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Lee
and Karen Duquette
The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
at Sunwapta Falls, 33 miles from Jasper, Canada
August 1, 2015 and August 26, 2009 |
NOTE: Most of the photos below are from 2009 (the smaller photos), but a few have been added from 2015 (the bigger photos). The two RV Gypsies did not take a lot of new photos in 2015 because there was not much change in the falls. |
Sunwapta Falls is a pair of waterfalls of the Sunwapta
River in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The falls are accessible
via a 600-metre (2,000 foot) access road off the Icefields Parkway,
which connects Jasper and Banff National Parks. The falls have a drop
of about 18.5 metres (61 feet).
Sunwapta Falls is 33 miles from the town of Jasper.
Sunwapta means "turbulent river" in the language
of the Stoney Nation, which is a great description for this unpredictable
watercourse plummeting over the cliffs into a deep canyon. They are
class 6 rapids.
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| There are many ways to view Sunwapta Falls:
from the viewing bridge - the view is quite different on each side of the
bridge, or you can be on a lower cliff to the right of the bridge, or on
a higher cliff to the left of the bridge. |
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Below: The
two RV Gypsies viewed the top of the falls as it came around a small island. |
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Below: The left side of
the small island |
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| Below: This photo
was taken by Karen Duquette from the bridge and shows people viewing the
top of the falls from the lower cliff. Notice the small round rock and the
tall rock in the middle of the falls. |
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Below: Closer views of
the two rocks in the photos above |
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| Below: Karen Duquette took a closer view of
the area just below the two rocks - and just before the water goes under
the viewing bridge to the other side by the tall cliffs. |
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Below: A view of the water
after it goes under the bridge towards the tall cliffs |
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Below: Then the water continued
to flow between two cliffs |
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Below: The trail that goes
from the bridge to the top of the cliff shown above |
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Below: Looking back at
the bridge from the upper cliff |
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| Below: The two RV Gypsies looked
straight down from the upper cliff |
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| The photo below shows
people at the top of the upper cliff looking down at the bridge. Karen Duquette
took this photo from a curve on the upper cliff. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
looked down from the upper cliff to see the water flowing to a place unseen.
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| The photo below shows
the bridge and the start of a hiking trail that probably leads to many more
different views of the water. It is a 2.0-mile out-and-back trail near Improvement
District No. 12 , Alberta. Generally considered a moderately challenging
route, it takes an average about of one-hour to complete. This is a very
popular area for birding, hiking, and running. But the two RV Gypsies did
not take this trail. |
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