Canada – Part 2
We put the Rockies behind us for a
while and headed west to spend a few days in the Okanagan Valley of
British Columbia. We explored the small city of Vernon: strolled
through the Farmers' Market and stocked up on fresh fruit and
veggies, did other grocery shopping and surprised some geocaching
acquaintances with a phone call. We met them last summer in
Newfoundland and knew they lived in Vernon. We had a nice dinner in
a local restaurant and enjoyed conversation with someone other than
each other!
earthnut and mrspumpkin (AKA Jerry and Donna)
We made a day trip to another city to
the south – Kelowna – to attend a geocaching event there... nice
people to meet. Who knows? - we may run into one or two of them
again someday.
WARNING: YOU ARE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF WATER - rivers, lakes, waterfalls, glaciers.
Our next leg of the trip took us
through Kamloops, BC and up through the North Thompson River Valley.
We spent most of one day exploring Wells Gray Provincial Park that is
well-known for its waterfalls. We visited 4 of them, including one
we walked behind, getting drenched even with our rain ponchos on.
Hiking 2 miles back to the truck in wet shoes and clothes was not enjoyable,
but the adventure of the hike was.
Spahats Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia
Dawson Falls, Wells Gray Prov. Park
Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray PP
Moul Falls, Wells Gray PP - we had to hike to this one.
Moul Falls - you can just make out Kris to the right of the falls getting very wet back there.
Brian took this one from behind Moul Falls.
Our next stop was Mount Robson
Provincial Park. It was raining when we arrived and the highest peak
in the Canadian Rockies was veiled in clouds. The rain let up
enough to cook a quick dinner and take showers. If you spend time
in the mountains during the summer, you expect afternoon showers.
Mount Robson is barely visible in the clouds.
A better view of Mount Robson, highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.
We followed the Fraser River, making
stops at more waterfalls until we passed Moose Lake and crossed the
provincial border into Alberta and Jasper National Park. We hiked
through Maligne Canyon and saw Medicine Lake – a “disappearing
lake” that is only full when melt water from the glaciers enters
the lake faster than it drains out through underground fissures and
re-emerges farther down the valley. We traveled the northern portion
of the Icefields Parkway from Jasper to Athabasca Glacier, stopping
at more waterfalls along the way. We couldn't walk out on the
glacier without paying for a guided walk, but we got pretty darn
close. There are markers along the trail with the years of previous
locations of the “toe” of the glacier so we could see how far it
has retreated. Another hike on the “Path of the Glacier Trail”
led us to the base of Mt. Edith Cavell and a good view of Angel
Glacier and a small lake of melt water with small icebergs floating
in it. We were close enough to see the blue-green color in the ice.
Fraser River, BC
Fraser River
Moose Lake, British Columbia
Maligne Canyon, Jasper National Park, Alberta
Medicine Lake, Jasper NP
Stutfield Glacier, Jasper NP
View of Athabasca Glacier from the Visitor Center
Athabasca Glacier - as far as we could go without a guide.
"Glacial Polish" on bedrock - evidence that a glacier once dragged rocks and made scratches. The scratches are perpendicular to the layers in the rock.
Sunwapta Falls, Jasper NP
Angel Glacier, Mt. Edith Cavell, Jasper NP
Glacial meltwater with small icebergs at the foot of Mt. Edith Cavell
We hope you can see the layers in the ice and the blue-green color.
The trail down there was closed, but a lot of other people went down there anyway.
We left the mountains behind and headed
east toward Edmonton. Our plans for the next week are somewhat
nebulous but will include some time in Saskatchewan, the only
province contiguous to the U.S. that we have not visited yet. We are
so very fortunate to be able to make this journey and see these
wonderful places.
I don't know how/why I haven't discovered your blog until just now. I'm glad you shared the link on Facebook or else I wouldn't have seen it.
ReplyDeleteNICE job describing your travels!
great photos......my short trip up to Canada last summer was a LOT OF WATER!!
ReplyDelete