Taking a Break on a Rainy Afternoon

"A clean underwear!" came the shout from the bedroom of the RV. "Thanks Holly, you just provided me with the opening line for today's blog." After a morning of touring the sites on the road to Jasper, we are back in the RV, having lost our will to hike in the rain. In the gloom and rain of the day I would say that the Columbia Ice sheet and all of the surrounding glaciers was actually a little depressing. You just can't help but see how much they have shrunk over the years, and we overheard people talking. "When I was here 20 years ago, this glacier came right up to the road." Now the glacier in question is a good kilometer back from the road.

So, as we are taking this downtime to shower and cleanup a bit in preparation for our move south tomorrow, I'm taking a few minutes this afternoon to catch up a little. There is only so much you can write about all of this mountain beauty. On the other hand it seems as though just when we think we've seen the most beautiful site, something new comes along and surprises us. so I'm just going to include some pictures today with a minimum amount of commentary. I think they speak for themselves.

The photo at the top is from Bow Lake, right off the highway. But everything was so still it was crazy beautiful.

This one may trip you up a bit. It is a closeup of the mountain reflection, but the stones in the foreground are not a reflection. It looks kind of weird without the perspective of the real landscape!

This is Peyto Lake, just a short hike off the highway, it is well worth the stop!

Sunwapta Falls was another really short hike off the highway, with spectacular falls. The power of the water never ceases to amaze. I was messing around with shutter speeds to get the effect you see in this photo.

We hiked around Emerald lake, I think you can guess how it got its name. Emerald Lake is in Yoho national park in British Columbia. If I had written this post yesterday I would have titled it "Yoho, Yoho a Pirates Life for Me!"

Another beautiful waterfall, next to a spot you could easily drive by and dismiss. But well worth the stop.

Here's another which gives you a better view of its bridge like qualities.