CRAM: Icefields Parkway Part One

So, like, ya know?

Yeah, you know.

You do know... right?

What do you know?

Today is Icefields Parkway day!

(insert loud cheering and applause).

Lets hit the road! [high fives all around]  Shotgun!

So, if you are not familiar, the Icefields Parkway is a road that runs north/south thru not one, but two national parks in Alberta, all along some of the prettiest mountains you ever did see.  Today on our epic road trip (which, if you recall, actually happened two months ago), my lovely wifey woke up in Golden BC, and have plans to drive that highway.  It will take all day.

It will be a good day.

So first stop is Field, BC.  It is not much of a town, but it is picturesque.  As evidenced by the first picture on this post.

It turned out it was raining all day, so there was a lot of mist, fog, rain, moisture, and waters of various other forms in the air.  Made for some dramatic mountains:

  And some full looking mountain rivers.

 After this we hit the parkway itself.  Being in National parks means that there is no cell reception, and many scenic turnoffs.  The first one we used, completely at random, was at Herbert Lake.

When the fog cleared, the mountains were spectacular.

 It is hard to get bored on a road like this, eh?

 I made good use of my panorama settings on my camera.

 A good chunk of the parkway runs along Bow River, which looks suspiciously like this:

 At one point the road took a huge bend, and went up a steep incline.  When we got to the top the view back down the valley from whence we just came was incredible:

We were having a blast exploring the area:

But alas, we've been driving all morning, and it was getting to be lunch time, and there is only one place to get food on this road:  The Columbia Icefield Discovery Center, just a few more klicks down the road.

Floor it!