On Saturday, we took a long drive
north from Lake Louise up the Icefield Parkway, touted by none other than
National Geographic as one of the most beautiful drives on earth. It didn’t
take long to prove that magazine correct. This was the view from Bow Summit,
with Peyto Lake below our viewpoint. The turquoise lake looks almost
frozen-over, but its 50 degree water temp is still a bit brisk for swimming.
These hanging glaciers are actually
several miles away, and much larger than they appear in a telephoto lens. 
The Canadian Rockies around here are
mostly limestone, with lots of sheer cliffs for rock climbers to enjoy. Unfortunately, the glaciers are receding, so if you want to see them in their splendor, book a trip here sooner rather than later!
Just past that viewpoint, Suzanne
looked in the rear view mirror, gasped, and pulled over for a photo of Crowfoot
Glacier. It’s hard to imagine that during the last Ice Age, glaciers filled all
of these U-shaped valleys, and much of North America, with thousands of cubic
miles of moving ice. 
On the drive, we encountered a
traffic jam (that’s more than three cars up here). The center of attraction was
this very photogenic black bear. (My Lovely Bride suggested that I snuggle up
to him for a buddy-buddy photo shot. I declined…) 
Glancing down from the highway, we
saw a small riverside campground (almost deserted) and decided to take a peek.
The gurgling stream, mountain views, and warm sunshine made this an idyllic
venue for Suzanne to meditate while I stretched and read a book.
Because we had added two days to our
planned visit here in Lake Louise, the campsite we had been in for three days
had been booked for the weekend, so we had to move to another spot. Although we
lost our mountain and river view, it seemed like a good spot until midnight,
when the first of 8 late night trains came down the tracks only 50 yards from
The Coach, each engineer ensuring that the tracks were clear of bear and elk by
loudly announcing the train’s approach with a ten second series of blasts on
their whistles. Suzanne must have intuitively known I wasn’t sleeping, because
she kept saying aloud, “Oh, my God.” My initial subconscious thought was that
Suzanne’s dad, a train engineer himself, was sending her a greeting… after the
second and third, though, I knew we had simply been allocated a campsite that
the Canadians didn’t want! Unfortunately, we had scheduled an early reveille
for the next morning, and constant interruptions weren’t helping our beauty
rest.
The purpose of rolling out of our
bunk early was to complete a steep mountain hike above Lake Louise, up to the
Plain of the Six Glaciers, a 9 mile/4 ½ hour hike with 1000 foot elevation gain
where your efforts are rewarded by fabulous glacier vistas and a Tea House. We
had been looking forward to this hike all week, but since my back is still in
recovery mode, My Lovely Hiker Bride had to do this one on her own. After a
spinach and feta omelet breakfast, she set off to beat the crowds while I
stayed back with Rudy and Gretchen. Here
is a view of the trail and Lake Louise far below. (She looks pretty perky for
having climbed that far!) 
Part of the trail is along a
rockslide area, where a safety cable provides a modicum of security for those
not at ease with several hundred feet of “exposure”… that’s a mountaineering euphemism
for “potential free fall”! (As climbers joke, the first few seconds are
exciting… it’s the last half second that’s no fun at all.) 
Suzanne reached the top of the trail
to find a viewpoint with several splendid glaciers that she had to herself for
a while. Good think she started early, because several other hikers started
arriving as she began her descent. 
While on the trail, Suzanne had met
two doctors, Marisa and Lis, whom she invited over for a glass of wine. We
enjoyed their company immensely – they are bicycle camping here in Banff
National Park during their summer vacation. Both are runners, Lis in training
for her first half marathon and Marisa having run Boston last year. (She was at
the 24.5 mile point when the terrorist bombs exploded. Fortunately she was not
hurt.)
Tired but happy after a day of
mountaineering, My Lovely Bride was happy to let me make her a pasta dinner
with sausage, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. As the shadows
lengthened on our last full day in the Canadian Rockies, we both wished that we
had planned more time here. Tomorrow we head for Calgary, Alberta, where I hope
to get my computer repaired and some corrective work done on The Coach.
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