Glaciers

The Canadian Rockies are known for their glaciers. The Icefields Parkway is a spectacular drive from Lake Louise to Jasper, Alberta. The parkway takes you through the heart of the rugged mountains capped with hanging blue glaciers and turquoise colored glacial lakes.

It was still early in the morning when we stopped at Bow Lake. The water was like glass making for excellent reflections. It’s hard to tell what is real and what is reflection! As we pulled away from the parking lot, the breeze picked up and the reflections became rippled.

Here’s Peyto Lake, which also was quite still, but the reflections were not as impressive… instead, the viewpoint provides a look down the valley and of the scenery to come. And, the lake really is this color – amazing.

Here’s Crowfoot Glacier, a few of the lower clouds still clinging to the trees.

The most famous glacier on this route is the Athabasca Glacier which stretches down from the high mountain tops to the valley below enabling tourists the opportunity to reach out and touch… or for those wishing a a more frigid experience they can opt for a guided hike or motor coach tour of the glacier. Yes, they offer busses with tires out of the monster shows for a ride up “on” the glacier. Most days, being anywhere near a glacier is quite cold as the winds whip of the ice plains delivering bone chilling cold. In fact, this trip, there was someone renting coats and mittens at the parking lot for those tourists who had not brought winter gear.

The photography challenges lie with the contrasts of light and dark. Although the glaciers are littered with rocks and sand, they are still ice and reflect the light like snow. The other challenge is trying to capture the unique blue glacier glow… other than that, the scenes are much like a black and white photo.