Posted by A very cold morning,below 0, brrrrr, greeted us for our trip up the Icefields Parkway. If I thought the sensors were in overdrive on the Rocky Mountaineer train trip then they went up a notch again. The mountains and lakes just keep getting bigger and better and we were stopping the car constantly to take in the vistas and snap more and more photos.
Our first stop today was the stunning Lake Moraine with it’s 6 sister peaks dominating the skyline.
We visited the Lake for breakfast before we set off to the Icefields Parkway. There was not much of a choice for breaky so a quiche was had and we sat outside shivering whilst we ate,only to notice the young guy on the table next us in a t- shirt sitting comfortably chatting away to a friend and we had 4 layers on plus hats and gloves! It made us feel even colder looking at him but also made us laugh and realise how we are not cold climate people and enjoy that gorgeous warmth we take for granted.
Lake Morraine is another picturesque spot and during the summer is swarming with tourists but today being so cold we were able to view it without too many interferences.
I have often wondered how John can get even more energy whilst sightseeing and today his energy went into auto-pilot, whilst my sensory capacity for taking only a certain amount in at one time reached overload, so John kept going like the energiser bunny and after a while I had my fill of seeing any more mountains and lakes, so John ventured to some of the sights on his own. I absolutely loved the scenery and so much of it took my breath away, but like churches and museums there are only a certain number I can see in one day, unlike John who gets more buzzed from each one and is always wanting to see what’s around the next corner.
Along the Icefields Parkway w dropped into almost every side road or view opportunity we could. The first was Herbert Lake which was small and tranquil, like a little oasis, (see above)
We saw our first snow up close at Bow Summit near the amazing Peyto Lake which was the most azure blue especially when seen from above.
We attempted to stop for lunch at a cute chalet but as we found they all only serve dinner so the search for food continued all the way to the Saskatchewan river.
Bow Lake and mountain can’t be missed as they dominate the landscape and the Clawfoot Glacier is so massive that the visible edge is the size of a ten story building.
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The next little aside was to the Amazing Mistaya Canyon that snaked it’s way down into the valley through super hard rock so was only about a meter wide but the water was ten meters deep and so powerful.
The sun decided to shine and we stripped off the layers as we stopped by Bow Lake on the way back for a photo opportunity.
