First of all, congratulations to Jamie on her Hollywood debut.
We had no squirrel chorus this morning, but were awoken around four o’clock by a howling wolf.
Today is the first day of winter.
We had snow, and we got the pix to prove it!!!
In fact we had so many different types of weather, it’s difficult to know where to start.
Having decided to retrace our steps of the other day, we went first to Lake Louise, by way of highway 1A, which is a 58 kilometer scenic bypass, through some lovely wooded roads. We saw our first coyote for several weeks, walking along the railroad track, obviously training for something.
Then, the lovely Lake Louise, with the obligatory Fairmont hotel and Spa, and millions of far eastern tourists, doing their posing again.
Very pretty, and very touristy, but we got out quickly, and the rain turned to hail.
Then on to 93 and the Icefield Parkway. First stop was Peyto Lake, in the snow!!
The rain, which had turned to hail, decided to turn to sleet, and we said “ Wouldn’t it be neat if……….” And it did!! Snow!! Yippee!!
Peyto Lake is a brilliant turquoise blue, set deep in a valley under a glacier and some towering snow capped mountains, and what is special is that it is not accessible for the general public, so is completely unspoiled.
There is a half mile hike up the side of a mountain from the parking lot to get to a viewing platform, which overlooks the lake, but is hundreds of feet above it.
We rushed about taking pix in the snow, coz by this time Mr. Sun had come out and was melting the white stuff as quickly as it had come down.
Onwards we went, through the stunning scenery once again. We trust by now that you have all looked up the Icefield Parkway on line, studied it, and can name each mountain we send a picture of.
We stopped at Athabasca Glacier,
right in the heart of the Columbia Icefield, and they have these huge six wheeled bus beasts, for carrying passengers actually on to the glacier itself. So, we stopped, took pix, and then looked over the road, and saw people walking on the glacier!
So, we thought, let’s do that!
So we did. Parked the peril, hiked uphill for what seemed like six hours, but was only about fifteen minutes, and we got to walk on a glacier!
It was very slippery, and after about ten feet or so, there were signs warning of the danger of cracks and crevasses and people falling down them, never to be seen or heard of again.
So everyone ignored the signs and kept on walking, except Captain Wimp. I just stayed by the sign, taking pix of the Pops as she headed into the distance.
Of course, nothing untoward happened and we went on our merry way, back towards Banff, Marlipops in the driving department.
As we got nearer the town, the rain eased off, the sun came out and there was the most incredible double rainbow.
You may not think this is much to report, but when you think back, how many times in your life have you seen a full, double rainbow, one which is extremely brilliant, and lasts for about half an hour?
For us, it was a fantastic end to the day, with all the weather changes we had.
Mark and John, I met a guy wearing a Leicester City shirt. We talked for a while, and it turns out him and his wife were at The Mol on 10.25.03, when we came from 0-3 down to beat them 4-3. Quite made my day reminding them of that!!
Taylor and Kitty, enjoy school, it beats work. ( but then again, how would we know?)
Wildlife watch was another coyote later in the day, and a squirrel hiding his nuts for winter.
