This region is spectacular, huge mountains towering over river-cut valleys and much of it covered with a dense conifer forest. Where the mountains are bare, the rock is gray and likely sedimentary. There has been a lot of upthrust geologic activity.
Glaciers are around and some of the rivers are actually milky because of suspended rock flour. When millions of tons of ice grind over rock the gravel at the interface between ice and rock acts like sandpaper, or maybe emery cloth. It literally turns the rock to fine powder called "rock flour." Imagine small lakes with milky aqua water, that's how it looks.
Up closer to Jasper there is an icefield (def., ice not in motion) that is within a mile or two of the Icefields Parkway, as the road from Banff to Jasper is named. You can drive over to a parking lot near the toe of the ice and walk up to touch it if you like, or take a special ice crawler ride out on the ice.
