Cool Glacier & Good Mac n Cheese

Today we were up early and ready to meet our driver, John, at 8:15 am to visit the Columbia Icefield and make a few other stops along the way. John was kind and hospitable, offering us water and snacks at the start of our trip. We drove into Banff National Park and picked up a few other passengers and then were on our way. As we drove, John would note different mountains and lakes we passed by and provided some tidbits here and there. One fact I thought was interesting was the overpasses we drove under in Banff were not for cars or pedestrians, but for the wildlife to cross over the roads safely. We pulled off the road to see Crowfoot Glacier which surprise, surprise, looks like a crow foot. Our next stop was to Bow Lake which had water as clear as crystal, apparently a common feature in this area of Canada. After taking some pictures and admiring the lake, we boarded our van and drove the 90 km to the Columbia Icefield.

We arrived around 11:00 am to the visitor center and ate some lunch in the little cafe. I had some chicken corn chowder and Joe had some poutine. Mom had a cliff bar. So far, the corn chowder was the best food I’d eaten on this trip, and it didn’t even have cheese in it. After lunch, we got on a bus that took us part way up to the Athabasca Glacier and then boarded a much larger bus-like vehicle called an Ice Explorer. It had tires as tall as mom and drove a swift 11 mph up to the glacier. Walking on the glacier was a cool experience. Joe filled up a water bottle with the melting glacier water. He offered me some to drink, but I politely declined. I don’t know where that water has been in the past 10,000 years. I walked around the boundary of the glacier and enjoyed the view. After about a half hour, we returned to the Ice Explorer and headed back down. We did spot some big horned sheep when we were transferring to our regular bus.

Don't worry, there's always a Starbucks, no matter where you are

Our bus driver took us to the Skywalk which I think is pretty similar to the one at the Grand Canyon. After walking on a trail scaling the cliffside, we made it to the curved, glass walkway. The Skywalk was well populated, but we were assured that it could sustain the weight of 1000 pounds per square inch. With a drop of just over 900 feet, that was good to know. The views were stunning from in front of me and from below me. After walking the Skywalk twice, we returned to our bus which took us back to the Columbia Icefield Visitor Center. We met up with our driver, John, again to see a few more sights before our trip concluded.

We stopped at two more lakes, Waterfowl and Peyto. Waterfowl Lake was vibrant blue and had clear water just like the previous lakes we’d seen. Peyto Lake looked like someone had dumped a bunch of food coloring into the water. The natural turquoise color is kinda hard to believe, but I promise you that it’s truly that color in person. After staring in disbelief for a few minutes, we hiked back to the van and John drove us back to Canmore.

We ate dinner at Red Rock Pizza, a local restaurant in the small town. We ordered two different pizzas and mac n cheese. It was refreshing to eat at an establishment that understood the assignment when cooking dishes involving cheese. The mac n cheese was delicious and my faith in Canadian chefs has been restored. After mom bought some pastries across the parking lot, we returned to the lodge for the night. We watched the film Interstellar, which was “filmed” in Canmore (if you consider 1-2 thirty second scenes filmed in Canmore, sure) and headed to bed. Tomorrow, we are driving into Banff National Park to visit more of the sights.

 

If you want to read a different perspective of our trip, you can read my mom’s blog here.

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