During the past 11 days, we have explored different areas of the Canadian Rockies, going from south to north. We find ourselves often at or above 2,000m; hence it’s cold especially during the night. There are numerous possibilities for hiking; you could spend 2 months here and not run out of trails to choose from. Normally, we talk to park rangers at the info centers (the Rockies are a National Park), to get their suggestions for the most interesting hikes. It happens to us often after we have done yet another hike, that we say this was the most beautiful one so far. Then, the next day, we hike in different area and we find it different, but equally or even more beautiful. It’s just a glorious environment here, with beautiful waterfalls and lakes, spectacular snow-covered mountains and awsome glaciers. Below more pictures taken at various places in the Canadian Rockies as we have slowly moved father north….
The electric fence and “cattle trap” to keep the bears out of our campground in Lake Louise
The glacier at Crowfoot mountain; the “crowfoot” used to have 3 toes, but 2 remain as the glacier is getting smaller
Animals we see regularly….
At the look-out over Peyto Lake
Trying to capture the beautiful blue color of Peyto Lake
Glaciers and lakes galore along road 93 that runs in the main valley of the Can. Rockies…
The most common bird at this altitude: the raven
As said before, along highway 93, you continuously see beautiful glaciers. It’s appropriately called “the Icefields Parkway.” At the Info Center right by the huge Athabasca Glacier, they tell you everything you ever wanted to learn about glaciers….
Our camper can’t compete with the vehicle behind it which takes tourists on a ride on top of the glacier (at considerable expense).
So we went on foot….
Interesting to see how in less than 20 years, the glacier has retreated another 150m.
Glacier retreat explained….
At the “toe” of the glacier
Standing on the Athabasca Glacier (which is actually not allowed)
Athabasca mountain, nearly 3,500m
Betsie keeping her diary at Wilcox Creek campground
At the start of our hike to Wilcox Pass, on June 27, from 2,000 to 2,500 meters, well above the tree line. Several photos below….
At the pass; not too warm here and no trees
For extra credit, we climbed over one of these moraine walls to see….
the lake on the other side; here we are at about 2,500m
An action shot (or am I falling?) on loose moraine on our way down
Betsie records today’s adventures on our laptop with a wood fire going behind her (for the Dutch, Betsie’s blog: www.betsiepennings.waarbenjij.nu)
A glass of wine, cozily by the fire after our long hike….
Below pictures of the 7 waterfalls (or most of them) seen during our hike along the gorge of Beauty Creek. It’s name is well-deserved.
We hiked along Beauty Creek beyond the 7 falls for another hour on a challenging trail, although it may look easy here. I fell on my butt once; if you slide down the steep embankment you won’t survive for very long in frigid glacial water.
Above are the Sunwapta Falls about 50km south of Jasper. They are much larger than the ones along Beauty Creek which you can see from the people standing on the protruding rock on the upper left hand side of the photo. Because of ease of access, the Sunwapta Falls attract lots of tourists (including us).
The next set of photos are all taken in the area around Jasper, a well-known resort town (hiking, rafting, skiing, mountain biking) at the northern end of the Can. Rockies
At the Jasper Tramway, a gondola that goes from 1300 to 2200m
The prospective hike of about 200m vertical to the top of “The Whistlers” (2470m) from the top station of the tramway
Surprise, a Canadian couple decided to get married at the top Whistlers Mountain….
Here we are at the top of The Whistlers ourselves; it’s nippy up here, nowhere to hide from the strong wind (that couple was brave)
Late in the afternoon, we ventured up a narrow road with many switchbacks (not recommended for vehicles over 6m long (we are 6.50m) for a hike to the glacier named for Edith Cavell. She is the heroic nurse from WW1. You can read her story above.
The glacier is spectacular: a huge wall of ice, just above the lake; big chunks drop into the lake from time to time
For an idea of the size of this thing, this is a better picture as you see a person standing at the edge of the water.
Us in front of the Cavell glacier
You can get real close to this ice cave; it’s not recommended to spend any time there as you risk getting a heavy chunk on your head….
Our next hike (June 30) took us about 60km south-east of Jasper to the area around Lake Maligny (pronounced MAlin); see the lake above
The lake is surrounded by beautiful snowy mountains. We opted for “Bald Hills,” starting our climb at 1700m.
Here we are at the tree line at about 2170m. In front, the first of the three “Bald Hills.”
The top of Bald Hill nr. 1. It’s indeed bald (at 2300m)
The second one is another 25minutes climb; a Polish couple did the same trek. They took our photo at the top of nr. 2 at 2330m.
Plants have a tough time up here. This type of moss presented itself in a near perfect circle
Another 45 minutes hike and climb and we are on top of nr 3 of the Bald Hills at 2420m. It snowed lightly.
As we started our way down, Betsie thought the snow was so inviting, she had to lie down in it.
A lucky shot of a Hoary Marmot
and of a Grey Jay, and of an ………
elk, showing off it very sizeable antlers (this was shot was taken along the road when we were driving back to Jasper)
Today, July 1, a Canada Day, the national holiday, celebrating the founding of the nation. Betsie is taking a bite from her favorite cake (“ontbijtkoek” from Holland, a gift from her sister-in-law, Diny)
And…. in Jasper, we treated ourselves to a Croque-Monsieur for this occasion
Tomorrow (July 2), we are leaving the Canadian Rockies after spending 11 days here. We are heading farther north, direction Dawson Creek and beyond. Although, the longest day of the year is already past, our days will be getting longer as we reach more northerly latitudes. Stay tuned for our reports from the North-West Territories of Canada……
No comments:
Post a Comment