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PHOTOS
TIPS 'n TOOLS
AFRICA
AUSTRALIA
& NEW ZEALAND
CANADA
CENTRAL AMERICA
EUROPE
SOUTH PACIFIC
UNITED STATES
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Road
Conditions

Itching
to set
that
SUV loose
on a
road trip but
thinking
it might
be a
little too early?
No way.
The
tourists
are
still
at home,
the
motels
are
a bargain
and
the
Rockies
are
dressed
to impress.
The
Icefields
Parkway,
230
kilometers
meandering
through
the
heart
of the
Rockies
from
Jasper
to Lake
Louise,
is always
magnificent.
Majestic
mountains
strike
regal
poses,
spectacular
glaciers
glisten
against
deep
blue
skies,
stately
firs
frame
the
very
lakes
they
use
in all
those
Beautiful
British
Columbia
promotions.
That’s
anytime.
Now,
in the
late
spring,
the
scenery
surpasses
even
its
own
marketing
material.
While
the
road
is
bare
and
dry
for
the
most
part,
the
landscape
is
all decked
out
in
its
winter
wonderland
look.
Forests
and
glaciers
are
freshly
dusted
with
fresh
coats
of
pristine
powder.
Just
beginning
to
crack open,
tiny
burbling
brooks
are
breaking
through
the
iced-over
rivers,
offering
the
promise
of
spring
to
come and
a
glimpse
of
the
busy
life
beneath
the
ice.
Begun
from either
Jasper
in the
north or
Lake Louise
in
the south,
the
Icefields
Parkway winds
through
two protected
national
parks, Banff
and
Jasper. It
was
opened in
1940,
the result
of
a make
work project
for
unemployed
men wandering
the
country through
the
1930s.
The Parkway
offers the
opportunity
for the
non climbers
among us
to experience
mountains
and glaciers
and higher-altitude
wilderness
with an
intimacy
that is
normally
reserved
only for
those who
traverse
glaciers
on crampons.
Carrying
us from
the valley
floor at
about 1000
metres,
almost to
the treeless
alpine at
2200 metres,
our interaction
with these
mountainous
glaciers
is up close
and personal.
The terrain
is rugged,
but the
road is
easy.
When
we took
it in
April,
there
were
a few
patches
in the
higher
passes
where
we found
hardpacked
snow, but
the
road
was very
drivable,
just barely
offering
justification
for throwing
it into
4WD.
The Parkway
passes
directly
beneath
seven
humongous
icefields,
and
about
25 smaller
glaciers.
The
largest,
and
the
centrepiece
of the
park,
is the
Columbia
Icefield
which
spills
onto
the
Athabasca
Glacier.
It is
completely
accessible.
Just
park
and
get
out.
There,
you
are
on a
glacier.
The
Columbia
is an
impressive
325
square
kilometers
in size
and
from
mid-May
on you
can
take
a ride
up
onto
the
icefield
on a
snow
cat.
Before
that
you’ll
have
to content
yourself
with
clambering
around
in
the
parking
lot
area – an
astonishing
enough
experience
in itself.
Glaciers
are
formed
when
snow
builds
up without
completely
melting,
year
after
year
after
year.
Fresh
snow
is composed
of crystals
that
have
sharp
protruding
points.
Since
each
crystal
is unique,
these
points
hold
the
crystals
apart
from
each
other,
creating
air
pockets
in the
loosely-packed
snow.
But
when
the
summer
sun
warms
the
crystals,
the
sharper
points
melt
off
and
the
snow
crystals
settle
in around
each
other
more
snugly,
squeezing
out
the
air
pockets
and
compacting
ever
more
closely
into
the
interlocking
crystals,
that
we know
as
glacial
ice.
The
ice
in
some
of the
Rockies'
glaciers
is believed
to be
thousands
of years
old.
As the
process
of snow
falling,
melting
and
compacting
continues
each
season,
the
crushing
weight
from
above
causes
the
ice
below
to
become
more
taffy-like
in nature
and
it
slowly
begins
to
flow
downhill.
The
Athabasca
Glacier,
at the
foot
of the
Columbia
Icefield,
is moving
at 15-20
cm a
year.

Understanding
the
concept
that
ice
can "flow",
requires
a little
explanation.
What
it involves
is accepting
that
every
substance
has
an “elastic
limit” and
when material
is stressed
by an amount
that exceeds
its elastic
limit, this “plastic
deformation” that
permits
movement
occurs.
The
example
of toffee
is used
because
like
ice,
toffee
will
fracture
if stress
is applied
sharply.
