Day 10
Columbia Icefields
On the next day we decided to visit the Columbia Ice Fields, a glacier some 90 minutes south of Jasper,
roughly midway between Banff and Jasper. As we headed down the highway we had an unexpected treat -
several
Mountain goats (one of them with a baby) had descended to the roadside to graze on the vegetation. We
pulled
off to the side of the road along with many other drivers to spend a few moments admiring these
remarkable
creatures, then continued on our way.
The remainder of the drive went relatively fast as we kept our eyes peeled for other wildlife along the
route - and we were rewarded by seeing a moose in the distance along with some Big Horn
sheep. Finally we arrived at the glacier and went inside the visitor center. The facility is well run,
offering tours of the glacier by taking people in a specially adapted "ice
crawler" with a tour guide. As anticipated the guide served up a wealth of information about
glaciers in general and the history of these icefields, along with humor as well. Once on
the glacier we were allowed to disembark and explore the area for about 15 minutes. The guide
took the responsibility of keeping the group in a safe area of the icefield seriously as there
was some risk wandering into areas that might have crevasses. The experience was undoubtedly one of the
highlights of the entire trip!
