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Canada August 2012


More glaciers

Athabasca Glacier and the Columbia Icefield, at the Icefield Center museum where we stayed above the museum

View from our window in the Icefield Center Glacier View Hotel shows Mt. Andromeda

Look closely in the center and you will see a icefield vehicle taking visitors out on the Athabasca glacier

The glacier at dusk. In the 1840s, the glacier reached all the way down to where we stood taking this photo

The glacier at dawn. In the past, it was as wide the the opening between the mountains and down over the road that now runs by it.

The Icefield Center

One of the Ice Explorers - custom made half-million dollar six-wheel drive busses

View from the glacier of Mts. Athabasca and Andromeda

Looking up at the Columbia Icefield from the Athabasca Glacier

As you look in the crevasses, you see the deep blue of glacier ice

Standing on 1000 feet of ice in the freezing morning air

ANd the requisite photo in front of an Ice Explorer


Here you can see the staging area for the Ice Explorers and the mountains on the East side of the glacier.

The Ice Explorer climbs a steep grade leaving the glacier.

You notice the grade when you pass another bus

Support your local glacier

Now let's put this in perspective. The arrow points to the Icefield Center where we stayed. The field of view from Google covers 20 miles across the frame!

More mountains

Some of the rest stops on the icefield parkway were impassable with rented RVs driven by tourists. We watched one take the side off another here while manuevering in a tight space.

Lake Louise with the classic milky water you see around the glaciers - full of very fine dust.

The Fairmont Hotel at Lake Louise

This hotel and the one we stayed at in Banff were popular for weddings

The Banff Springs Hotel we stayed in was built in the late 1800s by the Canadian Pacific Railroad to lure visitors to the Rockies.

The hotel is big and grand!

The great hall of theh Banff Springs Hotel

The big hall was used for several weddings while we stayed there.

Interesting display of parts of a suit of armor

Sunrise through the windows in the great hall