South of the Columbia icefields, we were in the Bow River valley. ... North of the Columbia icefields, we enter the valley of the Athabasca River, which much further north joins the Mackenzie River, which flows to the Arctic Ocean. The Valley of the Athabasca is very beautiful indeed! Beautiful is the blue color of the river. ... Here we have the lower Sunwapta Falls (a 20-min hike from the road). ... The other famous falls in this part are the Athabasca falls. ...