Driving Highway 11 and the Icefields Parkway to Hinton
After 3 days boondocking along Abraham Lake, I moved north to Hinton on Day 47 of the trip – Monday, June 11th. With the load of fresh snow that got dropped on Sunday, Highway 11 and the Icefields Parkway had the potential to be spectacular – well, even more spectacular than usual.
I was really excited about the day’s possibilities, and was away early. I shot this photo of Mt. Michener and the highway from our parking spot at 06:10, just before hitting the road.
The weather was not nearly as good as it was last December, when I discovered the David Thompson Highway, but I still made a few photo stops.
The next photo is a look back at the head of Abraham Lake. I’m very curious about why the water level is so low, especially at this time of year when all the creeks and rivers are at near-maximum flows.
At 06:50, I entered Banff National Park. The ranger on duty seemed to be quite surprised that I had a Parks Canada annual pass. I was surprised that anyone was on duty on this highway at this hour 🙂
Just after 07:00, a few miles up the Icefields Parkway, I got stopped at the first of several road construction sites. It was a long one – maybe 15 minutes.
Bella and Tucker were curious about what was going on outside. Molly took the opportunity to eat some more 🙂
Long stretches of the Icefields Parkway were getting very rough, and a few delays were worth it to get the road re-paved. There must be 50-60 km of new pavement being laid.
At 07:40, I parked the RV at the base of 10,685-foot Cirrus Mountain to make breakfast for myself – I’d fed the kids before leaving Abraham Lake.
Two ham and egg muffins with extra bacon on the side – yuuum! After breakfast, Bella and Tucker and I went for a good walk.
Just a few miles from Cirrus Mountain, we made another stop at the Weeping Wall. I don’t think I’ve ever passed the wall of waterfalls without stopping.
The Weeping Wall is different pretty well every time I see it as water flows, winds, and the light change the look of the waterfalls.
When I first saw the peaks beyond the Parker Ridge rest area, I think my jaw dropped open, it was so incredibly beautiful. I stayed there for a long time, trying to decide whether or not to stay there and wait for the sunshine that was forecast for the next day. In the end I decided not to.
The clouds lowered and the light went flat immediately north of the Columbia Icefield, so the next photo was the last one I shot on the Icefields Parkway.
Lengthy road construction delays continued on Highway 16 east of Jasper. This was another very long one – nearly half an hour.
It was nearly 4:00 when I reached Hinton. It had been a long day for a relatively short drive (270 km / 168 mi,. The Freson Bros. grocery store offers free overnight parking in a dedicated area with good wifi, so was once again my choice. Freson Bros. also has a good selection, good prices, and friendly staff, so I also do my major grocery re-stocking there.
There were two main sites that I wanted to visit and re-visit in the Hinton area. The next day, I’d be looking for the Brule Sand Dunes, and Ogre Canyon.
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