Road Tripping to Jasper National Park

Sun is finally out in New York City! After a gloomy and dreary winter, spring is finally in the air. As temperatures slowly rise the travel bug within begins to wiggle. We would start by looking at all the upcoming long weekends, start creating a wishful list of quick weekend gateways which lead into dreaming about visiting more exotic destinations!

There is one more thing that we tend to do, start searching Instagram feeds for some inspiration. That is how it all started, last summer. A picture of a bright blue lake popped up on my feed. It looked straight out of paradise with snow capped mountains having the perfect reflection in the turquoise blue lake below. Usually when I map out the location tag it leads me to a far point on the globe, somewhere in Europe, or the southern hemisphere or to Icelandic landscapes. And alas I exclaim “Someday!” Although it is not impossible to go to faraway places it definitely requires more planning, especially when you have a regular day job!

Last summer when I clicked on the location tags for this picture, I was presently surprised to find it in our backyard, well almost! The Swizz Alps like place was Lake Moraine, part of Banff & Jasper National Park, in Alberta Canada. Now all we needed was some planning and a plane ticket!

Upon researching a bit, we found out there were couple of ways to explore this magnificent destination. One could take the famous Rocky Mountaineer train, and view the vistas in the luxury of a glass enclosed coach, or take an escorted tour from one of the travel companies or take it upon to explore it on our own! Looking at more photographs convinced us that this landscape deserved an epic road trip!

Taking advantage of the July 4th week, we set out on an ambitious plan of taking the road trip from Vancouver into Jasper National Park and then continuing on to Banff National Park via the Icefields Parkway. It was going to be EPIC, if I haven’t said it enough already!

Here is an approximate 7 day itinerary from the East Coast:

Day 1 – NYC to Vancouver/Overnight in Vancouver
Day 2- Drive from Vancouver to Jasper /Overnight in Jasper
Day 3- Exploring Jasper/Overnight in Jasper
Day 4- Icefields Parkway /Overnight in Banff
Day 5- Banff/Overnight in Banff
Day 6- Banff Downtown/Drive to Calgary
Day 7- Red Eye from Calgary to NYC

Enroute to Jasper

Jasper National Park is about 840 Km/522 Miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia and took us about 11 hours to reach. A long day but we took ample pit stops to admire the vistas and take lunch/dinner breaks along the way. The best part about travelling to the north in the summer is that days are much longer…sun sets at about 11 PM or midnight!

Just as you enter Alberta, Mt. Robson greets you with its majestic splendor. It is one of the highest peaks in the Canadian Rockies.

Midnight sunset as we head into Jasper...

Once you enter the gates for Jasper National Park, you can buy the pass for both the national parks. If you intend to stay for 7 or more days, it is better to buy an annual pass which is CAD $67.70/USD $49.92 for a family. This gives access to both parks and various historic sites and museums.

However, in 2017, as part of 150th year anniversary of parks in Canada, all of the parks are free to enter!! Another reason why you should make it to Banff this year!

Jasper National Park and beyond

First day in paradise! We woke up to a beautiful sunrise against the Rockies. We decided the game plan for the day as we treated ourselves to a sumptuous breakfast. The hotel staff strongly recommended going to Maligne canyon.

Maligne is pronounced ‘Maleen’. The hike is designed as a network of 6 bridges. The farther you do the harder the hike it becomes. For people who are not too keen on hiking all of the 6 bridges are also accessible by car and are marked along the way. The most scenic parts of the hike with canyons and gorges are around bridge 1 and 2…so you will find lot of tourist around this spot, as it is both easy and scenic. If you go farther the crowds will thin down and you will find yourself hiking alongside a gushing river and waterfalls with several picnic spots to take a break.

Hiking by the river around third or the fourth bridge. Perfect spot for some picnic lunch.

The flowing river has cut through the water making the canyon deeper over the years...

In the evening after a day’s hiking we took a relaxed guided wild life tour with one of the tour companies. Baby bears, Moose and Elks can be found even while driving around on your own, but guided tours often give more information which is always a plus!

Bear alert! Keep an eye for slowing traffic, it usually means animals are around.

Elks grazing away right on the highway...Elks usually shed their horns during the summar season.

There was so much to see in Jasper, but as first time visitors we were in awe and spent more time in Maligne Canyon the day before than we anticipated. As a result we had a lot of ground to cover and had to make a decision as to what to skip, always a tough choice!

On the wildlife tour our guide said that grizzly bears spotted near Mt. Edith Cavell a few days ago. So we thought to take our chances to spot one and went up the mountain. It is 1 hour south of Jasper and the drive was a windy loop up to an elevation. While we did not spot any bears the views were to die for. There were no vehicles up there so we decided to play safe and continue on our drive. Nevertheless the sense of uncertainty does rush the adrenalin!

Back on the Icefields Parkway our next pit stop was Sunwapta Falls. It is an easy walk from the parking lot and the backdrop of the mountains, little island in between and the gushing waterfall can all be seen from the bridge.

Last pit stop in Jasper...Sunwapta Falls...

This was the final stop for us in Jasper, however these were just some of the major highlights. We would definitely go back to Jasper for a hike through Spirit Island and Snake Indian Falls. Besides, going back in the fall or the winter would totally be another experience with snow activities and northern lights in the dark preserve!

Keep watching this space for things to do while on the Icefields Parkway and Banff!