October 19-20, 1998

October 19-20, 1998

I have a business meeting in Jasper, Alberta. This is an area that I have never visited, so I flew into Calgary a day early and drove the longer scenic route through the Canadian Rockies. I rented a car and stayed the first night in the city of Banff. It is a great little town surrounded by mountains with an awesome fossil store. I hiked up the steep Tunnel Mountain trail for a great view of the valley and the Banff Springs hotel. This hotel is one of Canada’s iconic and historic 19th century grand railway hotels.

The next day, I drove north through gorgeous mountain scenery of Banff National Park. It is an absolutely stunning drive paralleling the Continental Divide and worthy of its World Heritage status. Forty minutes later, I stopped at Lake Louise with its nice lodge facing this scenic glacier-fed turquoise lake. It is colder here; apparently so all year round because of the glacier. For exercise I hiked the five-mile Lake Agnes trail up to this high alpine lake. It is a strenuous 1500-foot elevation gain. Surprisingly there is a little teahouse at the end for a reward.

Just north of Lake Louise the road splits with the Trans-Canada Highway turning west. I continue north instead along the Icefields Parkway. After ninety minutes I reached Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefield. Here Athabasca Glacier, one of the toes of this vast patch of ice and snow, spills over the mountains and almost reaches the road making it the most visited glacier in North America. You can walk up to the edge but I signed up for a SnoCoach tour. This is a special high-clearance bus that actually climbs up onto the glacier. That is safer than walking it and accidentally falling down a deep crevasse.

From there it was another hour to the town of Jasper for my sales meeting at a local lodge. On the return drive back to Calgary, I only had time for a quick hike to a small waterfall.