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Overlooking Peyto Lake
You can’t beat the magnificent views in the Canadian Rockies – and the colours of the glacial lakes are just extraordinary!
The informative signposting captures it: What a Colour! – Quelle couleur!
Peyto Lake deserves its reputation as a highlight along the magnificent Icefields Parkway through Canada’s UNESCO-listed Rocky Mountains. But the whole road is a joy.
Highway 93 runs 233 kilometers (143 miles) north-south between Jasper in the Jasper National Park and Lake Louise in Banff National Park. In theory, it takes less than three hours driving time, but you have to factor in ‘stopping time’: you are travelling through continuous scenery.
I was driving north from Lake Louise, and in my first two hours, I had covered less than 40 kilometres (25 miles) (see: Bow Lake, the Icefields Parkway)! But, I had the information map I had picked up at the Park’s Office, and I had my priorities set.
Peyto Lake was high on my list.
There is nothing quite like a glacier-fed lake to take your breath away. Of course, the walk up to the vantage point over Peyto Lake had already left me breathless! Although I only spent about 45 minutes there, and according to my AllTrails app, I only gained 104 m (341 ft) in elevation, the viewing platform sits at 2,000 meters (6,561 feet). So, I’ll blame the altitude.
Less than half an hour later, I found myself stopping again: this time just for a brief, admiring look over Waterfowl Lakes.
Naturally, I had to walk up to the Athabasca Glacier, one of the six toes ‘toes’ – and the most accessible – of the Columbia Icefield, located just inside Jasper National Park. The walk up to the glacier is lined with informative sign-boards; the easy, gravelly pathway to the shrinking ice gets longer every year as the ice pack recedes.
Join me for just a few of the sights along the Icefields Parkway.
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Driving North on Highway 93N
Every section of road brings new mountain vistas into view through the car windows. (iPhone12Pro)
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The Path
Tall Douglas fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) line the cement path that leads from the Peyto Lake car park up to the platform at the first viewing point over the valley.
Viewing Platform
The mountains rise high around the visitors at the first overlook.
Peyto Lake Below
This valley was carved out by the Peyto Glacier which once filled it. The remaining glacier is a mere tongue of the larger Wapta Icefield, which sits high in the mountains south of here.
View over Peyto Lake
The lake is named for Bill Peyto, a pioneer, mountain guide, and early Banff National Park warden.
Mountains around Peyto Lake
Peyto Peak marks the north end of the Wapta Icefield; you can see the ice pack that partially covers Mount Jimmy Simpson behind it.
Pathways Up
The tracks beyond the first lookout are mostly dirt: some were quite muddy and slippery after the recent snows and rains.
Terminal Moraine: Peyto Lake
Glaciers push, carry, and deposit large quantities of ground rock with them. The stones get deposited at the fronts and sides of the moving ice packs. It is the tiny particles of suspended pulverised rock that give glacial lakes their extraordinary colour.
People on the Lookout
The upper viewpoint is much less formal than the lower overlook. (iPhone12Pro)
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel – Callospermophilus Lateralis
We had company on the rocks!
Peyto Lake from the Upper Viewpoint
Even under a rain-filled sky, the colours really are extraordinary. I took one last shot before walking back down the hill to my car.
On the Highway
The next leg of the drive is as spectacular as the others; … (iPhone12Pro)
Waterfowl Lakes
… but I only drive ten minutes before I feel the need to pull over again – at a viewpoint over Waterfowl Lakes.
Mount Chephren behind Waterfowl Lake
American Black Bear – Ursus Americanus
Finally! My first bear.
Saskatchewan River Crossing
Not open in the winter months, this truck-stop offers virtually the only services along the parkway. From here, you can drive east out of the mountains to Red Deer, Alberta. (iPhone12Pro)
On the Parkway
I am still heading north – and I haven’t yet hit the halfway mark! (iPhone12Pro)
Walk Bridge : Athabasca Glacier
The Columbia Icefield, which feeds six major glaciers, is the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains, and worthy of a trip on its own. I, however, was running out of daylight. I ignored the Glacier Discovery Centre, and went directly to the walk that leads to the receding edge of the most accessible ‘toe’, the Athabasca Glacier.
Walkers on the Path
Unless you are on a guided trip, you are not allowed on the actual ice. But it is a pleasant 2 km (1.2 mi) walk out-and-back to the glacier’s edge. There are plenty of information sign boards along the way.
Athabasca Glacier
It doesn’t look like it from here, but the ice pack is between 90–300 metres (300–980 ft) thick. The temperature drops, as what is called a katabatic wind blows downhill off the ice. (iPhone12Pro)
Waters off the Glacier
Even though I know in my head that the ice fields are melting (and markers along the path show how far this one had receded), I’m still startled by the volume of water that races downhill to feed the Athabasca River.
Snow Shelf
The rocks left behind by the advance and retreat of glaciers over time look like slag heaps of pulverised particles.
Downhill from the Athabasca Glacier
Tangle Creek Falls
Back on the road, I couldn’t resist another quick photo-stop to admire another pretty waterfall.
Sunwapta River Valley
There were plenty more stops on offer, but the light would fail soon, and I was getting hungry! Fortunately, I had visited this section of the road before. (see: Close Encounters of the Wild Kind). (iPhone12Pro)
Jasper Carpark
In the last light of the day, a rainbow shone over the railway line running through Jasper. (iPhone12Pro)
The rains that had followed me in the morning returned as I found some dinner – but I was very lucky that the downpours had held off for most of my drive.
The road truly deserves it reputation as one of the world’s top drives – and given all the spots I hadn’t stopped, I was already determined to drive it again!
Until then,
Happy Wandering!
Pictures: 29May2023
