Best of Western Canada - Day 6: Banff to Lake Louise - Columbia Icefield - Jasper

On day 6 we leave Banff, the first stop is Lake Louise, its bright blue waters mirroring the surrounding mountains and glaciers. We stop at the Columbia Icefield for a snowcoach ride over the 1000 foot thick Athabasca Glacier. Then river raft down the Athabasca River before reaching the historic town of Jasper for an overnight stay

Day 6: Banff

We have breakfast at the same place as yesterday then get on the coach for the first stop to Lake Louise. The most photographed place in Rockies. Its just a breath taking scenery, looking at the photos in the water you can see the crystal clear reflections

Lake Louise photos
kim at lake louise    cheester at lake louise    kim at lake louise   

       

We spend a little over an hour at Lake Louise, nearby is the hotel where there is a nice and reasonably priced cafe.

We get back on the coach heading towards the Columbia Icefield, there we stop by another glacier the crows foot

crows foot glacier
Crow's foot glacier, slowly receding due to global warming

greenest lake in the Rockies
The greenest lake in the Rockies, in about 100-200 years time this terrific coloured
lake will be no more, the lake is gradually getting smaller and smaller due to rocks
breaking from the glaciers melting and falling into the river.

Greenest lake in the Rockies me and kim
Kim and I at the emerald lake

By lunchtime we arrive at the Columbia Icefield. We stop off here and have lunch, then get on a snowmobile to the Athabasca Glacier, the largest body of ice in the Rocky Mountains. The food from the restaurant is fast food, some chinese food is available from the menu, soups, sandwiches et al.

We have to take a coach to the snowmobiles, which once on the snowmobile the driver takes us onto the Athabasca Glacier. Once on the glacier we can walk around, we take an empty water bottle and fill that up with the ice water flowing down the stream. This is the purest water you can drink and tastes great. Theories and myths suggests that by drinking this water you will look and feel 10 years younger. The ice has been roughed up in the morning so its pretty safe to walk, but best not run as its still quite slippery.

snowmobile    Columbia Icefield, Athabasca Glacier    Kim getting ice water from athabasca glacier    Me on the Athabasca Glacier
Athabasca glacier snow mobile, Kim collecting a sample of water

athabasca river    athabasca waterfall
Athabasca river and waterfall

Next we go rafting on the Athabasca river, this is a very gentle excursion, all that happens is that you might get a little bit wet and the water is very very cold, as the source of this water is from the Athabasca Glacier. We rendezvous with the coach again and get get driven to Jasper for a quick coach tour of this wonderful town.

We stay at the Maligne Lodge, Connaught Driver, PO Box 757, Jasper. Again we would rate this 3 stars, a very cosy room with kitchen facilities. The Hotel is about 10 minutes walk into town. On this occasion the hotel gives us a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate our honeymoon.

We freshen up and head into town for something to eat. We walked around the whole of Jasper and eventually ended up where we started and ate at the Villa Caruso Steak House & Bar. The food was brilliant, absolutely gorgeous, and DEFINATELY worth going to eat. Prices were reasonable and service was first class and I would say it would challenge Gordan Ramsey. For starters Kim had scallops in pineapple and garlic sauce, I had mussels. For the main meal I had a rack of lamb, cooked to perfection and Kim had the alberta steak. The waiter and chef looked after Kim very well even for her food allegies. After the meal we retired back to the hotel, myself a little worse for wear, after all it was my 28th birthday too.

The next day

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If you spot any mistakes or have questions then email me

Related Links

Day 1:
UK to Vancouver

Day 2:
Vancouver
Chinatown, Gastown, Grouse Mountain, Capilino Bridge

Day 3:
Vancouver to Vernon
Okanagan Lake, O'Keefe Musuem

Day 4:
Vernon to Banff
Glacier National Park, Yoho National Park

Day 5:
Banff
Helicopter Ride, Gondola, Sulphur Mountain

Day 6:
Banff to Jasper
Lake Louise, Columbia Icefield, River rafting

Day 7:
Jasper to Prince George
Maligne Lake, Mount Robson

Day 8:
Prince George to Prince Rupert
Skeena Train

Day 9:
Prince Rupert
Seaplane, Pike Island

Day 10:
Prince Rupert to Port Hardy
Inside Passage Cruise

Day 11:
Port Hardy to Victoria
Cumberland, Chemainus

Day 12:
Victoria
Chinatown, forbidden city tour

Day 13:
Victoria to Vancouver

Day 14:
Vancouver
Granville Island, Gastown

Day 15:
Vancouver to UK
and conclusion of tour

Guestbook
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Other links:

Cheester's w00tw00t homepage
Hesperia Isla Margarita Hotel Review
Advent laptop 6520 review