One small word of advice if you’re winging it and are looking to do the Columbia Icefield Skywalk: Don’t Google the Skywalk itself and then expect to go there, especially coming from Jasper. I knew there was an admission fee to do the Skywalk however; You have to start at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre which is not visible from the Skywalk. At least coming from the south you would reach the Discovery Centre first, but whether you would know to stop there… Research!!
So I’m coming down the highway and Google is telling me the Skywalk is just ahead, in 2 km, in 1 minute, and WTF??! There it is, you can see it clear as day and real close to the highway even… But you can’t turn off anywhere, so you just keep drivin’ right on by… Just keep drivin’, drivin’, then down the hill and around the corner is the Discovery Centre, about 5 minutes past the Skywalk. To be fair to Google, it wasn’t wrong!
For the Skywalk you have to take one of the Columbia Icefield tour buses which also run the Glacial Adventure tour, so why the heck not do both! Glacial Adventure was first, so the pretty blue bus drove us 5 minutes to THE tour bus, the one with the huge tires:
In this picture below (I’m on the bus) you can just barely see four of the fat tire buses off in the distance heading to and from the Athabasca Glacier:
The bus stops in front of the Athabasca Glacier and everyone is allowed to wander around in the immediate area for about 30 minutes to take pictures and admire the view:
There’s a few people out today! The schedule for the Glacial Adventure is pretty awesome, I don’t think I’d bother booking in advance unless my own schedule was real tight. The buses leave the Discovery Centre every 15 minutes! Each bus I think seats around 60 passengers. I just walked in straight to the ticket booth, they put me on the very next bus leaving and off I went.
There were flags from a variety of countries displayed at the viewpoint where people could get their picture taken. It wasn’t difficult to get someone to take my picture given the amount of tourists that were there, even with hardly anyone speaking English. Hand gestures and smiles are universal!!
I’m glad I brought my hoodie AND jacket with me, the first time I wore my actual jacket the whole trip! Felt kind of silly at first because the parking lot at the Discovery Centre was HOT! Some people had coats but most were in summer attire, even though the tour says to bring layers. At the glacier it was windy and very cool and I ended up wearing both my layers.
Saw this guy on the way down from the glacier, saw it all over Northwest Territories and in Yukon too, but I think this is the first time I’ve noticed it in Alberta:
Onward!! Back on the blue bus from the glacier, it took us straight to the Skywalk. I saw a similar view when I had my WTF moment coming from Jasper:
There is a walkway heading over to the Skywalk platform, I could feel it moving, kind of like when you walk on a pedestrian overpass over a highway, fun times! If you walked a zillion miles to get here (or cycled perhaps?) you won’t be able to just wander in. There is someone checking for tickets!!
On the walkway and the Skywalk itself, you can look way, way down:
All the pictures I took through the glass at my feet don’t do the view any justice because of the glare and dirt and whatnot. This was the best one I could get:
All kinds of views to be had though:
I was there!!
My attempt at a panoramic shot using the feature on my phone… The Skywalk looks more like a snake shape here, but really it is just one big curve:
Aaaand that’s that!! Almost home!!
