Geology Rocks!

Well, my adventure through the Canadian Rockies had ended. I cannot believe that it has been and gone. I was so looking forward to that part of my trip, and the anticipation was so high that I was almost worried that it wouldn't live up to my expectations.

I needn't have worried.

Every description of this wonder of nature lets it down. There are no words to describe some of the places I have visited in the last week. Nature, I have concluded, is pretty damn awesome. Not awesome in the sense of "Dude, that song is awesome!", but awesome as in I was in awe of every vista my eyes were lucky enough to take in.
It was a complete assault on the senses. Yes it was cold, but that added to the thrill of being at these places. The air was so fresh and crisp that it took your breath away.

I lost count the number of times we piled off the bus, our guide John, not telling us where we were going, and then leading us up a steep trek, cursing as we watched our step. Yet then as a reached a clearing or a brow of a hill I'd look up and see the beauty laid before me. The picture above at Peyto Lake was one of those times. Without being too dramatic, there were times the sheer size and magnitude of the landscape, or the intricate beauty of a cascading, half-frozen waterfall, was overwhelming.

Then John would say "You like it?", in a slightly bragging lilt as he knew that he had these wondrous tricks up his sleeve. I don't think that these are sights that would ever grow old. They are places that have developed over millions of years, and I feel honoured to have seen them for myself.

 



This is the view I had as I walked up to the Athabasca Glacier. It was an incredibly humbling place. It was like trekking across another planet. There were signs to say how far down the hill the glacier used to stretch, so you could visibly see how much had melted over the past century or so.

There were also rings on the sides of the surrounding mountains showing the retreat of the frozen water. But you could still see the sharp blue water running under the surface of the ice on the sides and under foot. That was the scariest thing. As you got closer to the ice, you could hear the gushing ice water literally below your feet. I may have stood on a glacier, but I didn't want to test my luck with mother nature, so it wasn't for long!

The biggest noise that I appreciated was the silence. In that bowl of the glacier, away from the thin ice, you could hear nothing. No wind, no birds, no traffic. Nothing. It was this that added to the other-worldly-ness of the place.

I have always enjoyed seeing the beauty that nature creates, but this was one of the most awe-inspiring, achingly dramatic places I have yet visited.

If you get the chance to go, go. And take some woolies.