Today we drove the Icefields Parkway, which is considered to be one of the world's great drives. I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves so I'll keep the commentary down to a minimum.
When we set out along the Parkway this morning the cloud was so low that we decided to pull in and wait until it lifted. We sat in the car and all we could see was dense whiteness in front of us...then it suddenly began to thin and we realised that we were looking at a lake with an immense snow capped mountain towering behind it. A truly stunning moment!
Peyto Lake from Bow Summit....the highest point on the Parkway
Hiking up to Parker's Ridge....a bit of a long, hard slog....but so worth it!
View of the Saskatchewan Glacier from Parker's Ridge. This made me cry (not for the first time on this trip!)
Trip onto the Athabasca Glacier
The Columbia Icefields.....an area of approx 325 km squared.
The journey took us around 10 hours. It was truly astonishing, and I feel so privileged to have seen so many beautiful sights. The photos can only begin to hint at what we experienced today.
Just to add that the training is starting to pay off and Rach has learned to work through the pain. I think we can now progress to Level 2 of 'The Programme'. BTW: I have never used the phrase 'man up', only words of 'encouragement'. Today was immense and we experienced the vagaries of the climate once again: 2 degrees C when we started the journey and 24 degrees by the end. It makes for some difficult wardrobe selections
ReplyDeleteWell you've never been easy with your wardrobe anyway Jon!!!!!! And why are you making Rach cry? Awesome photos guys.
ReplyDeleteI think Jon maybe a little overdressed looking at the guy behind and to the right of him stood on the glacier!
ReplyDeleteIf you keep posting stunning pictures like these I have no need to make the trip myself!!!
Peyto Lake, wow! No wonder it took 10 hours to make the journey, how can you drag yourself away from a view like that.