Along the Icefield Parkway (a.k.a. Highway 93 North from Lake Louise), in Jasper National Park, there are a number of named and unnamed waterfalls. One of the most spectacular waterfalls we've seen along the parkway is called Tangle Falls, about 50km (31 miles) south of SunWapta Falls, on the way to Jasper Townsite.

This three-tiered waterfall has four sections side by side and separated by gigantic sections of rock which jut out far enough that the water crashes on them before continuing to the two tiers below. The spray zone is so massive that it reaches all the way to the bottom, where the fast-moving water crashes through a culvert which runs under the highway and over to the other side, into Tangle Creek. The way the tree roots have grown out of the ground, and the way many of the boulders have kind of stacked on top of each other has created a natural "stairway" of sorts that invites people to climb to the base of the falls. Very brave people wearing proper hiking gear can actually climb higher than that, working their way up and above the waterfall.

Considering that June is the "monsoon" month, and hoping to catch some avalanche action on film, we decided to take a trip along the Icefield Parkway, yesterday. We never expected what we actually got, and if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, we'd never have believed it could happen...

It was hot - 32C (90F) - when we arrived, and there wasn't much in the way of a breeze. We parked in the small parking area, under some thin spruce trees that afforded at least some shade, grabbed our walking sticks and our cameras, and then headed across the highway to take some pictures. The upper falls were running fairly clean, with only minor coloration (spring runoff), while the first two tiers were still running a bit on the brown side.

The thundering waterfall seemed to reach for me, and I just had to climb to the base, so, up I went. Before I even got to the top of the first tier, the spray from the upper falls was hitting me; I was glad, because it was nice and cool, and the sun was just sooooo hot...

The energy of the waterfall invigorated me, and before I could stop myself, I started whooping and hollering with pure joy. Hubby thought that was pretty funny.   I managed to get a couple of shots; the spray at the base was heavy enough that it was like a waterfall in and of itself, and my camera lens was getting hit faster than I could take my shots. So, I had to let hubby do the work from a safer distance away from the spray.  But, while he was shooting, and while I was whooping and hollering and soaking up the energy (and the water ), Roger shouted at me to get away. Rocks of varying sizes were starting to fly over the waterfall, and it wasn't a good idea for me to stay where I was. Immediately, I began the climb down, and about ten minutes after we got back to the parking lot and changed into dry clothing, we left.

Two hours later, after visiting SunWapta Falls, we were on our way home. As we approached Tangle Falls, we saw a huge crowd of people there. Immediately, we slowed down - and came to a screeching halt at the sight greeting our eyes. The friendly, inviting, clear-running waterfall we'd visited only two hours before was now an angry, surging mass of dark brown water that roared down the mountain and smashed through the culvert in a rage I've never seen in nature in all my life. And the water had a stench worse than sour gas. "It smells like poisoned earth," I told Roger.

Over a span of about twenty minutes, we shot off more than a dozen photos of this angry, unfriendly waterfall. While we were there, the water level was rising right before our eyes; we stood transfixed in shock, watching in horrified fascination as the water above the first tier began to fill the narrow gap of rock through which it normally flowed much more gently. When we were finally able to find our feet and get back to the van, we knew we were witnessing something we may never see again...

We saw a few other major waterfalls which had been hit by something letting go on the far upper mountain peaks - Bridal Veil Falls and Panther Falls had both turned dark brown by whatever had hit Tangle Falls, and so had several other waterfalls - on our way home. At one spot we stopped at (we saw a beaver calmly munching away, and we just had to get some pictures ), a section of the shoulder on the opposite side of the road had been taken out by surging water, and a guy from Parks Canada was there digging around the washout, trying to do some damage control while waiting for more help to arrive.

When these things happen in nature, it really makes us stop and take stock of just how puny we humans really are in the grand scheme of things. We think we can control Mother Nature, but the reality is, She is the one in control, and we are completely dependent upon Her good will towards us.

When we get our film developed, we'll show you the pictures of Tangle Falls before and after the surge. So, stay tuned - and thanks for visiting! 

We finally did it, Campers - we built a website!  It's rudimentary, right now, but there's a whole lot of great information that's going to be added fairly soon, so do be sure to drop by often. 

Visit our new website  (link opens new window/tab)


Now, the reason we decided to go ahead with the website is pretty simple. We want to include articles about endangered and at-risk wildlife, as well as links to some of our country's wildlife organizations.  You see, we're not just about camping, friends; we're about conservation, protection, and education, too. 

We really hope you'll enjoy the new trail we've blazed.  We've worked pretty hard on getting it set up, and we'll be continuing to work on it over the next little while (we'll take a break when we set off on our summer vacation, though).

Thanks for dropping by, Campers.  We'll be back later on - we're going on a day trip out to the mountains in a few hours!