Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Hiking Cavell Meadows, Athabasca Falls, Wilcox Pass, staying at Crossing Resort - July 3, 2014


Trip Index

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Wednesday morning, Kaleb and I checked out of the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and started our journey back towards Banff National Park.  To make time for hiking, we were staying overnight at a motel conveniently located halfway down the Icefields Parkway called The Crossing Resort.  It didn't have good reviews on TripAdvisor, but we just needed a clean place to sleep.  I filled out a reservation request form on their website and the details were handled via email.

The weather was perfect...hardly a cloud in the sky!  Our first stop was the Cavell Meadows Trail off Highway 93A in Jasper National Park; the guidebook described it as a popular hike to find wildflowers.  We were not able to go all the way to the end of the trail as it was closed due to wet conditions, but we were able to spot a few wildflowers, plus check out glaciers up close.

on the Cavell Meadows trail, next to Mount Edith Cavell
white mountain heather
pink mountain heather
Angel Glacier atop, Cavell Glacier below, and glacial lake
lots of debris in the lake from Ghost Glacier (that fell off Mount Edith Cavell a year ago)
the trail continued but we had to stop due to closure

We drove to another trail which brought us to one end of Cavell Lake.

Cavell Lake

We then headed to where Highway 93A met up with the Icefields Parkway - Athabasca Falls.  Last week's rain swelled the falls violently; flood waters thundered down the gorge.  The lake which the falls emptied into was normally a duck's haven, but of course, there were none to be seen.

banks of the river overflowing into the observation point

Here's a 16-second video of the torrential falls (if you cannot see this in the email version of this blog, click here):


view from one overlook
water flooding the other overlook
no ducks here today!
the falls used to flow through here

Our final hike of the day was Wilcox Pass, with stunning views of Athabasca Glacier and lots of wildflowers.

starting the hike
stairs and boardwalk
alpine fleabane
forget-me-nots
moss campion
red paintbrush
buttercups
white mountain aven
view from the trail
cascades

We ran into four bighorn sheep along the trail.  They were minding their own business until a family of four spotted them and went off-trail to intercept. :(

four longhorn sheep in the distance
doesn't feel like summer
view of Athabasca Glacier

After our hike, we headed to The Crossing Resort, a motel-style property with a great view.  It was also a popular rest stop as it had eateries on-site as well as a gas station; we saw many cars parked here when we passed it by the day before.  Overall, the room fit our needs, with two clean and comfortable double beds and standard motel amenities.  As the temperature was a bit warm, we needed to use the overhead fan for cooling, as we couldn't keep the curtains open to let in fresh air with people walking by.  We found the fan rotating in a "heating" direction (clockwise), so we fixed it to go counterclockwise.

motel in a picturesque setting
our room
two double beds
standard bath
bath products

We had dinner at the Parkway Pub, located on the second floor of one of the motel buildings.  It was a bit strange to have to cook our own dinner on the grill inside the pub.  No pictures taken as it was just regular burgers and hot dogs.

Parkway Pub terrace

Tomorrow, we will drive back north to Athabasca Glacier for an exciting Ice Walk, then head back to Lake Louise.  The weather forecast called for 50% chance of rain...hope it stays clear!

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