But
when
great
stress
is applied
slowly
but
relentlessly,
toffee
becomes
taffy
and
ice
achieves
the
plasticity
that
permits
it to
flow
down
slopes,
over
boulders
and
around
bends.
When
we left
Vancouver
at 3:00
pm on
a Friday
afternoon,
however,
all
this
glacier
watching
was
still
ahead
of
us.
That
first
afternoon
we steamed
up the
Coquihalla
to Kamloops,
a remarkably
scenic
drive
of its
own.
At this
time
of
year,
there
were
places
at higher
altitudes
where
the
plows
had
thrown
up
walls
of snow
that
towered
over
us,
creating
the
sensation
of barrelling
down
a
luge
run.
For
someone
who
has
been
traveling
the
world
for
the
past
ten
years,
ignoring
my own
backyard,
Kamloops
was
an
eye
opener.
They
have
everything!
All
my “can’t
live
without
big-box
stores” and
a university
and
well,
just
everything.
The
city
sprawls
over
the
banks
of
the
Thompson
River
and
up into
the
golden
slopes
that
I heard
one
local
describe
as mountains.
I don’t
think
so,
but
the
views
are
remarkable – unique
and
extraordinary
in their
own
right.
Driving
out of town
the next
morning,
we saw cowboys
on horses
rounding
up cattle.
I assumed
they only
did that
in the movies
these days,
but no,
in Kamloops
it’s
real.
Continuing
on down
Trans
Canada
Highway
1 we
wound
through
the
Rocky
Mountains,
noting
all
the “Don’t
stop – avalanche
area” signs.
Sadly,
just
a week
after
we went
through,
a fellow
on a
backhoe,
clearing
a small
slide
just
outside
of Revelstoke,
was
swept
into
the
river
when
a big
avalanche
careened
onto
him.
The
signs
are
for
real.
At Lake
Louise
we had
to make
a decision:
north
and
up the
Parkway
or east
and
on to
Banff.
Since
the
weather
was
overcast
we decided
to bet
on better
weather
for
the
return
and
instead
of doing
the
Parkway
from
south
to north,
decided
to wait
for
the
return
lap,
Jasper
to
Lake
Louise.
Presumably
one
could
go up
the
Parkway,
then
turn
around
and
come
down
again,
within
the
same
day.
But
we had
opted
to make
it a
four-day
weekend,
see
a bit
more
of
the
country
and
make
a loop
through
Calgary
and
Edmonton.
We proceeded
east.
Banff
is a
tourist
town.
All
the
shops,
restaurants,
and
souvenir
vendors
you
would
expect
in such
a place
are
there.
But
it is
very
pretty
and
very
alpine-looking
and
a
great
place
to
stop
for
lunch.
We continued
on that
day
to Calgary
where
we tucked
into
a warm
hotel
for
the
night.
And
what’s
a trip
to cowtown
without
a carnivorous
feed
of
the
beef
for
which
it's
renowned?
A generous
plate
of fall-off-the-bone
ribs
that
I would
pay
at least
$25
for
in Vancouver
was
only
$8.95
and
absolutely
delicious.
Price
is another
good
reason
to travel
outside
the
summer
tourist
season.
Calgary
was
our
most
expensive
night,
$79Cdn
for
a
comfy
room
in a
chain
hotel
that
included
a full
bacon
and
egg
breakfast
for
the
two
of
us.
In other
towns,
we paid
from
$45
to $55
per
night
and
a light
breakfast
of toast
and
cereal
was
sometimes
included.
I should
mention
that
we
favour
smaller,
Mom
and
Pop
type
motels
on
the
outskirts
of town.
Clean
and
safe
are
my criteria,
ambience
and
great
stories
come
free.
Calgary
really
hit
the
map
when
it hosted
the
1988
Olympics.
Canada
Olympic
Park,
situated
on a
high
hill
overlooking
the
Trans
Canada
Highway
has
been
transformed
it into
a public
facility
where
you
can
learn
to ski
and
snowboard
or test
the
bobsleigh/luge
track
on
the
Bobsleigh
Bullet.
In the
summer
this
track
promises
a 95
kph
ride
as the
Bobsleigh
Road
Rocket.
The
park
also
features
25 km
of mountain
bike
trails
and
an
18
hole
miniature
golf
course.
One
of the
quirkiest
things
I
noticed
about
Calgary
is the
advertising
for
their
naval
museum.
I’m
puzzled
about how
Calgary
acquired
a naval
history,
but it wasn’t
open
so it
will
have
to
remain
a mystery
for
me.
In the
morning
we headed
for
Edmonton.
There
is really
only
way
to do
this – find
Highway
2, point
north
for
300
km and
be grateful
for
cruise
control.
