The Columbia Icefield

First off, I want everyone to know that we are all back safe and sound in Calgary. The blog posts are a little backed up from the lack of internet services along the way. I'll be catching up over the next few days.

The Jasper-to-Banff roadway has two iconic attractions: Lake Louise and the Columbia Icefield. As you might expect, the icefield is at the top of a major climb. The glacier creates its own wind patterns. The air is cold on top of the glacier. Since cold air falls (like warm air rises) , the winds come howling down the mountain. It creates some interesting riding experiences. At one point I was cruising along at 22 mph, barely even pedaling. Within a matter of seconds I was doing 6 mph and grinding away in low gear. It felt like I'd ridden into deep sand.

To be honest, when I got up to the Athabasca Glacier (pictured behind us) I wondered what the big deal was. It's nice and all, but it doesn't exactly look like a World Heritage Site (which it is). The visitors center had a very cool diarama that explained why this site is so important. What you see behind us is just a small tongue of the actual icefield. On top of the mountain it goes on for 40 square miles. Seven separate mountains are connected to the icefield. And here's one interesting factoid. The glacier sits atop a triple continental divide. Runoff from the glacier flows into three separate oceans: The Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic.

These Ice Explorer buses are used for tours of the Athabasca Glacier. At $50 a ticket, and given our time limitations, we decided to pass.