Timber!

Yesterday I took four couples up to the Columbia Icefield. We started out in about 8 inches of fresh snow but the weather got better as the day went on. On the way back I noticed water collecting in a spot on the side of the road where there usually wouldn't be and discovered a brand new beaver dam and lodge. I wasn't able to get a picture of it this time but we were able to stop a get a picture of the area where the beaver was collecting the tree branches from. This is one of the newly felled trees.

We also saw a black bear and I got a slightly better shot of it than I got last time. It was in about the same area as my last bear picture so it may have even been the same one but we didn't ask him so who knows for sure.

Today is a much nicer day and I decided to take a picture of the unfrozen version of the Bow river near my place.

This is one more of the mountains surrounding the town of Banff and it was looking pretty good today so here is Cascade mountain as well.

I'm going up to St. Albert tomorrow to take 70 Japanese highschool girls and their teachers to Jasper, down to Banff and then out to Calgary (airport) over the next few days. They have been doing the homestay thing there (St. Albert) for the last week. It should be an interesting trip.

Name that lake.

It's been a while since I posted and I really don't have any exciting news to tell or new pictures to show so I've decided to post this old photo of one of the lakes that I take people to all the time and see if any of you know what lake it is.

It's quite a high lake and doesn't usually melt until the first part of June. It is a very nice deep blue color when it first melts but it soon fills up with rock flour from its source glacier and turns from this color to more of a turquoise then even a lighter blue color in the middle of summer.

Go ahead a have a guess if you dare. By the way I have changed the name of the file to mystery lake so you won't find the name just by saving the picture.
Good luck!

A Little Better Weather

I made another trip to the Columbia Icefield today and finally had some decent, although not perfect, weather. This is a 183km drive (one way) from the town of Banff and we always stop at Lake Louise and a few other spots along the way.
As you can see Lake Louise is just starting to melt around the outlet of the lake.

It was a little cloudy at the ice but at least it wasn't a white out blizzard like in the previous picture I posted. Here is a less blizzardy picture of some of the machines that take people out on the glacier.

One of the nicer views at the spot they stop and let you off onto the glacier is Mt. Andromeda and its glacier. It is quite close and is clinging to the mountain at a steep angle so once in a while we actually get to see little pieces break off come crashing down.

On the way home today we saw a little black bear on the side of the road. My first bear sighting of the year. Sorry it's a little small in the picture.

Finally, in case any of you are wondering, this is my (company) van that I drive my customers crazy in.