Washout on the Icefield Parkway

Location: Pocahontas Campground, Jasper National Park, Canada

It rained hard all night and didn't let up this morning. We decided to push on and head north to Jasper National Park regardless. We knew that the rain and clouds would mar a lot of the spectacular views on the Icefield Parkway, but were hoping for another viewing on our return trip to Lake Louise. This part of Banff is famous for their wildlife, particularly bears. We didn't know if the wet weather would keep the bears under cover. Much to our surprise we spotted a bear not too far into the drive. He was hanging out, in the rain, munching on vegetation. Fortunately, I was able to catch a picture without having to leave the car. (I was scared). This area is a natural wildlife migration path. Unfortunately the parkway goes right through it. The solution was to build a really cool migration overpass, complete with natural landscaping, so that the bears wouldn't get killed crossing the road. See picture below.
When we were in Calgary on the paddle boat at Heritage Park we learned that the reservoir was extremely low because they were anticipating huge runoff from the upcoming storm. The reservoir is fed by the Bow River which originates in this part of the park. About an hour into the drive we noticed the river rising as runoff from creeks and streams was gushing down the mountains in muddy torrents. At one point our road was submerged and covered with debris. Yep, I got a picture of that too. We made it to about the half way point at Saskatchewan Crossing and decided it was a good time to stop and have a cup of hot soup. No sooner had we started again, when a quarter mile up the road the rangers were turning everyone back because the Icefield Parkway was flooded and covered in debris. Mmmm. We really didn't have a lot of options at this point. We could either head back for Lake Louise and hang out there for another day or head East and try a round about way to get to Jasper. The round about route would take about 7 hours. Yeah, we did that one. We learned later that the road back to Lake Louise was also closed. Don't really know what our options would have been at that point.
So, after a really long day driving in torrential rain seeing a lot of hard scrapple mining and oil towns, (Rocky Mountain House, Drayton Valley, Hinton) we finally made it to the very Eastern edge of Jasper Park. The campground we stayed at last night was completely surrounded by an electrical fence to keep the bears out. Tonight we are on our own. (Lisa, I'm definitely not leaving the BBQ grill out tonight!) And guess who is accompanying me to the bathroom whenever nature calls?! The good news is that even though it's currently rainy and heavy cloud cover at 10 pm, it's still very bright out. So weird to go to bed before sunset.
Miette Hot Springs is just up the road a couple of kilometers so guess what our plan is tomorrow. Heck, let it rain. The Icefield Parkway is still closed and we have no idea when it will open. We figure we're not going to drive around again so we'll wait it out in Jasper. Hopefully, the storm will abate soon and we will be able to enjoy the drive back to Lake Louise. Depending on how long we are holed up we'll plan our route back to the USA accordingly.

The Beauty of Banff

Lake Louise Campground, Banff, Canada

Sleeping in a parking lot must not have been too bad since we slept in until 9:30! It was close to 11 by the time we were exploring Banff. One of our first stops was the very illustrious Banff Springs Hotel. Dang! I had no idea this 125 year old "lodge" was such an iconic landmark. We took a self-guided tour and learned that it was styled in the spirit of a Scottish baronial castle. The thick limestone blocks were quarried from nearby Mount Rundle and hundreds of Italian stone cutters and Scottish masons were employed to complete the project. We also enjoyed seeing the early pictures of the lodge in various time periods and the upper crust "summering" here. In the 1920's it cost them a $50,000 letter of credit to stay here for 3 or 4 months.
We had hoped to explore Banff on bike, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate so we were relegated to hoofing it. We walked to Bow Falls in a light drizzle and had the path to ourselves. Very romantic.
We took a peak at the nearby hot springs but decided to keep heading north and check out some other campgrounds on our way to Lake Louise. While we didn't get clear blue skies and forever views we did get some mystical cloud formations on mountain tops. We took the lesser traveled parkway rather than the main highway to Lake Louise and stopped periodically to read about historical points along the way. We haven't seen any wildlife yet (bears, moose, elk or wolves) but we did learn some interesting things. Did you know that Canada had interment camps during WWI? Over 8,500 mainly poor immigrants (mostly from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire) were interned in 24 camps throughout Canada. In this area they were forced to do hard labor and this highway is a tribute to their endeavors. Kinda made me a little sad.
We eventually arrived at Lake Louise and even though it was still drizzling, it didn't put a damper on our enjoyment of it. The turquoise blue waters still shone through and there were some hardy souls canoeing the lake. Their red canoes against the azure water in the mist looked amazing. We walked through the massive and very French Lake Louise Chateau. The architect certainly took advantage of the great views when he built this hotel. I particularly liked the "high tea" area where the bistro overlooked the lake.
Once we left the village of Banff the campground situation improved immensely. We have the added advantage that this is still considered off season so we have an abundance of campgrounds to pick from. Tonight we decided on a tent camp ground close to the village of Lake Louise. There are only a handful of people here and we've got a nice roaring fire going. (Thanks Ned.) Time to pop a nice bottle of Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel and snuggle in with my honey.