Back down the Icefields Parkway
Trip Start
Jul 08, 2008
1
16
53
Trip End
Oct 31, 2010
Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Stealing the show (of course) were the marmots, who kindly posed for photos on the rocks for us. Also abundant were the small round mice-like, tail-less picas. They would go and get a mouthful of grass near the path and then retreat behind a rock to eat it. They also make high-pitch squeaks like the marmots.
Up in the high meadows we saw ptarmigans, which are a type of ground dwelling birds that move round in small groups
Rockies with snow
. They are shaped a bit like a pigeon, pale and prettily patterned.Late in the afternoon we explored the Valley of Five Lakes. It was a lovely area, and so dry that it felt like a park you might find in a city, with large grass areas and a few big trees.
The lakes were really beautiful, with the most amazing range of blues and greens glowing in the late-day light.
The next day the weather was pretty clagged in. We stopped at the Athabasca and Sunwapta falls. The Athabasca falls were interesting for the empty canyons where the water used to flow through but has now changed course.
In the middle of the Sunwapta falls were two cool protruding hunks of rock. One had been worn into a circular shape and was the most compelling natural 'sculpture' I have seen.
Next stop was the excellent Columbia Icefields Visitor Centre. They have compelling displays on the basement level explaining the importance of the Columbia Icefield for supplying water to Canada (water from the glaciers flow to the Atlantic, Pacific and into the Arctic) and explaining how glaciers flow, which is something I have not understood before.
Afterward we walked up to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, shocked by the tales written on the signs of tourists (including a little boy) who have died when they passed the barrier and fallen into crevasses
Taken near a glacier so Mark's happy
. How terrible would that be? There were also similar signs at Athabasca Falls, warning of people that have died when trying to pose for a better photo than is possible behind the safety barriers.Mark walked up the path to Wilcox path for a bit, battling the foul weather while I stayed in the car.
Continuing along the parkway, the 'weeping wall' wasn't really weeping for us but is an amazing structure. It draws numbers of ice climbers in winter. There were amazing peaks all around, but the clouds kept hiding them.
Descending down the valley we soon came to the Highway 11 turnoff that we had turned off on our way up. Driving the bottom part of the Icefields Parkway again, we were amazed by the transformation caused by the first snow fall. It had only been just over a week, but it looked very different. I love the way snow can transform the landscape into monotone, like you are walking into an old black and white movie.
N.
