So … when you get to the Icefield you’ll see this place:
Except it was rainy. Drizzly rain. The Centre is full of people from every place on the planet. It has a restaurant/cafeteria; a gift shop; a viewing deck; historical displays; toilets … lots of stuff. This is also where you buy tickets for the Icefield Tour. They cost over 100 bucks each.
Then you head out back … … and jump on one of these things. They’re called buses.
This is Shawn … or Shane?. Our driver.
You can see the drizzly rain.
Climb Ev’ry Mountain / Peggy Wood
from The Sound of Music / Rogers and Hammerstein
The Columbia Icefield
The Icefields as they are today.
Coast Publishing Co (Publisher) . Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefield Chalet, Banff – Jasper highway, Canadian Rockies. Vancouver: Coast Publishing Co., Vancouver, B.C, cca. 1920.
Harmon Byron (Photographer) . Columbia Icefields. Banff: Photographed and Copyrighted by Byron Harmon, Banff, Canada, [before 1942].
Six-Hundred Lovat Scouts trained during the Second World War on the Athabasca Glacier in 1944. Yellowhead-Museum and Archives.
Finally we arrive at our modern Icefield conveyance:
The ICE EXPLORER!
… Public Safety Warden Garth Lemke … said the individual went over the very top left-hand side of the falls at approximately 3:15 pm. … “It looked like every solid structure in his body had been broken,” … “It wasn’t a pleasant scene.” In the past 20 years, the park has reported five fatalities at Athabasca Falls, all of the accidents occurring in a similar location. … “Chances are the victim died from the impact of the fall into the rocky waters, but hypothermia can also be fatal if a victim survives the fall …” The area where the individual fell is blocked off by protective railings, along with signage warning visitors to stay back.
Tangle Ridge Mountain was named by Mary Schäffer in 1907 for the difficulty that climbers had descending down Tangle Creek from the ridge. The mountain’s name became official in 1935 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.
Tangle Falls is a multi-tiered cascade that might be the most often photographed waterfall alongside the Icefields Parkway because of its easy access.
“If Lake Louise is a pearl, Maligne is the entire pearl necklace.” – Mary Schäffer
Just in case you thought I snitched this photo of Spirit Island at Jasper off the Net … I didn’t. That’s mine. I could easily have done that though – many great shots of this famous scene. But I took this with my Sony DSC-HX80. A nice little camera – but not Pro level. And if I really knew how to operate that thing the photo would likely have been better. Yet it’s almost impossible to take a lousy pic up there.
I was hoping to get a nice reflection shot, but there was too much wind and rain. Still nice. We’ll be posting some more soon. Rose took a number of great shots.
Below isPeter Gales‘ famous photo of Spirit Island “Maligne Lake“.
Peter Gales‘ image of Spirit Island hung in Kodak’s Colorama showcase in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal in August and September of 1960.
This certainly helped to make Jasper famous.
(1861 – 1939) American-Canadian naturalist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. She is famous for her experiences in the Canadian Rockies in the early 20th century.
Samson Beaver
Samson Beaver and Family: daughter, Frances Louise and wife Leah.
Photograph taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907.
In 1907, Samson Beaver met Mary Schaffer, who had just failed in an attempt to find the route to a reputed large lake high in the mountains between Lake Louise and Jasper. Samson sketched a map showing the route to Chaba Imne.
… and jump on one of these things. 
This is Shawn … or Shane?. Our driver.
VROOOOOM !
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