After my morning hike - see prior post here, Sulphur Skyline - I returned to the RV. Linda was making one of her locker-hooking rugs, and she was a happy camper.
I asked if she wanted to go out on a drive in the afternoon, but she was content right where she was.
Again, with our limited time, I was trying to squeeze in some sights. The problem is there is so much to choose from, it's hard to narrow down the list. But I had seen a couple great photos of the Sunwapta Falls, so I made the 45-mile drive.
Several elk herds were hanging around along the Icefield Parkway close to the village of Jasper, so I had to stop for a quick photo op.
As they often were, this group was hanging out in the bottomland along the beautiful Athabasca River.
I arrived at the Sunwapta Falls parking lot, and there were a few spaces available near the trailhead.
The upper falls are the most photographed, and they are just a short walk from the parking lot. They are unique enough to make it a worthwhile stop.
The river goes around an island before it drops .....
and is split by rock formations in the falls.
And the mountain background doesn't hurt either.
Those photos were taken from a bridge over the gorge that you can see in the photo below. The river flows under the bridge into another waterfall, .....
and then it makes a hard left turn into a gorge.
Now, almost all visitors hang around the upper falls area and don't go any farther. But, if you want to see more beautiful waterfalls and get away from the crowd, you can hike 1.2 miles to the lower falls area.
Here is the top of the first lower waterfall.
This is below the first waterfall.
The next shot is from above the second and third lower waterfalls.
The second waterfall is pretty stunning in its own right.
And the third is no slouch, especially when you can get an angle to see both the second and the third.
All the way down the trail, I was asking people if they thought the 2.4-mile round-trip to the lower falls was worth it. The first people I spoke to said "definitely", the second group said "meh, it was okay", and the next couple didn't speak English. I got mixed reviews, but after a got there and took the time to view all of the falls, I'd agree that it's definitely worth the hike down and back up.
Here's the river as it flows on with another mountain background.
I returned up the hill to parking lot pleased with my choice to make the trip to Sunwapta Falls.
As I drove back toward Jasper, I took several roadside and picnic area photos.
Then I stopped to check out Athabasca Falls. It was also a very short walk from the extremely busy parking lot.
Athabasca Falls is not a tall waterfall, but it is one of the most powerful in Jasper due to the volume of water being squeezed through.
It's not easy to get a full view of the whole waterfall as there is basically one photo spot everyone is vying for. But patience pays off.
The river then flows through a small canyon ......
before it spreads out on the other side.
The little complex around Athabasca Falls is pretty cool, so it's worth walking around and giving it a little time.
I then drove on back toward the campground. Again, just past Jasper, there was an elk jam. People were parked taking pictures of elk, and then a small group walked toward me just on the other side of the guardrail where I was parked.
It all happened quickly, and I was struggling between just watching them and snapping some photos. I didn't do either well, but at least you can see they walked right by me.
Back at the campground, we discussed our options for tomorrow. Technically, you are only supposed to stay in the Overflow Campground a maximum of two nights, but when it's really busy, I think they make exceptions.
Since tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, and I didn't have any early morning hikes planned, we decided to try to get a first come, first served electric site in section AA at the Wapiti Campground for the next couple of nights.
Well, it was a long day, but I'm happy with what I got to see. I should sleep good tonight.
Both of the falls are wonderful. We just couldn't get enough of that beautiful water color. And of course, the animal sightings are just icing on the cake. I think I had sore cheeks from grinning so much. This trip to Glacier and Alberta is my favorite of our eight years fulltiming. So glad you stopped to see Jasper and Banff. Wish we were along to join you.
Posted by: Pam Wright | Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 09:46 PM