the Glacier
The Icefields Chalet – Where We Stayed
View From Our Room
Moon and Sunset over Mount Athabasca (Left – 11,459 feet) and
Mount Andromeda (Right – 11,319 feet)
