Corridor of Glory

I was going to write "Yoho, Jasper and Kootenay National Parks" as the title for this one, but it doesn't quite sum it up.

Basically, we don't have adequate words to describe this corner of the world. There is so much snow-capped beauty here that you either laugh or cry or sometimes both as you emerge from one valley into the next exquisitely beautiful valley.

Between our previous trip here and this one we've now driven the Icefields Parkway three times! It's really that good. We were actually discussing getting our bus licences and getting jobs driving the tour buses up and down it for a living.

We're more limited this time in terms of hiking (we travelled so much further with Indy in his little pack than we ever could with the two boys now) and so we found ourselves reminiscing about the trails we did in Yoho and off the Icefields last time.

But the great thing about driving through this area is that the mountains are so very close to the road that you don't have to hit long arduous trails to feel like you're right in amongst them. You can drink it all in regardless of fitness or circumstances.

We would actually go so far as to say it's probably the world's most beautiful drive. Really. It's that good.

Coming through Yoho, we had fun recreating an image we captured at the Natural Bridge when Indy was a baby (but Nath can hardly lift him now, netalone over his head). See the original HERE.

I delighted in showing the kids the spiral tunnels, designed to reduce the grade that trains have to take on. You can see the end of these long freight trains entering the tunnel as the front of the train crosses over the top.

On the icefields parkway, the colours lended to the lakes and rivers by the glacial melt are often-times fluorescent. It doesn't look real.

We walked up to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier again, which was completely different as you'd expect when you're talking about a river of ice.

We camped the night across the road, looking up at just a hint of the Columbia Icefield beyond, enjoying the near-bluebird sky, and contemplating the unfathomable nature of those high glaciers which hang atop the mountainsides like thick marzipan on sliced wedding cake.

Oh, I almost forgot - we saw a mother black bear and two cubs during the day (black bears and grizzly bears can be all shades so the name is a bit confusing), along with a mountain goat, more bighorn sheep and several deer.

The next morning, we made our way down through Kootenay National Park. It is, in its own right, exceptionally beautiful and we enjoyed peering down into Marble Canyon and checking out Numa Falls.

We weren't able to stop at Olive Lake which was cordoned off thanks to rampant bear activity. We had actually seen another bear cub on the side of the road as we'd driven into Kootenay off the transcontinental.

But Kootenay sort of felt like it should have been the entree to the main event of the Icefields Parkway. Without seeing it in isolation we don't think we gave it its due. We've been entirely spoilt by the last few days in this 'corridor of glory' and I still don't think I've managed to sum it up. Perhaps our photos will do a better job than I can - CLICK HERE.