19th May 2025

The day started off sunny as we drove in the direction of Banff. We were on our way to the Jasper National Park Icefield to see a glacier. It was more than an hour’s drive. We arrived in the nick of time. Not even time to buy a coffee. There was a short coach trip, across the road and up a dirt track to the base of the glacier. Here we transferred to an off-road vehicle, designed for travel on the ice and used in the arctic. We continued a little way up the Glacier Moraine and then down a steep hill to the Glacier. We disembarked to be herded into a small safe area. This is to ensure we do not fall into a crevasse and pop out in a stream at the bottom. You may laugh, but this did happen to an explorer here, and it seems to have happened recently to a skier. After 20 minutes on the Glacier, we returned to the transport, ground our way up the hill, and then onto the coach. Next stop was the Skywalk.

The Jasper Icefield Skywalk is a platform that overhangs the valley complete with a glass floor. It is meant to be scary, but it is not as scary as the Calgary Tower we subsequently visited which also had a piece of glass floor. I think this is because on the Calgary Tower you can see objects below that you can relate to, while on the Skywalk, scale is not so apparent in the rock formations below. There was an attendent there who kept the glass sparkling clean. They apparently change the top “sacrificial” layer of glass every year to maintain a clear view.

Back to the centre’s café for a Starbucks. We watched a film which showed interesting views of the mountain.  But they had to wind a story into it of an old man and children who were in the mountains.  A lost stone, picked up by the man, placed in the stream and picked up by the children. Why do they do this?

Outside it had started to snow, but thankfully very lightly.

Back we drove to Jasper, parked in a small carpark and bought some food also visiting a liquor store for gin and beer. We went to the campsite’s foul water dump, where we discharged our tanks. All went well. 

Sausages for supper. Odd number in a pack. Five.

The campsite looks pretty empty now the weekend holiday is over. The smell of burning seemed more intense.

Some elk in the campsite. Our little furry animals, being sensible creatures, were not out in the cold weather. We had seen them this morning.