The
road
is very
straight
and
Albertans
drive
faster
than
Germans
on the
autobahn.
The
road
is not
boring.
One
might
think
it would
be,
but
I didn’t
find
it so.
The
landscape
is scattered
with
interesting
features:
old
farmsteads,
complete
with
saggy
old
grey
clapboard
barns;
high
tech
agricultural
operations;
and
zillions
of oil
wells,
some
done
up in
humorous
paint
jobs.
Just
when
I was
starting
to zone
out
a bit,
a white-grey
wolf
woke
me up
by darting
across
the
highway.
It was
the
first
one
I'd
ever
seen
in the
wild.
Approaching
Edmonton,
the
snow
started
to blow
up from
the
sides
of the
road.
It quickly
became
obvious
that
it wasn’t
just blowing
up, it was
blizzarding
down. So
we just
threw it
into 4WD
(“Told
ya we’d
need the
4WD someday,
honey!”)
and
chugged
along
through
town
with
everyone
else.
Being
the
only
woman
of my
acquaintance
who
had
never
been
to
the
West
Edmonton
Mall,
we
had
to go.
It
was
interesting.
I imagine
if I
hadn’t
already
been to
the mecca
of malls,
Florida,
and if it
were 20
years ago,
I would
be really
impressed.
But these
days, it
is just
another
big mall.
They say
800+ stores
and services,
and I believe
that. It
is big.
It’s
also a bit
Disneylandish,
with a full-sized
pirate ship,
some poor
dolphins
leaping
for their
dinner and
a huge wave
pool and
waterslide
park in
the middle
of the mall.
They do
have some
neat concessions,
such as
the water
massage
machine.
For $15
I climbed
into this
device that
looked like
a cross
between
an iron-lung
and a tanning
table. They
lock you
in (head
sticking
out, but
even so
it would
not be a
hit with
the claustrophobics).
A plastic
membrane
settles
in around
you and
keeps the
water from
actually
making wet
contact.
The water
pumps start
chugging,
kind of
like a a
shower massager
on steroids,
sweeping
up and down
your whole
body. Very
neat. I
could get
hooked on
it. My $15
bought 7
minutes,
which doesn’t
seem
like
much
but
it was.
Coming
out
of that
warm,
wavepool
environment
and
back
into
reality
was
a
shock,
but
we needed
to keep
moving
so we
pointed
the
truck
into
the
blizzard
and
headed
west.
With
a wind
chill
factor,
the
radio
guy
said
it was –28.
I have never
been in
weather
that cold.
You shouldn’t
come to
the conclusion
from this
experience,
however,
that Edmonton
is a deepfreeze.
It’s
not.
I have
also
enjoyed
Edmonton
in May,
wearing
a light
sweater.
By noon
the
next
day
we reached
Jasper,
just
in
time
for
a genteel
spot
of
lunch
at the
Astoria
Hotel.
In
the
heyday
of train
travel,
the
Astoria
Hotel
across
from
the
station
was
the
place
to stay
and
it retains
that
genteel,
frayed
carpet
ambience.

Jasper
is the
northern
entrance
to the
Icefields
Parkway
and
fortunately,
we now
had
a gorgeous
clear
blue
sky.
We
had
guessed
right
and
this
was
the
perfect
day
for
a drive
through
the
heart
of the
Rockies.
It was
a glorious
afternoon,
meandering
down
the
Parkway,
winding
around
and
about
the
mountains,
through
valleys
and
up over
the
passes.
Coming
out
at Lake
Louise
in the
late
afternoon,
we made
Revelstoke
for
night.
The
next
morning,
under
brilliant
blue
skies
again,
we pointed
the
truck
for
home
and
pulled
into
our
lower
mainland
neighbourhood
by mid-afternoon.
A fascinating
four
days
of pure
Canadiana.
Road Conditions
Icefields
Parkway
and Alberta
www.ama.ab.ca
(780) 471-6056
BC Rockies
www.BCRockies.com
Or call
Talking
Yellow Pages
from your
city and
enter code
7623
Vancouver
604-299-9000
Victoria
250-953-9000
Kamloops
250-374-2929
Kelowna
250-861-2929
Penticton
250-492-2929
Prince George
250-564-2929
Vernon 250-545-2929
Carolyn
Usher
TRIP
DATA This
trip
was
taken
in 2004
by Steve
and
Carolyn
Usher.
Info
and
contacts
were
updated
as of
August,
2005. |
This article was
first published
in the
Vancouver
Sun newspaper
as
A Cool Drive
Through the
Rockies.
|