![]() While Banff is obviously more famous among worldwide (or national) tourists, Jasper has a feeling of remoteness and rustic charm that one would instantly feel that laid-back vibe moving from Banff to Jasper. The icefield sounds to me, it’s also the connecting point of the Banff and Jasper National Parks. While there were so many places to visit (the lakes!) and to do (the boat rowing!) in Banff, that day we had to make a 2.5-hour drive (185 kilometers) to one place that was basically the freshwater source that flows into three oceans – Columbia Icefield. I have written about a 4-day perfect itinerary in Banff to enjoy some of the best the national park has to offer. We visited there in early October (yet it was already snowing – I mean really snowing in Calgary), there’s no better thing to do than soaking in an outdoor hot tub and watching the snowfall. We stayed in the Moose Hotel & Suites and it was cozy and comfortable even though it was just a four-star hotel. We visited the Banff National Park and the scenery and landscape were simply magnificent. Glacier Skywalk – a cliff-edge walkway over Sunwapta Valley.Heading to Columbia Icefield Info Center. ![]() Carol standing on the canoe docks at Moraine Lake, Valley of the Ten Peaks in Banff National Park, July, 1958.Surveyors sit on the rock where Carol sits in one of the previous photos.Ĭolumbia Icefield: A Solitude of Ice by Don Harmon & Bart Robinson contains beautiful photos of the entirety of the Columbia Icefields as well as useful information about the understanding glacial movement, geography and history. This photo from Arthur Wheeler in 1897 shows Elbow Falls as part of the Canadian Irrigation Survey. Athabasca glacier melting at ‘astonishing’ rate of more than five metres a year. Ministry of the Environment, Calgary, AB. Columbia Icefield: Ice apex of the Canadian Rockies. I invite you to grab a snack or a coffee and head to, and be transported into the vast and ever-changing Western Canadian Mountains right from your computer.īailey. When I finally got to see so many of the peaks I have stared at on a screen in person this summer, I felt an incredible sense of familiarity. I have seen rivers rerouted, mines built and abandoned, towns and cities formed, glaciers retreat and the evolution of hiking attire. For my work I have sifted through thousands of photos, old and new, of places I have never visited. Similar to the joy and wonder that come from rummaging through old family photos, anyone in the world can be transported into the Canadian rockies to see any changes between pictures taken by explorers from 1890-1950 and repeated by modern day researchers.Īs a research assistant at MLP I have been trusted with the back-end task of making modern photos and notes from the MLP field team and historic photos from Library and Archives Canada available for the public to view. One of the things I love most about MLP is its universal accessibility to the general public. Image courtesy of the Mountain Legacy Project. Right: Repeat photo of Athabasca glacier in 2011 taken by the MLP field team. Image Courtesy of the Mountain Legacy Project and Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada. Left: Toe of Athabasca Glacier in 1917 from the Arthur Wheeler Interprovincial Boundary Survey. Being able to see exactly how far the glacier has receded in the last hundred years is eye opening, but not everyone has the opportunity to travel to Canada’s national parks and experience the vastness of glacial retreat, the seeming impossibility of the mountain pine beetle, or any other environmental challenges plaguing the flora and fauna of the Canadian Rockies. As humans we must have A personal connection to something in order to care about what happens to that thing in the future. Visualization tools, like the markers, are key to understanding impacts of climate change. The disappearance of the Athabasca Glacier, which is expected within the current or next generation, has serious global implications for ocean circulation patterns, sea level rise, hydro-power production and fisheries (Graveland, 2014). The Columbia Icefield is the hydrographic apex of Canada meltwater from the six main glaciers in the Icefield (of which Athabasca is the largest) flow into the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
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