Today was our longest day yet! We packed up in the morning while the kids ate leftovers for breakfast and then we hit the road. We were happy to see that it wasn’t raining, snowing or foggy so we hoped we’d be able to see more mountains on the Icefield Parkway than on our drive up. There were a few stops we hadn’t done as well so we knew we wanted to head there before our glacier adventure in the afternoon.

First we spotted some elk right as we got onto the Icefield Parkway, three males all in velvet. By the size it looked like three different generations. Then we did a quick stop at Horseshoe Lake since the Guide Along tour (audio tour we have been listening to on the Icefield Parkway) said it was one of his favorites. The trail to the lake was quick and easy enough for Whitaker to do all on his own so that was fun. We didn’t do the full horseshoe but the water was really clear and you could see the big boulders underneath.

Next, we went to Athabasca Falls, which is a huge waterfall that’s just a quick walk from the parking area. The volume of water going over the falls was incredible and it’s so clear you can see all the rocks underneath. It’s really stunning. It’s one of the major stops on the drive so there are lots of informational signs and big lookouts.

After that we started driving toward Edith Cavell but realized we wouldn’t have time to do the Path of the Glacier hike and still make our reservation at the Columbia Icefield, so back to the Icefield Highway we went. Seeing the mountains on a clear and sunny day was spectacular! We couldn’t even see most of the mountains on our drive to Jasper, so we listened to the audio tour again so we could actually see the mountains and glaciers it pointed out along the way.

We had a little extra time before our glacier adventure so we stopped at the Beauty Creek and Samson Falls trailhead. We figured we’d hike in for 30 minutes or so and then turnaround so we got to the Columbia Icefield with plenty of time to park and check in. The kids were tired, and while they genuinely seem to enjoy hiking they weren’t really feeling it. Whitaker fell asleep in the baby carrier I was wearing him in and only Liam and I made it to the waterfall. Kevin and the middles stayed about 3/4 of the way up and looked at some river views. The trail starts on the old Icefield Highway roadway so it’s wide and flat which is nice, and then turns up in the woods where you get to see a tiered waterfall, it was worth the walk!

Finally, we set out for what the kids had been looking forward to for the whole trip, driving out to the glacier in a huge truck/bus type thing and walking on the glacier. We called the explorer vehicles “monster trucks” for Whitaker and he was extremely excited! They were essentially 6 wheeled buses but the wheels were 5 feet tall. There are only 26 in the world and 24 of them are at the Columbia Icefield. The other two are in Antarctica! We had to drive down a grade of about 28% which felt crazy steep. We even saw some female bighorn sheep and their lambs along the way! Once on the glacier we had 15 minutes which was just enough time to take a few pictures and fill up our water bottles with some glacier water!! Then we boarded our Explorer vehicles again which took us back to a bus.

The next part of our tour took us to the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a crazy walkway built out of glass (sides and bottom) that hangs off the side of the mountain over the river. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it but it was actually really cool! The kids loved looking through the floor at the valley below, which made Kevin cringe to look down! Then it was back on the bus back to the Discovery Center. Our tour took about three hours so it was already 7pm when we got back and still had a 2.5 hour drive to Banff for the night! So we made some sandwiches in the parking lot and set off toward Banff.

One of the hikes we missed on the way to Jasper was Peyto Lake. It was one that I had really wanted to see so even though it was 8:30 when we got there Liam, Odin & I took a quick walk to the lookout point. It was quite an uphill climb even though it was short. The view was spectacular though. The lake is surrounded by mountains and the lake itself is shaped like a wolf howling, so the boys really liked that!

As we got nearer to Lake Louise we passed Herbert Lake, which was one of our first stops on the way to Jasper. But at this time of night the lake was so still it was like a mirror reflecting the mountains so we had to go back for a couple of pictures! Then, to our amazement, right after we got on the Trans-Canada Highway Kevin spotted two grizzly bears walking right next to the fence to help keep wildlife off the highway. We had basically given up on the idea that we would see grizzly bears, so to see two at once was truly awesome!

We finally got to our hotel around 10:30pm and didn’t get the kids really settled until after 11, so it was a crazy late night for everyone, and since it’s light so late here the only one who slept in the car was Whitaker! Fingers crossed they sleep in!