SOLTESWEB.NET    ALASKA TRIP 2005 - SEPTEMBER Page 1


| Previous Page | Home | Next Page |


Thursday, September 1

We drove leisurely from our campground at Mount Kerkesin to Lake Louise, enjoying all of the sights.  Here are some of them.

Sunwapta Falls

How's this for a campsite?

Tangle Falls

 Columbia Ice Field

Columbia ice field, with the larger glacier called Athabaska.  That red bus-like vehicle is used to run onto the glacier.  That ice field is very big: some water finds its way to the Pacific ocean, some to the Atlantic ocean and some even to the Arctic ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

This was interesting...a fragment of wood trapped in the glacier, carbon dated at about 8000 years.  The sign says that this was "from a time that the valley, now covered with ice, was once home to a forest."  Now you know, from reading our stuff, that Patty and Ed are Christians, and believe what it says in the bible.  There are many scientific references to the inaccuracy of carbon dating, so 8000 years could be +/- ?.  Could it be that the last "ice age" was a result of the great flood of Noah's time...that the many days of rain in Noah's warmer climates were in fact many days of snow in the cooler climates?  Much snow = compacted snow = ice.

 

 

 

 

This plaque was also from the museum at the Columbia ice field.  We've also noticed that although all of the glaciers are receding, many reached their most recent furthest reach sometime in the middle to latter part of the nineteenth century - for example 1844 in the case of the Athabaska glacier shown here, sometime in the 1890's for the Portage glacier we saw in Alaska, others as well.  How much of our recent global warming is the result of global pollution, and how much due to some regular cycling of the earth's temperatures?  What do you think?

 

 

      

 

Lower Waterfowl Lake

Some views of Lower Waterfowl Lake.  Nice Canada Parks campground here, adjacent to the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peyto Lake

Peyto Lake. 

Yes, it's really that color!

Elevation about 6900 feet at the  overlook, a high point on the highway from Jasper to Banff.

 

 

 

Nice displays here:

 

Bow Lake and Bow Glacier

 

Bow Lake and Bow Glacier.  This lake feeds Bow river which runs through both Lake Placid and Banff, Canmore, etc.

Again, the color and calm of these waters is nearly unbelievable.

 

 

 

 

These last three pictures were taken today, but we didn't take notes on where they were. :)  The first is of the Athabaska river somewhere along its course.  Fall is coming as you can see by the colors of the leaves. When you see so many sights in one day, it's easy to get confused.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures along the way

 

 

We camped at the very nice Lake Louise campground and found that the normal evening interpretive programs by rangers stopped yesterday! These campgrounds are however pricey: $24 for a site without services.  Free showers, sewer dump, fresh water and real toilets, though.  Firewood is supplied, but it is an extra $6 nightly for a "fire" permit to use the wood.

 

 

 

 

Friday, September 2

Moraine Lake

Rain, and cloudy. Today, we spent some time in the Lake Louise and Moraine Lake area , then drove a short distance on the Bow Valley Parkway to Banff.  On the way, we took a long hike up Johnston canyon to see all of the waterfalls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Louise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Louise Hotel

We felt that the outside structure of the Lake Louise Hotel is not as impressive as those in Jasper and Banff, but the interior has some beautiful  things to look at.  Here are just two of them - the chandelier in the lobby and the elk head with the big rack.

Everything is again very expensive in the hotel.  We thought it would be nice to take in a meal at the hotel, but were very quickly repulsed by the cost of all food in the hotel, even the deli.

There were many Japanese tourists at Lake Louise (and the Columbia ice field), something we noticed the last time we visited there about 5-6 years ago.   What is the fascination for the Japanese?  Is it the golf course, which is highly rated? If so, why are there so relatively few Japanese tourists in Banff and Jasper which also have fine golf courses? 

More next page on our hike up Johnston canyon to see the many falls.


| Previous Page | Home | Next Page |