Thursday, July 24, 2014

Plain of Six Glaciers

a favorite hike
in three installments

Part Three

The hike continues from last week's POST.
It's time to leave the wonderful teahouse with its delicious food and refreshing drinks and head down the path.  Going down is SO much easier!



Lake Louise is in the distance.  Can you see the 2 people?  Their size will give you an idea of the scale.  (hint:  They're on the middle left blending into the rocks.)



The path goes through this talus field but it has been cleared of rocks, so no climbing is required.



back down at the edge of the lake.  We've crossed the rocks-in-the-water path (6th photo).  The water really is silvery gray.


a truly wonderful hike with Jaw dropping scenery the entire way!  Then at the end of the upward/downward path, at the far end of the lake, I was totally enthralled by the colors.  the COLORS!  I took a bazillion photos.  I could have spent hours here just absorbing the beauty.  Joyful!
The silvery gray glacial water feeds into the lake turning turquoise.  It's September and Fall, so some of the leaves are becoming golden.  The yellow contrasts with the deep forest green of evergreen trees.  (Those are tall trees across the lake!)



The water is luscious and clear but oh so cold!  Later we dip our feet in but can bear it for only seconds!













commentary from the first week:
Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada is one of the most spectacular places on Earth.  My husband and I were privileged to visit twice in 2 consecutive years.  The Plain of  Six Glaciers is my top, number 1 favorite hike I've ever done.  This is because the scenery is breathtakingly spectacular every single step of the way!  My photos do not do justice.  Yet I offer them as a small taste of possibility.

There are links in the first week's POST.  You can also see a map of this hike and will note that it is basically straight up.

The color of the water is due to
the suspension of fine rock ground by the movement of the glacier and called glacier flour.  The milky silvery gray water has the most glacial flour suspended in it. 





Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is  "J."   --for Jaw dropping and Joy--  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  


 
 

photos by me  © 2013   all rights reserved

21 comments:

  1. Amazing scenery! I like those craggy rocks! And one of these days I'd like to stand next to those super tall trees :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. The colour of the water is so lovely. I'm glad you didn't have to walk over the talus as that looks quite dangerous to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that photo where the silver water meets the turquoise water!
    It took me a minute to find the people, but that really does show how large everything is!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! That is soooooo Amazing:) Love all the beautiful nature scenery! Hope to visit one day! Still gazing at those scenes.....have to say again .....lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was just about to ask you why the water was silver, but you answered my question! This series has been so cool. Can you do it again with another hike? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lots of great shots of nature's beauty for J ~ thanks, ^_^

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are amazing photos! Very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! That looks like an absolutely amazing place to hike! Gorgeous photos by the way, thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. visited Canada for the first time...Vancouver area...would like to see more of that country♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/july-13-blogger-sunday-walk/

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is so breathtaking. I can feel the ice cold water on my feet just looking at the photos. Br-r-r

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just beautiful! The textures are so rich.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! That turquoise lake is stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  13. There has to be calcium citrate in that vivid blue water! It makes such a contrast with the gray.

    ReplyDelete
  14. it's just so beautiful! the turquoise colors are amazing! i scrolled down through several of your previous posts. just gorgeous.

    thanks for coming by today!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I thought 'dramatic' shots. But yes they are Jaw dropping. Beautiful. You did an amazing job.
    Thanks for sharing. And, thanks for coming by my post.
    Have a great weekend.
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  16. how beautiful. Someday, I'll get to Canada. It's breathtaking for sure! The water is so many different colors. The turquoise is my favorite. Hope you enjoyed yourselves; I can't see how you couldn't't! {:-D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dynamic shots of your journey into nature ~ what a gift ~ great post for J ~ thanks,

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

    ReplyDelete
  18. The colors of the water -- silvery and turquoise -- are amazing! What a beautiful place!

    ReplyDelete
  19. So beautiful! I wouldn't know where to look first!

    ReplyDelete
  20. That water is really an incredible color.

    And it was fun searching for the two tiny people in the rocks! What a grand scale!

    This was so much fun continuing on the hike with you!

    Thanks for linking to the letter J.

    A+

    ReplyDelete

Your comments make my day! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!