On our sixth day in Canada, we set out for the southernmost tip of Jasper National Park to see one of its biggest attractions: Athabasca Glacier.

Athabasca is a 2.5-square-mile “toe” extending from Canada’s Columbia Icefield, the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains. If you’ve been lucky enough to see a glacier—or, better yet, walk on one—you know it can be a transformative experience. I’ll never forget the glacier calving we witnessed in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park in 2021; I can still hear the ice crashing into the ocean, the thunder of it rattling my bones.

If you visited our Big Trip page, you probably came away with one thought: Wow, you're planning to do a lot. Maybe too much.

And, if you're a particular Reddit user, you came away with one other thought: Sounds fun in theory but lol y'all gettin divorced.