Then and Now

My parents visited the Columbia Icefield in 1969. The first comparison shows the Athabasca Glacier which has definitely lost a lot of ice.

The second comparison shows the glacier to the left of the Athabasca. Dad had a sunnier day and a road has been built that takes busses to the front of the ice field. There is a little less ice in the middle but all in all not much has changed.

Aug 11 Day 41 Thursday Hinton, AB to Yoho NP, BC

Athabaska River, Jasper NP

Mechanic Dwight Norman called and agreed to come first thing this morning. He arrived at 8:20. It took both of us but we got the replacement Turbo Resonator installed and we were underway at 9:15 . . . and it worked.  It got a good test on some incredible mountain roads through the National Parks. Mountain peaks were countless today. The Icefield Highway compares very favorably to Denali. Denali has vast wilderness vistas and the Icefield Highway has mountains with narrow valleys and glaciers everywhere. At the Columbia Icefield (glacier) you could see what the ice left 150 years ago. Global warming was well underway in the middle of the 19^th century.

Lake Louise’s Victoria Glacier

Lobby Light at Chateau Lake Louise

We visited Chateau Lake Louise, a hotel I remember from our 1950 trip. I will try to dig out some of my fathers1960s- photos that compare to photos we took today. We were late finding a campsite and got some help from the Yoho Information Center. The lady said we should stay at Chancellor rather than Hoodoo because the campground had just been renovated and we would be beside a river. What she forgot to mention was we would also be beside the main railway line with trains about every hour.

Mistaya Canyon, Banff NP