Rock, Rock On in the Rockies

So here we are in the Canadian Rockies. It’s relatively difficult to describe either the scale or the magnificence of things here. Some facts help, but only a little. We’ve been staying in two national parks that follow the Continental Divide. They include some the biggest mountains in North America, and they’re packed together like Easter eggs in a basket. We camped the first two nights on Mosquito Creek, setting up our tent about two feet from where the glacier-fed water touched the bank. It made a damp roar that effectively isolated us from our neighbors—no doors slamming or dogs barking. It was as near to a perfect campsite as we’ve had.

It was also cold. Cold and rainy, actually. The day we arrived, we opted for a quick hike up one of the main tourist paths, from Lake Louise (a milky green lake, ladled into a tight valley between massive glaciated peaks) to Lake Agnes, where a teahouse has stood for about 100 years. By the time we reached the top, it was hailing and the wind was chirping at us get off its mountain. We popped into the chilly teahouse and drank a small pot of yerba mate and were served an ungenerous bowl of tomato soup. Still sopping and shivering, we took the chance during a break in the rain to hop down the mountain. We there rediscovered what most five-year-olds know: that “The Ants Go Marching” is an excellent song to pass the time on a cold hike (and that nothing rhymes with “seven” but “heaven”). We stopped at a Laundromat to dry our pants and long underwear and then cuddled into bed, bellies full of split pea soup and baked beans. (Our bed, for those curious to know, is a masterpiece of comfort: two air-filled ground pads, covered with a thick warm lambskin rug, covered with a soft linen sheet; we nestle between this and an unzipped sleeping bag [it reflects body heat] with a down comforter over everything, and two fluffy pillows make cherries on top. It takes about half an hour to set up the tent and bed, and the same to pack up in the morning, but clearly worth the effort.)

Day two we went on a spectacular hike to the Bow Glacier Falls. (Another aside: the use of adjectives like “magnificent” and “spectacular” may seem gratuitous, but try to keep in mind the full weight of their meaning. Things here are indeed worthy of such incredible appendations.)

John’s turn:

As you can see from the photos that are being posted with this post, Hanna is not exaggerating. I have never been to this part of the continent and over the past 5 days or so I don’t think that I’ve stopped grabbing Hanna’s attention away from reading or otherwise passing time in the passenger seat, worried that only I would see that magnificent view. It wouldn’t quite be real if she didn’t see it either. Each turn of a corner or pass down a hill reveals a new awe-striking wonder of the world. I will mostly let the pictures tell the story for now, but imagine that over the last four days we have: hiked and camped along countless glacier-fed bodies of water, summitted a 7,000-foot peak to overlook Jasper’s largest lake on one side and a valley with snow-capped mountains emerging from the depths on the other; washed our faces in a lake being fed by the melts of three glaciers (all within sight); watched snow and ice fall from a massive hanging glacier and thunderously fall down the mountain; seen bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, coyotes, an eagle, and today we caught a rare glimpse of a woodland caribou (there are only 100 in Jasper National Park). This is the quick and dirty rundown, mostly because I can think of no descriptors that would adequately capture the world that we are seeing up here. I am enthused with each moment and exhausted by my own enthusiasm all at the same time.

Hanna again:

I sort of pooped out with describing Bow Glacier up there, but it’s getting late we still have to go grocery shopping and drive back to camp to make dinner and watch the sun set over the icy blue of the North Saskatchewan River (our current campground is 20m from there). We head out tomorrow for the Yukon and hope to be in Alaska within a week. Not sure how the internet access will fare up there, but we’ll do our best. For real this time: let’s all go to the Canadian Rockies.

Photos:



Hiking in a hail storm at Lake Louise.



Hanna is amazed by wildlife in Glacier National Park.



John poses for his action shot: hiking over a boulder bridge on the way to Bow Glacier Falls.



This is the view from the waterfall coming off of Bow Glacier. We hiked through this canyon, following the river, all the way from the lake you see in the background (Bow Lake). We scrambled about halfway up the 800-ft. falls for this photo.



Hanna in front of Cavell Pond, at the base of Edith Cavell Mountain in Jasper. Just out of view, on the left rim of the pond, is a glacier that provides the icebergs you see floating in the background. Above Hanna is the Angel Glacier (a "hanging" glacier)--this is where we saw (and heard) ice cracking off the glacier and tumbling down the mountainside (it sounds a bit like a canon being shot).



John on the summit of Bald Mountain, with Maligne Lake behind and below us (we hiked from a parking lot at the left tip of the lake). We call the summit "Little Europe" because there were about 12 different groups of mixed-bag Europeans up there. Mountain tops are friendly places, too: some girl from California gave us her phone number in case we need a place to stay in Santa Rosa.