Another not to be missed Canadian Rockies adventure is the Columbia Icefields. From Lake Louise the drive is an easy 1.5 hour driver along the Icefields parkway (no commercial trucks allowed), a well maintained 2 lane hwy. We planned to camp at the Icefields campground which turned out to be the RV parking lot next to the Discovery Centre and across from the Athabasca Glacier. An overnight stay is a very reasonable $13.00 – pit toilets in the parking lot, but the Discovery Centre with washrooms, sitting areas, and free Wi-Fi is open 24/7. There is also a hotel, restaurants, and interpretive centre.
We booked a tour onto the ice fields (which we found out comes bundled with a trip to the skywalk – no choice – cost $228.90). The icefield can be accessed also by booking a 3 hour walking tour with a guide, or you can just walk on by yourself but this option is highly discouraged due to the danger of falling into a crevasse!
I note that when I visited 40 years ago, the ice field was much larger – it is receding each year and is half the size it was just 100 years ago.
The tour begins with a 5 minute bus ride to a parking area where we then board a bus specially designed to travel on snow and ice and capable of navigating very steep roads. Once onto the glacier, we are given 30 minutes to explore in a designated area. Being on the glacier gives a real sense of what the ice age may have been like. The Athabasca Glacier is one of 6 arms of the Columbia Icefield and only a small portion is visible from the parkway.
After returning to the bus, we are driven to the skywalk a few km. away. The skywalk is a 1-KM interpretive walkway which has great views of the Sunwapta Valley far below and ends at the glass floored platform suspended over the valley . This part of the tour is self-guided, and visitors can take as much time as they want and hop back onto any waiting bus to return.
Back at the RV lot we settle in with the handful of fellow travellers parked for the night and hope for stars. We were told by our guide that the icefield is one of the best places for viewing stars on a clear night due to the elevation and distance from civilization, but you have to get up at midnight to see them. When I do get up in the night though, unfortunately the sky is misted and few stars are visible.