The Glaciers--Part 1

"How many years can a mountain exist, before it is washed to the sea?...

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, The answer is blowing in the wind."
                                                      ..... Bob Dylan

Scientists do know how long before a mountain is washed to the sea.  Four hundred million years ago Mount Temple near Moraine Lake was 29,857 ft high.  (That is 832 ft higher than Mt Everest) Today that same mountain stands at 11,626 ft. The following chart shows how much has eroded away.


In only a few more million years and this area will be flat open prairie...so you better enjoy it while you can.

We left Canmore by 7AM and headed north on Hwy 1.  We were going to try and get to Jasper and back to Canmore in one day--a total of 430 miles roundtrip.  I told Ron we couldn't possibly do it but he reminded me that we would have daylight for at least the next 16 hours. So, okay.

 
We were driving Canada's very famous Icefields Parkway and I suspected there might be a lot of picture-taking along the way...

.....to say the least.

Glaciers were peeking out everywhere, feeding the upper reaches of the Bow River...

....and Bow Lake.

Now I am undecided as to which is the most breathtaking....

Bow Lake or Lake Louise.  

Come on, Ron, we have 375 miles still to go. BTW, these views are all lovely but I have to stress, the real thing is beyond words or pictures.

But I had to take just one more picture.

Glaciation:  The last big ice sheet melted away 11,000 years ago. (This looked pretty big to me.)

The new Rockies emerged with U-shaped valleys replacing the river-cut V-shaped valleys.  

We were on that road down there next to the river just minutes before.

This is where I reverted to being a mother,  "Ron, don't get so close to the edge!" I couldn't help myself.

We are at The Big Hill & The Big Bend (With scenery like this it isn't necessary to get too flowery with the names).

Janice, in case you are wondering, Sigh Me is back in the basement of the condo, blissfully napping.

Dramatic waterfalls where everywhere.  This one is called "Bridal Veil Falls."


Have you noticed that Yosemite has the famous "Bridal Veil Falls" and there was another on the road following the Columbia River in Oregon and now, this one.  Enough already. I opt for renaming it "Rapunzel Falls"