Below are a few of my favorite photos from a 35 mile hike with my daughter on the spectacular Skyline Trail that crosses Jasper National Park. And, having made it that far, I finally also was able to spend some time in Banff National Park and experience the Icefields Parkway.
A glacial tongue hangs from Edith Cavell above the iceberg strewn lake below.
The Icefields Parkway is a stunning drive, more than 120 miles long, connecting Banff and Jasper National Parks. It has been often rated one of the world's top ten best drives.
The most visited glacier in North America, Athabasca Glacier, some 3 miles long, is steadily shrinking.
Measuring more than 120 square miles and with depths over 1000 feet, the Columbia Icefiield is the largest in North America and sits astride both Banff and Jasper National Parks. Athabasca Glacier is one of the six toes of the Columbia Icefield and is itself over 3 miles long.
Glacially fed, Moraine Lake is a stunning spectacle at sunrise, surrounded by ten soaring peaks that catch the first light of morning that reflects in the still, cold waters below.
The warm light of late afternoon highlights the colorful canoes that are now tied up for the day on beautiful Lake Moraine.
Lake Louise draws throngs to its shores for the daily show that is sunrise. On a quieter part of the shore, fireweed blooms its summer song.
On the eastern shore of Moraine Lake, a tall pile of glacial rock is a popular place to witness sunrise as is it reaches the Valley of Ten Peaks and its stunning jewel, Moraine Lake.
In the heart of Jasper National Park sits magnificent Maligne Lake and its tiny jewel, Spirit Island. Considered a sacred place by the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, Spirit Island is surrounded by emerald-colored waters as a result of the glacial flows from the Hall of the Gods, as this box canyon is called.
From Little Shovel Pass to Big Shovel Pass, the Skyline Trail descends and then passes through great meadows of wildflowers with stunning views in all directions.
Expansive meadows feature stunning wildflower displays on the way to Big Shovel Pass along the Skyline Trail.
After leaving Curator Campground and Shovel Pass Lodge, the Skyline Trail climbs steeply toward The Notch, the highest elevation on the Trail at some 2500 meters.
Shortly after crawling up and over the Notch, the view toward the end stretches on, and on, for some 15 miles and past Tekarra Campground.