I got a pleasant surprise when I awoke in the morning and it wasn’t pouring on me, the weather had been calling for heavy rain all day, I certainly wasn’t gonna let the cloudy skies deter me and set off on the road with plans to appreciate everything the day had to offer.
Like before, I found myself stopping quite a bit, Jasper is a sightseers paradise no matter where you turn your head, there is always a picturesque scene waiting to place your mind in a state of awe and wonder. I took the road south driving along the Icefields Parkway and soon arrived at my first major stop, Athabaska Falls. The enormous amount of raging water crashing down the cliff was remarkable, a powerful and thrilling display that had me staring in wonder despite getting soaked by the mist before returning to my car as I continued south.
The roads led to countless phenomenal sights, magnificent waterfalls, fierce rushing rivers, wild animals roaming about and prodigious mountains towering over everything. I found myself elated to see breaks in the clouds and the rain, revealing blue sunny skies to further enhance the surroundings.
At last I had arrived at the main attraction, the glaciers, towering mounts of ice slowly creeping down the mountains. With Winnie needing to stretch her legs we did a small hike that brought us closer to the foot of the glacier which brought about a new perspective in appreciating its enormity. With so much ground to cover I quickly ventured back to the parking lot and hopped back in the car to continue the drive.
It took me longer than I thought it would with all the constant stopping but in time I arrived at Banff. The water was surreal, a shade of aqua rarely seen, I refilled my water bottle constantly as I took giant gulps from the pristine river, a truly refreshing taste.
Pressing on I came across another spot worth checking out, at first I was hesitant but decided I mine as well just go for it, a choice that came with quite the reward, Peyto Lake. I grabbed Winnie and started the hike uphill towards the lookout, as I arrived at the observation point my jaw dropped, just wow. A perch high up on the mountain gave the perfect vantage point to gaze down upon the valley below where the water glimmered like gemstones set upon a vibrant aqua canvas, I must have sat there lost in utter amazement for at least 45 minutes.
With still much ground to cover I started my walk back to the car, in good timing at that as it had just started raining pretty heavily as I arrived. I kept pressing on south until it was quite dark, the dusky sky a deep blue as the moon took its place governing the night. I lucked out finding a campsite despite it being so late, set my tent in place and took one final look at the starry night before heading into my tent to call it a day.
