Saturday 6 October 2012

Mountains, Glaciers, Lakes and Clichés

I have come to understand the meaning of 'a month of Sundays' since travelling.
This week the Rocky Mountains have taken my breath away, overwhelmed me, rendered me speechless, literally.




A superb overnight spot at the Icefields Centre to visit the Athabasca Glacier.
The weather was turning cool.









We set off on foot to climb to the foot of the Glacier but were chased down by a blizzard, just as we reached the end of the trail.
                       
                             
The road out was shut in both directions due to accidents, so we stayed one more night.
 A very wintry scene to wake up to the next morning and -4c.

 The sun rising above the glacier.

Although the weather was worsening, we took the huge wheeled snocoach onto the glacier. We were allowed to walk within a prepared restricted area avoiding crevasses and holes. It was an amazing feeling to be standing on ice as thick as the Eiffel tower.

Next day, on towards Lake Louise. The road conditions improved as we passed snow covered mountains and more glaciers. The odd autumnal tree glowing amongst the fairytale snowscene.



















This stunning vista is of Peyto lake. A glacier glowing in the background.


Lake Moraine. As its name suggests it had a big pile of moraine at the end of the lake. You can't see it here!

Ice sculpture formed from spraying a mist of water on grasses.
Our walk to admire the Lake Moraine was lakeside, avoiding the higher path for obvious reasons.



Fabulous Lake Louise in Banff National park. We had our first canoe experience on the lake with success.
It was delightful.

 The Lake Louise hotel in the background was a lovely setting for a late lunch after our exertion. We luckily had a fabulous table by the window.

This hamster like creature was wisely gathering grass to create a warm nest.


Glass like reflections on Emerald lake in Yoho National Park.

Kootenay National park is next on the list to see tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Greetings Stephen and Michelle,
    We are glad to hear that you were able to get the gearbox problem fixed in Edmonton and that you can now continue your journey westward. I was going to say Welcome To British Columbia but I notice that you have returned back to Alberta. The weather hopefully will warm up so that you can enjoy traveling in B.C.
    Our van problems were fixed in Edmonton and we were able to return home last week via the Kootenays.

    Have a safe trip.

    Regards

    Jim and Pam Swanson

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  2. Hi Jimand Pam,
    Glad to hear you are home safely.
    We have spent the last few days enjoying the fall trees and ferries along KootenayLake and have ended up in Revelstoke which I believe was your son's suggestion. No powder yet but plenty of rain.
    Just over a week to go and we will be flying back home.
    Enjoy the ski season.
    Be back next year!

    Regards

    Michele and Stephen

    ReplyDelete