Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies' Icefield Parkway

I have long wanted to visit Banff National Park's high larch forests during their peak autumn color. So I targeted my arrival for their typical color peak during the 3rd week of September, but I was disappointed to find not a hint of yellow foliage yet. So I instead explored the length of the area's Icefield Parkway for a week+, hoping that the larches would turn before I had to be in Glacier National Park at the end of the month.

The weather was pretty lousy for hiking and photography most of the week, but I had a great time revisiting my 2003 cycling trip locales (image galleries). But I was taken aback at the amount of traffic and crowds compared to 20 years ago. Fortunately, it usually only took a short hike to find some solitude. In the meantime, the cold & wet persuaded the larches to turn, and I visited Banff's Larch Valley on the last possible day before I had to head south.

Larch Valley's trailhead is at the very popular Moraine Lake, so I had to arrive at 2:30 AM in order to secure one of its few parking spots! The lake is one of my favorites and, at first light, there was surprisingly no wind and only some light clouds. So I shot the sunrise at the lake before heading up the trail to the larches. The steep, 3+ mile trail up to the valley took me longer than planned and I feared that I'd missed the day's good light. But the midday, late-September light was still OK and I had a wonderful time exploring a high valley full of color!

Panoramas – Tap/click on a pano's thumbnail to show an interactive, moving panorama; use the on-screen control bar or your finger/mouse to move around:

Icefield Parkway's Bow Lake Sunrise: