Jume 26
We left Banff this morning heading to Silverhorn Creek CG, passing through the entrance to Jasper National Park. We purchased a pass for the National Parks while in Banff. All the National Parks in Canada require this pass.
Driving along Hwy 93 North into the Park was another spectacular drive. We stopped at Bow Lake to take some pictures and enjoy the majestic mountains. It was short drive to the campground on Silverhorn Creek. No Services with 45 RV/Tent sites. Completely full for the night, by reservation only. We’re in a valley surrounded by glaciers and mountains. We enjoyed a hike along the river and around a small lake. Visiting with some folks from Holland was great. Extremely peaceful space for the next 2 nights.
It stays light past 10 PM and the sun rises about 5:00 AM!
Silverhorn Campground
June 27
Woke up to a cold 46 degrees. We started our morning with some of Douglas’ delicious, homemade pancakes. I had mine with almond butter and a side of turkey bacon and Douglas had his with almond butter and strawberry jelly. We topped breakfast off with hot tea. Patiently waiting for 9:00 AM when we can run the generator and have our electric fireplace going. :-)
For our adventure today we packed a picnic lunch and set off for another wonderful drive to the Icefields located in Jasper National Park. Stopping along the way to admire Bow Lake.
Interesting Facts:
- In 1844 the Athabasca Glacier covered the entire area where the parking lot is today. Through the centuries changes in world climate have caused glaciers to expand and shrink as the balance between snowfall and icemelt shifts.
2. The world’s glaciers have lost about 400 billion tons of ice every year since 1994.
3. Glaciers in the Canadian Rocky Mountains are melting. From the Icefield Centre you can trace the retreat of the shrinking Athabasca Glacier. Many researchers hypothesize that it will be gone by 2100.
4. The Columbia Icefields and it’s Glaciers have probably existed in some form for about 3 million years. They grow and shrink with climate variations, making them much smaller or much larger than they are today.
The last major advance of the glaciers was during the Little Ice Age, also known as the Cavell Advance. At its peak around 1844, the Athabasca Glacier was about 2 kilometers longer than it is now.
5. Jasper National Park is one of the world’s largest and most accessible dark sky preserves. There is very little light pollution here. Some of the best locations for night sky viewing are the Pyramid Island, Maligne Lake, Old Fort Point and at the end of the Athabasca Glacier.
What an experience hiking up to the Glacier. It was steep, rocky, cold and so worth it. I have to admit I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. Coming down was a bit tricky here and there. Perfect timing when we got to our car because the rain started to fall.
Driving back to our lovely campground we stopped to admire a beautiful waterfall and the Saskatchewan River. Then we spied a baby black bear running across the road.
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM are generator hours and we welcomed turning our fireplace on and sitting on our recliner chairs.
June 28
Another gorgeous drive to Jasper, settled into our space at Whisters Campground. Walked around downtown and then headed back to our motorhome. Right across from our site were 2 elk eating their dinner, what a treat to see!
0 Comments