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[Sunday, August 8, 1999: Mountains of rock and fields of ice.]

Since we traveled only 100 or so kilometers on Monday, we had to make up some time today. We were due in by Wednesday at 3pm, and would like to have enough time to clean the car.

[Day 7: Napping in the back.]

The final day of the trip across the country started off early as we wanted to have breakfast in Banff. Some of us were pretty tired from all of this travelling and most of us took advantage of the morning drive into the Rockies.

That's a peaceful looking Laz.

So, we got up early and BSB drove us to the Rockies. The ride towards the mountains were not that eventful, but just watching the mountains slowly grow in front of us was quite a sight to behold. To think that there was more to see once we got into the mountain range.

Reaching Banff, we were treated to a very nice (although way too touristy) city with an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Quite picturesque, and I understood why some people would actually come up here and party all year long. We had breakfast at some restaurant without any vowels in the name.. gah. I can't remember. It was like Mel's, or any of those 50's and 60's retro diners except that the food was much more expensive.

[Day 7: Banff.]

Banff was a very nice and attractive little town. Couple this with the gorgeous weather we got that day, and our little stop at Banff was a good (albeit short) stay. I think the mountains in the background make any picture taken in Banff something different. Laz took this one just before we headed in for breakfast.

From the left is BSB (who is to the right of the guy in the red jacket thing), MJO, me, and the car.

We only wandered around a bit for a hour or so (picking up postcards as well) before heading towards the Columbia Ice Fields. After getting lost for half an hour, we made it to the Banff highway and wandered through Banff National Park. The view was breathtaking, the mountains were magnificent, and the lakes glowed with a bizarre greenish-blue hue. I'm glad I stayed up to see all of this since I don't think I'll be back anytime soon (nor did we stay there for long).

After taking pictures here and there, and going up and down mountains and hills, we made it to the Athabasca glacier and the Columbia Ice Field. The visitors center was jam packed with people. I was so surprised at the number of people that were actually there. I had half expected to see a few dozen interested hikers, not a few hundred camera toting tourists!

[Day 7: Columbia Ice Field.]

The first time I heard of the Columbia Ice Field was from Zippy. I imagined it to be a huge expanse of ice and snow where people could go and enjoy a bit of skating and other wintery pursuits. I was a little disappointed to find out that it was just the name of the ice rink and activity center that was a part of the University of Waterloo.

From the foreground is BSB, MJO, me (mostly concealed), and Athabaska Glacier in the background.

Not knowing what to do, we did the touristy thing and bought tickets for a tour of the glacier (expensive.. ouch). The ride was short, but basically brought us up a thousand feet upwards from the center (which was already at a fairly high altitude) to the transfer point where we boarded the sno-coach and got onto the actual glacier itself. Being in the end of July, the summer melt was going at full steam, and we could see the runoff cutting through the ice and down the mountainside.

The tour bus driver told us that the lakes fed by the glacial melt had that funky greenish-blue colour due to rock flour, which is basically rock that had been ground into such a fine powder that it gets suspended in the water and gives it that bizarre colour.

[Day 7: Athabaska Glacier.]

Years later, when I was looking for the Columbia Ice Field homepage so I could find out rink schedules, the web search spat out way more hits than I had anticipated. Checking one, I was surprised to see that there was another Columbia Ice Field in Canada, this one had a bit more ice, and was a bit larger than the one I was used to. Since that day (sometime in February), I have wanted to go and see it with my own eyes (and stand on it with my own feet). Today I did, and I wasn't disappointed.

Standing on the ice is MJO, me (the only time I wore my jacket!), and Laz.

The temperature on the glacier was hovering around freezing (0 C or 32 F) but the glacial wind that was blowing in from the ice field (at 20-30 kph) made it feel much colder. I was quite glad I brought my jacket along, even though it was the first and only time I put it on. After taking your requisite number of pictures and testing out the water (quite good, and very cold), I wandered onto the glacier and did a bit of exploring. I was a little hesitant at first since all the people on our expedition stayed in the flattened out area that was cleared out for the sno-coaches. But since I wasn't warned not to come back, I kept going.

We only had half an hour on the glacier before the bus had to go back to the transfer point, so I didn't have time to make it to the edge of the glacier. That was quite unfortunate since I probably would've made it if I hadn't wasted time at the beginning. Ah well, next time I come back, I'll come on my own, and see how far I can make it.

That was pretty cool (cold actually), and now I can truly say that I've been to two Columbia Ice Fields!

[Day 7: Car of Idiots.]

After all this time travelling, taking all of these pictures, we never got a photo of all four of us at once. Laz remedied that (on the last day no less) when he handed me the camera and told me to point it backwards. So this is the one photo with all four of us together.

From the left is me (ugh), MJO, Laz, and BSB (Bandanna Boy).

The weather for the entire day was great. Bright, sunny and warm. Made the entire experience very enjoyable, and allowed the mountains to be seen in their full splendor. In fact, the weather for the entire trip was mostly flawless. We really couldn't have asked for any better weather (except something a little less hot in Winnipeg).

[Day 7: Lake Louise.]

Our last major stop of the day was at Lake Louise where we stopped off for a little while to enjoy the scenery. Not much to see there except for the lake and the fact that the colour of the water was an aquamarine due to the rock flour. We didn't have much time, so we weren't able to check out the hotel next to the lake, but I have a feeling that I'll be back..

Within the crowd, you can see me, MJO, and BSB with the pristine Lake Louise behind us.

Coming off the mountain, we headed back the way we came and went to Lake Louise. Again, it was another one of those tourist hot spots, and the place was crawling with visitors from around the world. It was a nice view (more pictures of course), but the sun was already too low to take a good picture of the lake. Too bad.

[Day 7: Lake Louise again.]

I took over the car and we headed out to look for food. Found a little town called Field where we stopped for a bite to eat. I think we found the only restaurant in the place (it was a really small town).

We then headed towards the border where we hoped to stop by the TIC to pick up a map. We kept going.. and going.. the roads were getting more windy, and despite the danger of crashing and dying, it was quite fun driving down through this stretch of highway. Long before we made it to Salmon Arm (It's actually quite a large city - go figure) to gas up the car, we knew we had missed it. Eh, we didn't really need a map anyway right? (yeah yeah, typical male behaviour).

Some distance from Salmon Arm, I started to get tired, and eventually handed the car back to BSB at Kamloops (also quite a large city - a great view at night when all the lights were on and we were coming in from the top of a hill) for the final leg of the trip. I took a nap and fell asleep (after they turned off the air conditioning) and didn't wake up until we pulled up to the house.

And that was that.

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Wednesday, October 16, 2024 @ 04:52:30 EDT

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