Wednesday 3 September 2008

Jasper

Patricia & Pyramid lakes


Today was the last day of our whirlwind mountain adventure, we set off early again and headed just outside Jasper to Patricia and Pyramid lakes. On the way, when we least expected it, a bear appeared.
We watched the bear for a little while before continuing to Patricia Lake. This is a different aspect to that last time I wrote about this lake. (Photo by Julie).
Next stop was Pyramid Lake. I've posted a couple of nice photos of this one before but this time I had an opportunity to take a photo of the lake with a couple of elk wandering the shoreline.

Angel Glacier

We were keen to show Julie Angel Glacier & Mt Edith Cavell. We were there earlier in the season but this time it was a little different. I'm assuming the melting snow and melting glaciers had filled the lake with water and ice bergs. The rock I had walked out onto a couple of months previous had disappeared. There were far more little icebergs than last time as well.

Angel Glacier's foot lake is an odd one with icebergs and light blue alluvial tint. It's also quite high up and with the cold temperatures it had a thin sheet of ice covering a good part of the surface. Above, Julie amused herself with small pieces of the ice sheet.

Lake Edith Cavell

The lake at the foot of Angel Glacier empties into a larger lake called Lake Edith Cavell. It's one of the rarely visited lakes because the tourist buses can't get near it so nobody seems to know anything about it. You can see Mt Edith Cavell in the background to the left. The same snow covered peak next to Angel Glacier.

Stutfield Glacier

Reluctantly we headed south toward Lake Louise and Calgary. We stopped at a few places along the way, particularly where the weather had been misbehaving on the way North. This one is Stutfield Glacier.

Mt Andromeda

Mt Andromeda forms part of Parker Ridge. This is the view from the valley where the Athabasca Glacier once flowed.

Athabasca Glacier

Ah! So this is what the Columbia Icefields looks like when it's not in a snow cloud! It's kinda different with clear weather. I'm really glad that the weather cut us a bit of slack so that Julie could have a chance to see Canada in it's full glory. I fear that she was still a bit underwhelmed. I guess that's the advantage of living over here. You get a chance to go back to the same places a few times, giving you a chance to see it in good weather and in different seasons. (Photo by Julie)
Moraine Lake
Our favourite lake in Canada. It's a tricky one those because those imposing peaks attract bad weather, so catching it on a clear windless day is very rare. Unfortunately for our visitor, there was no such luck today.

Rundle Mountain

You'll recall me mentioning the lack of snow on the mountains around Banff a few days ago. Well, here's Rundle Mountain three days later with a nice white frosting on top.

The Three Sisters

Again, three days later, the Three Sisters had been through a face lift as well.
We won't see the the Rocky Mountain Parks again before we go return to Perth. We have one last trip down to Waterton National Park in  few weeks, but that's it for Banff, Jasper or Yoho National Parks. It is a bit sad really, but I'm sure we'll be back soon enough.