After a very relaxing weekend in Invermere we headed north on Sunday July 12th, heading east at Radium on Hwy 93 we entered Kootenay National park. The drive to Lake Louise from Radium is never disappointing. We enjoyed the journey looking for wildlife and daydreaming of the next 2 months. Our route in the next couple days will take us from Invermere to Jasper and on to Prince George. Our first night in the van was spent at Wilcox Pass campground just south of the Columbia Icefields Center, at 2000 meters and surrounded by glaciers the cool breezes at the campground were a welcome break.
The first night in the van was no too bad eh, the best part about van living is jumping in and driving away, which is exactly what we did on Monday morning. We did a quick hike on Parker Ridge which offers spectacular views of the Saskatchewan Glacier and the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River.
Meltwater from the Columbia Icefield flows to three different oceans, meltwater on the BC side flows to the Pacific Ocean, the southern half in Alberta drains to the Atlantic and the northern half to the Arctic. The rate of retreat of the ice is very impressive and there is evidence throughout the valley of the extent of the glaciation just 100 years ago.
Leaving the Icefields and heading north to jasper offers more Rocky Mountain beauty. Arriving in Jasper late afternoon we jumped on our bikes for a sample of the local single-track, a quick climb and we were treated to spectaular views and some ripping gold ribbons of dirt back into town for a cold beer.
Today we plan on a longer ride on the bikes and a short drive back to BC, where we plan on spending tomorrow at Mount Robson Park, we’ll check in again when we reach the bright lights of Prince George.
Love sharing the journey with you both! Thanks for capturing the adventure in photos and vivid words. Hugs from Tom & Joyce
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