Canadian Rockies Day 7

This is our cabin in Alpine Village in Jasper where we will spend the next few days.

And the view from our porch.

The weather was perfect so we tried to go up the Jasper Skytram.  When we got there, there was an hour wait.  It appears they just have one tram, or possibly two.  We didn’t want to wait so we headed for the Valley of the Five Lakes trail instead.  It was as gorgeous as we remembered.

Canadian Rockies Day 6 - Athabasca Glacier

Our final stop on the drive was not nearly as impressive as we had hoped.  We expected to be able to walk on Athabasca Glacier as we have done each of the other times we have visited.  But the tongue of the glacier has receded so much since we were last here 15 years ago that you can no longer get to it without a guide.  Or you can ride a bus that drives out onto it, along with the hundreds of other people whose cars and buses were parked in the huge parking lot.  We elected to walk the trail to the closest point and just enjoy the view.

Canadian Rockies Day 6 - More Water

Bridal Veil Falls can be seen from a pull-out on Icefields Parkway.

And a trail leads from the parking lot to the bottom of both Bridal Veil and Panther falls.  But it is very steep and we didn’t feel like climbing back up.  Instead, we scrambled along a faint trail at the other end of the parking lot to the top of Panther Falls.  It is hard to find the water in this tumble of rocks.

The falls were really neat.

And photographing the final plunge was nerve-wracking, leaning over the edge of the rocks.

Canadian Rockies Day 6 - Mistaya Canyon

This is one of our favorite spots.