9/13 Columbia Icefield & a Lot of Mountains!

I am back in the U.S. and finally catching up on my last two posts from Canada.  It takes time to download photos from my camera to my laptop and sort them into groups by date or subject, and then I have to select photos I want to use for my blog and use Outlook to shrink them to an appropriate size.  The whole thing takes at least an hour for even a short post, and this one is going to be a LONG post because I took so many photos and had to be selective in which ones I would post.  

The Columbia Icefield is an area between Lake Louise and Jasper.  While you cannot go all the way to Jasper because of the recent fires, you can drive the 90 miles from Lake Louise to the Icefield and see the most impressive of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  I have been in a lot of the parts of the U.S. Rocky Mountains, and I have to admit that the Canadian area has bigger and much more impressive peaks!   There are also a lot more visible glaciers on this drive.  I'm posting these photos in the order I took them--going and coming back to Lake Louise. 

So, to begin the drive!

 

 

As you head north, the mountains get bigger and bigger, and there is more snow on them.

There are two or three lakes on the way.  You can judge the size of the lake and the height of the mountains in the background by looking at the tiny red dot on the right and the far side of the lake. 

 

 

I don't know what this is, but it is clearly not just a small cottage.  It looks like some sort of lodge or hotel.  

Another lake.

 

 

The road looks small compared to the mountain. 

 

 

 

And finally, we reach the icefield area. 

 

 

 

There are at least 3 or 4 glaciers visible from the parking lot.  This is the Athabasca Glacier, and it is the one you can walk on more easily since it is flatter, and there are buses to take you to a safe place on it.  Note the group of tiny dots on the left.  Those are people and large buses.  

 

 

This is another glacier to the south of the Athabasca glacier.  

 

 

This photo shows how the Athabasca glacier has shrunk since 1844.  

 

 

You take a regular tourist bus across the highway and transfer to these special glacier buses with 12-wheel drive.  They go very slowly, but they get you there.

 

 

We were told that at this point, the glacier is at least 700' deep, which is amazing. 

 

 

 

 

I was bundled up in several layers, so was not too cold, even though the temps were close to freezing.  However, one thing I was NOT prepared for was that the ice was wet and very slippery. A few people were better prepared by having ice crampons on their shoes, but I was able to take only a few steps away from the bus to take some photos.  

 

A kind lady took my photo and then helped me get back to the bus.  I could have walked more, but since I travel alone, I did not want to fall and spend the night in the hospital!

 

 

The bus took us back to the loading area and then to the visitor center and parking areas on the other side of the road.   I took off a couple of layers and started my drive home to the campground.  

 

These mountains are constantly growing, but they are also constantly falling down, either through avalanches or more gentle gravel fans like this one.  It was probably at least 1,000' long, or longer.  

 

 

The view is always different as you drive back to where you had come from, and there were several more glaciers heading back to Lake Louise.  

I plan on coming back in a year or two when the town and campgrounds at Jasper have recovered from the recent fires.  Maybe even slightly warmer weather so I don't have to wear so many layers???

9/11 Lakes Louise & Moraine

There are two main lakes near the village of Lake Louise, and you cannot drive there yourself.  You can take a free shuttle bus from your campground or hotel, or you can park in the huge parking lot of the Lake Louise ski area.  Also, as I mentioned before, you can also take a bus from Banff, and those buses drop you off here, so this is the main transportation hub. 

You also need a reservation for the shuttles to the two lakes, and you really need to make those reservations two days ahead of time, or you are likely to be out of luck, as they fill up fast. 

Today was a miserable day for sightseeing and for waiting for buses because it was cold, windy, and drizzling.  High was only 54 degrees, which felt even colder when you are damp and in the wind, but this was the day I had made my reservation, so I bundled up as best as I could. 

I did not take a good photo of the line of buses, but this is the lodge for the ski resort.   Obviously, there is no snow right now, even though it felt like it.

 

The entrance to Lake Louise, after being dropped off by the bus. 

It is a beautiful glacial lake, but the top of the tall mountain in the distance was covered in clouds, so it did not look quite as nice as it normally does. 

You can rent kayaks and even stand-up paddle boards, but I would think it would be very cold if you fell off, considering most of this water was recently ice and snow.

This river empties the lake as more water from melting snow enters the lake.

I don't know if there is any time of year when this place is not crowded, but it was very difficult to take photos or even get a good view because of the crowds.  People came by the busloads and not all were very polite about not crowding others. 

You can walk around the lake, and maybe I would have done it a few decades ago, but not now. 

The fancy Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise hotel on the lake.  Must be really nice there after the buses stop running!!

 

 

You cannot get from one lake to the other without another shuttle, my third so far this day.  And there is always a line and not much to keep the rain off while you wait.  

Arrival at Lake Moraine.

They call this the rock pile for obvious reasons, and you climb it at your own risk.

Not sure, but I think Lake Moraine is slightly smaller than Lake Louise. 

It does not have a hotel, but it does have a gift shop and cafe. 

Back on the buses, and only two more shuttles to get to my campground!  I got inside my motorhome, turned on both of my small electric heaters, and took off my wet jacket and put on dryer clothing.  Brrrrr.   Once I got warmed it, I had a good night's sleep.