The Icefields Parkway, Canada

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The Icefields Parkway, Canada Wendy Spray The Canadian Rockies, a mountain range of wild beauty, towering peaks and valleys that have been slowly carved out over thousands ofyears. Today, the glaciers have long since retreated and are now only shadows of their former glory. Each different season highlights the contrasts of this breathtaking region. n winter a thick blanket of snow softens the severe lines of the mountains. In summer the snow retreats and from a distance the mountains appear harsh and barren. Only up close do you see thel life that is flourishing in the short hot season. Bears, out ofhibernation, wander purposefully in search of food, and wild flowers of every vibrant colour cover the ground wherever you turn. And where do I fit into this scene? Well, it began last year with a trip to the Indian Himalaya with a group of clubbies. On my return to NZ I had the travel bug really bad and decided thatl'd had enough ofwork - it was time to head off into the big wide world to "explore and experience". Or as a friend and fellow clubbie suggested, "to wander aimlessly and eat al lot". The beauty and grandeur oft the Rockies has always drawn me, so I Mosquito Lake with the Dolomites in the background Wendy Spray decided this would be an excellent place to start. Following my Lonely Planet guide religiously, like the The hostel went by the auspicious name of "Mosnervous first time traveller that I was, I decided to spend quito Creek". Luckily it didn't live up to its name! Early two weeks in the Rockies, starting in Banff. Banff is a on my first day I met up with some fellow travellers lovely town in a very pretty location amongst the moun- staying at the hostel. John, a Canadian environmental tains. Unfortunately it attracts tourists by the busload researcher; Ardelle, also Canadian, who was cyclingt from like bees to honey. It was not the idyllic wilderness Halifax on the east coast to Victoria on the west coast; experience I pictured the Rockies to be! and Mike, a mad Australian (aren't they all!). After a few days in Banff I'd planned to head north to It was another perfect day SO around 12.00 we de- Jasper but by one of the strange chances of fate I was cided to got for a short walk up Mosquito Creek to North unable to get any accommodation in Jasper. It was a Dolmar Pass. This little walk turned into an 8-hour maraholiday weekend and everywhere had been booked out thon up (and up and up) into the heart of the mounfor weeks. The only place I could find a bed was in a tains. We walked through pine forests ever mindful "rustic" (i.e. no running water and pit toilets gosh, of bears and up above the treeline where the trail what a hardship!) hostel on the Icefields Parkway. As took us through high alpine meadows covered in the had no choice, resigned myself to spending three days last of the season's wild flowers. All around us were here in what - assumed would be complete boredom. towering peaks some still with small patches of snow. How wrong I was! My three days soon became five of From here you could see more clearly the work that the the most spectacular days of my entire trip. glaciers had wrought on the mountains. At the Pass we The Icefields Parkway is a section of road linking Jas- met trampers comingi into the area to camp for a couple per and Banff. But it's more than "just a road", as it of days. It was hard leaving such a beautiful area after leads the unknowing traveller through some of the most we had worked so hard to get there and we were very spectacular scenery the Rockies has to offer. My guide- envious of them as we headed back down. book, which was still in the habit of trusting completely, During our walk l'd learnt a lot about the Icefields for some reason only offered one small paragraph on Parkway from John. He had spent time in the area comthe Icefields Parkway. There's a lesson to be learnt here, pleting an environmental study of pollutants in the wa- I'm sure.. terways and knew the area well. Now, usually I'm the Tramping and Mountaineering 1998

Athabasca Glacier Wendy Spray shy retiring type and wouldn't dare ask anything so bold these carparks, but I consoled myself with the knowlof someone I had just met, but this time I decided to edge thatl Iwould have walked any distance to get there. bite the bullet and make the most of the opportunity Later that night WI en we were resting with a wellthat was before me. John had a car, you see, and I was earned beer after our hard day's sightseeing and paintreally keen to see some of this amazing area.. ing, John suggested a midnight walk. "It's a full moon," Luckily for me John is passionate about this area and he enthused. "It'll be fantastic!" So off we went, despite readily agreed to drive me around the next day. That my misgivings about walking out into the wilderness night Tony, the manager, made us an interesting offer. If in bear country in the middle of the night. we stayedan extra day or two to paint the outside of the As luck would have it, my fears of meeting a hungry main building he'd give us free accommodation and bear in the dark were unrealised. Though we allj jumped would cook dinner for us. This sounded like a fun way at every strange sound and bear shaped shadow, we to spend a few days SO we all agreed. The plan was that were quite alone on the mountainside. The night was we had the morning to ourselves, and painted from brilliantly clear with a moon so huge and bright there around 1pm till 6. This suited me fine as it still gave was no need for us to use our torches. After an hour or John and I time to investigate some of the wonders of so of uphill walking we reached a high vantage-point the Icefields Parkway as we had planned. and sat awhile to admire the view. The evening was SO The next morning, our first stop was Bow Lake, Falls, clear that we could even see Jupiter and some of its and Glacier. We arrived earlyi in the day (well before the moons through the binoculars. tourist buses) to a view that I'm not ashamed to say The next day followed a similar pattern, a long mornalmost brought tears to my eyes. The haziness of the ing walk and afternoon's painting. That night, however, dawn was still lingering in the mountains and far reaches rather than test our luck with the bears again we chose of the lake. The stillness of the morning ensured that the sauna option. As I mentioned earlier these "rustic" not a ripple marred the perfection of the lake's surface, hostels have no runnir g water. Instead you sweat the on which the surrounding mountains were mirrored with day's impurities out in a fabulous wood-burning sauna perfect clarity. L could have stayed there for hours, just then cleanse yourself in the glacial-fed river nearby. looking. A very relaxing and thorough way of getting clean but From there we moved to Peyto Lake, where you could boylh have never felt anything as freezing as that river! see the sediment from the glacier slowly seeping out The following day, after more painting, it was time into the lake, and finally to the mighty Athabasca Gla- for us to part company and leave this magic spot. I only cier. The sight of this glacier is only slightly spoiled by wish had more time so that could travel slowly up the the huge carparks that have been built right up to its entire length of this magnificent wilderness, stopping at base to enable lazy tourists (Americans!) to get to the each of the hostels for a few days, a week, whatever glacier with minimum hassle. I felt guilty using one of took my fancy. Tramping and Mountaineering 1998