We returned to Lake Louise at 8.30
am to see it with the morning sun on the water, the mountain slopes and the ice
strips on Victoria Glacier. Our timing was good because the crowds were just
starting to arrive as we left. Nearby Moraine Lake was discovered in 1894 and
it holds beautiful reflections of the 10 peaks in its background. The valley is
called the Valley of the Ten Peaks and it appears on the Canadian $10 note.
Many moraines from glaciers on the mountain slope towards the icy water and
there is an accumulation of logs at the end of the lake as it flows into a
small creek. We drove along the Icefields Parkway which runs between the huge
Canadian Rockies and fir tree forests. Some areas have avalanche warning signs
so driving in winter could be exciting. So would Mosquito Creek be in summer
you would think but it was full of RVs and hikers. They must have packed bear
and mosquito repellent.
The mountains around us still had
the remains of last year’s as thick ice in the cirques high up on the mountain
slopes. Even after most of the heat of summer is over, the ice was at least 100
metres deep at the edge of the cirques. Around the corner from the majestic
Crowfoot Glacier, we came across Bow Lake with its icy blue water contrasting
the browns of the moraines and the greys of the peaks around it. Bow Lake is
the source of Bow River which flows through Banff and Calgary. It is surrounded
by Crowfoot Mtn, Mt Thompson and Bow Glacier.
Bow Summit is the highest point on
the Parkway at 2068 metres and a short detour led us to Peyto Lake which was
named after one of the first game wardens in the park. The water in the lake is
bright blue and the wide view of Mistaya Valley is awesome. We followed the
Parkway down into the valley and stopped at Waterfowl Lakes which are found at
the foot of Mt Chephren (3000 metres), a
dark pyramid shaped mountain which overlooks the lakes.
After lunch at Saskatchewan
Crossing Junction, we headed north beside the Saskatchewan River and pulled up
at the side of the road for what we thought was the weeping wall. Neil had his
camera out the window and it was like magic. Within minutes about 4 cars pulled
up on either side of the highway hoping to see an animal. We left them to it
and went further down the road still looking for animals on a huge plain area
which the river probably uses for overflow when the glacial ice melts in
Spring.
As we climbed to the next summit,
we stopped for a photo opportunity where the mountains in front of us showed
the results of both glacial erosion and tectonic activity. The rock eroded from
the tops of the mountains had been deposited on the lower slopes as terminal
moraine when the glacier melted while the sedimentary layers in the rock which
had once been horizontal had been pushed up at angles. The scene also included
Bridal Veil Waterfall on one side of the road and we could see the road we had
just driven on down below alongside the river.
We continued past the lookout for Nigel
Creek Canyon and headed for Mt Athabasca. We were surprised to see people
walking into the forest at Parker Ridge despite the large sign warning of the
danger of unexploded warheads (from WW2 bombing practice). We entered Jasper
National Park and scanned the grassy lowlands for bears to no avail but the Icefields
Visitor Centre was opposite the Athabasca Glacier so we thought we would book
in to do the Columbia Icefields Tour on Wednesday on our way back to Banff. We
climbed the 6 flights of stairs into the main building (luckily there were rest
platforms every six steps). Suddenly, I saw Neil waving to me and we joined the
line for the next tour. In a way we were happy because there was no wait and
the skies were blue but we were dressed in Tshirts and we had left our coats in
the car.
We took a bus to the transfer
station where we boarded the Ice Explorer. The sign inside the explorer said “this excursion involves steep inclines, rough
roads, sideways movements and sudden stops”. The grade of the slope we went
down over the lateral moraine left by the glacier was 32% so the 6 wheel drive
rubber wheeled vehicle was almost vertical as we nosed down the slope
carefully. At the bottom of the slope we went through glacial runoff to clean
the tyres so that no dirt or rocks were left on the glacier surface. Then we
started the bouncy ride up the side of the ice. The ice surface was dirty in
places due to wind borne substances depositing on the ice. It also speeds up
the melting process. We alighted from the Ice Explorer just below the main ice
flow from the cirque basin and walked on the ice for 30 minutes. The ice and
the run off water looked blue. That is caused by the compacting snow squeezing
out air bubbles and reflecting blue rather than white. After studying glacial
activity for years at high school and university, it was amazing for me to
stand so close to the source of the Athabasca Glacier and hear the drivers talk
about the structures which I had drawn diagrams of, having never seen the real
thing!!! It is a pity it is retreating most years but there is some hope
because some years it is longer than in previous ones.
As we set off for Jasper again at
4.50pm (a little later than we had planned but we were very happy with the Ice
Explorer trip), we were caught in a road works hold up on a tight curved
section of the mountain road. When it was our turn to use the one lane which
was open, we saw that the edge of the cliff was the site of the new Sky Walk
which will open next year. The glass bottomed structure was already in place
but they were still working. A backhoe driver was in his machine on the edge of
the cliff and digging out dirt, the consequences of which don’t bear thinking
about. Maybe the machine was tied to something but it didn’t look like it.
We passed the Stutfield Glacier
and were just thinking what a fantastic day we had had when we saw a few cars
parked at the side of the road so we stopped and there was a big brown bear
chewing leaves from a bush only 50 metres from the side of the road. Then he
walked out onto the grass area before he went for a swim. He looked as though
he was an adult dark brown bear. He was by himself as far as we could see. It
was amazing to be able to stand and watch such a predator in his natural
environment. What a day!!!!!
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