Leaving Banff Springs we drove a stretch along the Trans Canada highway turning off onto the Icefield Parkway, (climbing from sub alpine forests to alpine meadows) that takes in Castle Mountain, pristine vermillion lakes, and peaks, glaciers and waterfalls. There was an awe inspiring view of Peyto Lake, located just over the Bow Summit, it’s blue waters reflecting the alpine beauty of the Mistaya valley.

A meeting place of three important rivers (Howse, Mistaya and Saskatchewan), the Saskatchewan crossing is where explorers and fur traders of the 1800s crossed the Rockies into British Columbia.

Next to the Athabasca Glacier on the Colombia Icefield, which we toured on giant 6-wheeled Ice Explorers carrying 56 people at a time. Although the Athabasca Glacier is retreating at a rate of 5 metres (16 feet) per year, it is still massive at 6 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide. Headwaters from the Snow Dome mountain flow into the Arctic, Pacific and. Atlantic oceans!!

Then we travelled to the Glacier Skywalk, an exciting cliff-edge walkway, over spectacular glacier-formed valleys and rushing waterfalls, that leads to a platform where glass is all that separated us from a 918 foot drop.

What a day, we were so lucky with the weather! It was changing constantly, yet stayed sunny when we needed it to at particular locations.