So with only a week left to go this will probably be my penultimate blog!!
We have seen some amazing amazing scenery all over the world but I have to say the rocky mountains beat it all hands down they are just sublime.
Our last day in Jasper we just spent on a little beach by pyramid lake looking up to pyramid mountain. The snowy mountain tops were reflected in the clear glass like lake and we were surround by verdant pine forest. Just beautiful. Even this did not prepare us for our journey the next day. We headed off in clear but cloudy weather down highway 93 the icefield parkway. Wow!!! 230km of protected world heritage site highway. Every single inch of it has the most amazing scenery and views. It is just stunning, real archetypal Canada- fast flowing blue-green rivers, clear deep blue lakes, thick forest and of course the snowy mountains. No superlatives can really describe particularly on a day where the further we went the more the sun shone.
We stopped at horseshoe lake. A quiet tucked away spot of deep blue lake with water so clear we could see at least 20ft down. Then onwards, stopping so many times to look at the views and take hundreds of pictures as every corner we turned a new and equally beautiful vista came into sight. We eventually arrived at the Columbia icefields in brilliant sunshine (21C). Had a fantastic and educational time at the icefield. Took an ice explorer bus onto the 6km long Athabasca glacier. Very very cool to actually be able to get out and stand and play on the glacier. Scenery was as stunning as ever. The glacier although it flows at 2mm per day, is retreating at a rate of knots. In 1844 the ice was actually all the way down and over where the icefield centre now sits almost 2km from where is currently resides. The Athabasca glacier is one of many glaciers that ooze out from the Columbia icefield- the largest icefield in the Rockies. Melt water from the Athabasca glacier feeds to 3 different oceans - the arctic, the Atlantic and the pacific via the Columbia river which is where we stayed in Astoria. This makes it a hydrologic apex - v cool!!! It is a very hostile environment up that high in the Rockies (2000m). Some of the stunted pine trees we saw were between 400 and 700 years old but were no bigger than an average leylandii bush as the growing season is so short. This last winter was particularly harsh and the icefield centre had around 8m of snow and the temperature inside the closed building reached -51C!!!! Brrrr unimaginable cold!!
We reluctantly left the glacier and it seemed the sunshine and headed down again towards lake Louise. The weather closed in and the mountains disappeared into the cloud and mist. We were very lucky though to see most of the parkway in sunshine and see the scenery at it's best.
Arrived at lake Louise around 6pm grabbed some food at the saloon and that was it for the day. An awesome awesome day.
Next day after hearty breakfast we walked alongside lake Louise. This is a very spectacular vista that brings the crowds pouring in but fortunately these thin out very quickly as you walk the 2.4km to the end of the lake. The lake was still on the whole frozen but patches of thaw allowed us to glimpse the deep blue that the lake is famous for. Water was extremely cold - only gets to +10C in the high summer!!! We walked upto another frozen waterfall and onto the start of the plains that head into 6 glacier plain. The head of the lake is overlooked by the Victoria glacier and to the side by the lefroy glacier. Very very impressive. As we were heading back we heard tremendous thunder-like noise and looked across the other side of the lake to see an avalanche crashing down. Was an amazing sight and the noise was incredible. We were safely on the other side but can only imagine how terrifying it must be to be anywhere near an avalanche. There were several more as we headed back - amazing. Chilled out for the rest of the afternoon and that was it really for lake Louise. Beautiful place but very busy.
From lake louise we headed off towards banff taking he scenic highway 1a instead of the trans Canada highway. Again we stopped a few times for photos opportunities particularly castle mountain- one of my favourites. Then a stop off at Johnson canyon and another 5km walk along the river past lots of fab waterfalls to the still part frozen upper falls. Great walk and more great sights. Am very proud of my boys who have thrown themselves into the outdoor life with very few complaints. They seem quite into their walking particularly the eldest whose enthusiasm for everything and anything knows no bounds!!!:-)
Banff now and the end of our world trip driving and nearly the end of our adventure.........