Tour of the Rockies: the Alberta Side

I've been to many great places in Canada before, including the BC coast, Quebec, the Maritimes, Newfoundland and, of course, all over my home province of Ontario. However, I've never taken the time to enjoy what is arguably Canada's most iconic corner: the Canadian Rockies. So this year, with all the hassles associated with crossing the border, Glosette Girl, Margot and I decided it was the perfect time to vacation in the area and see if it lives up to all the hype. My conclusion so far? Yes, yes it does!

We've only explored the Alberta side of the mountains so far, mostly around the three towns of Canmore, Banff and Jasper, Alberta. However, we've already had a great taste of what makes each of them so special. 

Top highlights so far: 

• Floating down the Bow River with some locals.

• The awe-inspiring drive of the Icefield parkway between Banff and Jasper. This is the most beautiful road I've ever driven.

• Swimming in an Alpine lake. To answer the question you're probably thinking about: yes, it is cold!

• Touching the remains of a glacier near Mount Edith Cavell (not super wise of us considering the glacier towering overhead but hey life is for living) 

It's been a great trip so far, but also a poignant one. Coming here is like seeing the impact of climate change in action.

For example, Glosette Girl visited the Athabasca glacier back in 2002 and at the time was able to simply walk up to the glacier and touch it. However, in the 19 years since, the glaicer has retreated so much that that's no longer possible unless you take a paid guided tour.

Another sign of climate change? The thousands of dead pine trees covering the slopes around Jasper - victims of the pine beetle, which didn't used to be able to survive Canada's cold winters. Finally there's the smoke from thousands of forest fires in BC, which is wafting into Alberta. It's not so bad where we are now (in Jasper) but the sky was pretty hazy with smoke when we landed in Calgary. 

None of this takes away from the beauty of the place but it has us a little apprehensive for the next leg of our trip in BC when we'll get a bit closer to the ongoing wildfires. But that's next week's adventure.