August 23 - Motorcycle Ride in Jasper and Banff National Parks

We finally got a decent day for a motorcycle ride, so we decided to head south down the Icefield Parkway.  The road is billed as the "most scenic road in North America", and after driving it, we'd have to agree.

First stop was the drive up to Mount Edith Cavell, named after a nurse in Brussels that helped the allies during WWI and ended up executed by firing squad.  A fitting tribute, the mountain and glaciers around it were beautiful.

 The lake at the bottom with icebergs floating all around was really cool.

Too cool for a dip - what happened to those hot springs

Here's a really unique berg.  They must have hired an ice carver to come in for this one.

 As we rode further down the road, the mountain views were breath-taking.

We stopped at Sunwapta Falls.  Just a roar of water that carved a canyon through the rock.

Then there were more mountains.  The mountains here seem to go straight up, with every one being different and a different view around every corner.

About 75 miles south of Jasper is the Columbia Ice Fields stop and a big visitor center.  The highlight is the Athabasca Glacier

 A panorama view.

One unfortunate thing about these parks is that they have been over-commercialized.  You can buy a package deal that includes a ride on the glacier.  Makes all the foreign tourists real happy though.  Oh wait...we are the "foreign tourists" - oh no!

On the return trip to Jasper, we got to see all the mountains from the other direction.

Then we stopped at Athabasca Falls.  Before we could get to them though, we had to wait for this moma and baby black bear to finish dinner.  When a crowd started to gather, the cub started to climb a tree, mom got nervous, and they decided to look for a quiter place to eat.

When the coast was clear, we got to see the falls.  There was an unbelievable amount of water going over the falls in just a small area.  It was really roaring through the canyon below.

It was really roaring through the canyon below.  Here's a video that gives a better impression of it.

There are walkways all around the falls for views of the canyon.  Hard to believe a river that is probably 200 feet wide or more just roars through this canyon that is only 10 feet wide or less in spots.  Here's a path through one of the old channels the river cut through the rock.

 

And at the bottom, people have been busy stacking up rocks to make "hoodoos".

By the time we got back to camp it was time for a late dinner...and again no campfire...