On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Dagaetch
Back in 2013 I gave myself a birthday present of a trip to Banff and Jasper in Canada, places that I kept seeing pop up in the photography forums I frequented. The trip itself was a bit convoluted – I flew to Seattle then took the train up to Vancouver (a beautiful ride!), then a two day bus trip over to Banff. And of course we were there during a power outage, so things got a bit complicated at times. But it was a wonderful trip with beautiful scenery. If you’ve ever thought about going, I highly recommend a visit!
Okay, I know this isn’t technically on the Icefields Parkway. But it’s really close! And completely worth the visit. Beautiful water, snow capped mountains, some green trees…basically all my favorite things in one place.
This was a place we…paused? overnighted? I can’t remember anymore…on the way to Banff. A perfectly respectable city to pass through, I don’t remember anything standing out about it other than this very pretty scene.
Everyone takes this picture, and for good reason. (Pardon the water drop on the lens, I wasn’t paying enough attention.) It was a short hike from the road and this scene is beautiful in any season. Also a fun story – on my way back down the trail, I stop to take photos of a cute little squirrel. Suddenly some folks behind me call out, and I turn around to find a porcupine trundling my way. Those needles? MUCH BIGGER IN PERSON. Momentary panic – do I run away? Run towards it? Make noise? Stay quiet? While I stand there debating my options, the porcupine turns around and heads off the other direction. I casually wave to the other people and turn back around to keep heading down the trail. Two points for covering up terror with a veneer of confidence!
I think this is at Athabasca Glacier, although I could be wrong. One of the really nice things about this trip was how virtually everything is RIGHT off the road. Of course, that means you almost never have a spot to yourself.
And then sometimes you don’t even have to leave the road! This is honestly one of my favorite pictures and has been an occasional smartphone background ever since.
Getting up early is often a struggle when I’m traveling, but it’s generally worth it. Scenes like this can really start a day off on the right note.
I kept a journal with notes on all the places we went. I did not, however, connect the journal with the photos! Oops. So yeah…I think this was at the Valley of Five Lakes, but can’t be certain. I do remember that it was one of the few places we could hike at for an extended bit.
The natural version of a white noise machine, these falls were LOUD. There’s little to help with scale in this photo, but the falls were big. And there had been some torrential rains earlier that week (see: power failure mentioned earlier) so the river was running hard.
The water really was practically glowing. This was an overlook just off the road; there apparently was a trail to get down closer, but our group didn’t have time. Still – this is one of the spots that features in my occasional fantasies of if I win the billion dollar lottery, where would I live?
That’s it for my Canada adventure. If you enjoy this kind of scenery, I really can’t recommend it enough. Reasonably accessible, enjoyable at different times of the year (I was there in late June), and geographically dense enough that you can see a ton of stuff even with just a few days.
MagdaInBlack
When I was a kid, my parents did a cross Canada camping trip on the Trans-Canada highway, from Manitoba to B.C. So IF that is the Athabasca Glacier, somewhere I have a picture of 9 y/o me standing on it.
Thank you for these pictures, they brought up some good memories.
Barbara
We spent time in Jasper and the Icefields and it is truly special. Love your pictures.
HeartlandLiberal
Great pictures. The raindrop just adds context.
Anyway
Beautiful pictures!
I had a trip to Banff scheduled for Sept 2020 – of course there was no travel that year. Still hope to make it back some day soon.
delphinium
Stunning photos! Jasper and Banff are on my travel list.
SkyBluePink
What colors! What gorgeous pictures!
Hoosierspud
In reference to Kelowna, my husband and I drove up to the Okanagan Valley last August. We stayed in the little town of Peachland which is south and on the west side of Lake Okanagan about 30 minutes from Kelowna. The area is full of orchards and vineyards and is Canada’s premier wine country. I believe that Penticton which has about 30,000 people living there is home to about 30 wineries. It’s a beautiful area. The Canadian Rockies are on our bucket list.
MelissaM
There are people who live within this scenery. They must walk around just smiling all the time.
Great photos and thanks for sharing!
Gin & Tonic
Great shots, and a great reminder of the trip up there that my dear wife and I took a few years back, in the fall. You’re right about that Moraine Lake picture, I took the same one.
mvr
Thanks for these. They bring back a hitch hiking trip 40+ years ago on which I visited these two parks. I really like “the road” shot that you noted was a favorite. It recalls one night going to sleep in the dark next to the road (Highway 1 iirc) without much sense of what was around me and then waking up to the most beautiful mountain surroundings.
The desolation of the area around the melting glaciers is well-captured in the Athabasca Glacier picture. I remember a similar area with what I was told were the headwaters of the Columbia River (or maybe the Missouri?) iirc.
I keep wanting to go back but it is a long ways to get there.
Thanks!
pieceofpeace
Gorgeous, your pictures are very inviting and having been there several times, the urge to surround myself on another trip there is tempting and will happen!
eclare
Beautiful photos.
Barbara
@Anyway: I hope you can too. It’s one of the places I hope to make it back to. On our first night we stayed at one of the storied railroad hotels, now a Four Seasons, at Lake Louise. You wake up in the morning, open the drapes and feel like you are living in a postcard. I think it must be one of the most photographed scenes in the world. My husband surreptitiously took pictures of people taking pictures.
StringOnAStick
The whole area is just so gorgeous, I’ve treasured memories from several trips there, usually in the winter. One time we skied up and over the continental divide as our exit from a back country ski lodge, something usually done by helicopter. After a long day of thousands of feet of fresh powder, we ended up skiing across the lake in the first photo. A memory of a lifetime for sure, thanks for the reminder.
Cathie from Canada
Thanks! The Icefields Parkway is one of my favorite drives — from Saskatoon its what we call the Grand Circle route — Saskatoon to Edmonton to Jasper to Banff to Calgary and back to Saskatoon.
I have many happy memories of our holidays on this route.
Dan B
My uncle spent a few weeks on the Columbia Icefields testing a vehicle designed to go over ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. It had pontoons tipped with bug Lexan saucers that would span crevasses. I don’t know if ut was ever used but it was interesting they chose thus location for testing.
Steve Crickmore
The lovely photos capture much of the wilderness feel of the region. 12 years ago, I had the opportunity to choose anywhere to live with my young teenage daughter in Canada, so I chose Banff, setting off from Toronto with a driveaway car. Population maximum, of Banff is ten thousand plus tourists. It is cold much of the year, and deer wander the streets. I would have stayed there forever. Everywhere you walked you had a beautiful view of the towering mountains. We stayed there for six months before my daughter, whose English was limited, got homesick for Andorra in Europe where she had lived, so after returning her home, I decided to go to Brazil. The skiing was magnificent in Lake Louise.
Kevin
Gorgeous. Been on my bucket list awhile.
currawong
Way back in 1984 we paid our first visit to Canada in late August/early September.
We drove along the Icefield Parkway during the first blizzard of the year. Never saw a thing!