Western Canada - Part 7 - Icefields Parkway South

On this part of our Canadian adventure, I will take you through our southern drive down the Icefields Parkway. You might be asking yourself "Well, you've already written about when you went north, why would you do another when going south?" Well, it holds a completely different perspective when driving in the opposite direction. You see different sides of the mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls. Heck, you can catch different wildlife here and there because it's a different time of day! It's truly amazing. So lets get on with it!!

The photo above is of Panther Falls. I had to zoom in pretty good with the professional camera to get this shot. This waterfall is easily over 300 ft tall and we viewed it from a pull over area off the parkway. It was such a big waterfall that you could hear the water from this parking area, which to my guessing is at least a half a mile away!

Since it was the beginning of spring and the weather was quite warm(mid 50's in the morning to low 80's late in the day), waterfalls were all over the place. Even coming off the sides of the mountains, where there usually aren't any waterfalls. It was amazing to take one corner and see a huge 500 foot waterfall on the side of a mountain. Like the one in the photo above.

A zoomed in photo of the waterfall on the side of the mountain.

It was amazing how every corner you turn, there's another different view. The little bit of snow that was clinging to the mountains enhanced the view by a 1000%. It brought out all the different curves and spots in the mountains that you wouldn't of been able to pick out if it was melted. We got very lucky with our timing on this trip.

The fluffy clouds flowing over some parts of the mountains made the drive even better.

The photo above is when we were driving by the Saskatchewan River with Saskatchewan Mountain in the background. On the other side of Saskatchewan Mountain is the amazing Colombian Icefield(which isn't visible in the photo). The icefield contains six major glaciers and several smaller glaciers. We had just come from there visiting the Athabasca Glacier, which is located in the icefield.

Just imagine being atop that mountain and seeing the stunning view from there. It's got to be an amazing to be up there and look at an endless amount of massive peaks!

The Saskatchewan River flowing beside the mountains.

Looking back at the enormous valley that we just came through was more than breathtaking. It was very difficult to be the driver!! I'm very lucky that Jessica was snapping all these pictures while I was driving!

Peaks popping out everywhere!

Incredible views all throughout the trip.

Super steep mountains surrounded us in every direction. I was looking everywhere and wanting to get to the top of each one of these peaks.

Now this is when it got interesting. Back in 2014 there was a wild fire in this area called the Spreading Creek wildfire. It burned over 17,000 acres of wild forest and it was caused by a lightning strike. Now, I don't know how or why we missed this on the way up, but it definitely caught our eye on the way back down. It looked very creepy with all the trees being bare and the lack of greenery on the mountains. You can see to the right where the fire was contained.

Complete Devastation. Although everything was burnt down, professionals have proven that this forest fires can do good sometimes. It kills the indigenous species and creates a whole new growth of wildlife. Someday, this area will be a forest once again.

A look at where the fire burned every tree on the mountain. The trees were stripped of its natural colors. You can even see in the background where the fire was also burning miles away. That's how big it was.

Another look going into where the fire once was. The good thing is that the fire didn't get too out of control. It was controlled by the bare rock of the mountains and by the river that was to the north. The fire fighters didn't have to do any extra battling of the fire this time. They called it a 'natural containment.'

So on the way, we came over a small hill and all of the sudden cars were everywhere. I immediately thought that it was a car accident. But as we got closer, we saw people on the side of the road with cameras. We finally saw what they were looking at: a massive grizzly bear!! We were pretty far away, but the big lens on the camera got us some decent pictures. It was huge!

From a distance

Up close

A little closer.

The sad thing was that people were getting out of their vehicles to take photographs of this beautiful creature. We simply drove buy slow, observed, gasped and snapped a few decent pictures of it and moved on. Just leave the damn bear alone and give it peace. Who knows if some idiots have gotten even closer to the bear. Believe me, it has happened.

I always tell Jessica that I have great karma. I put a lot of good energy into mother nature and somehow, I get it back. Well, a little further down the road, I see someone pulling off to the side of the road behind me in my rear view mirror. The way they pulled over was strange. As if they saw something suddenly. I said to Jessica "They have to of seen something. I know it!" So I whip the car around and low and behold, a beautiful black bear was grazing on the side of the road! We kept the car moving and got a couple of great shots of him before it went back into the forest.

This was when we were a little further away. As we drove by, we got better pictures.

Just feasting on some grass!

The bear wasn't that huge, so we thought it was just getting over its cub phase and starting to become an adult, living on its own. Truly a beautiful sight to behold!!

When we rounded a corner this amazing view of Bow Crow Peak, the Crowfoot Glacier and Crowfoot Mountain came into place. It was a stunning sight!!

Bow Crow Peak, Crowfoot Glacier, Crowfoot Mountain and Bow Lake below.

Magnificent scenery everywhere!!

Like I said before, the snow hanging onto the mountains was an amazing treat. It really brought out the peaks with the clouds and the blue skies adding more and more beauty to the trip. This drive along the Icefields Parkway is one we will never forget. If you ever have the chance to go somewhere, go here. You don't even have to hike!!