Now backing up a few days...
The day after our insane hike up the mountain in Lake Louise, we went dog sledding! It was soooo much fun. Originally when Mr. V brought up the idea of dog sledding I was a little apprehensive, but he lured me in by showing me pictures of the cute puppies on the website for the dog sledding company. I wasn't really sure what to expect, other than the fact that we'd obviously be riding in a sled while a team of dogs pulled us. We got there early Friday morning and were greeted by several people and LOTS of dogs. I am not sure how many teams were there but there were lots and lots and lots of dogs. We were allowed to hang out and pet the dogs before leaving on our trip, and I've now decided that I want an Alaskan Husky dog. Each sled carried 2 or 3 people (2 adults or 2 adults and a child) and was driven by a professional "musher". Our guide wrapped us up into the sled (we had a fluffy blanket wrapped around us and then we were zipped up with velcro into the sled) and we took off. A friend of mine told me that these dogs were really happy to do what they do, and she was right. As the different mushers/guides started assembling their teams the dogs started going nuts. They were barking and jumping up and down all excited until they were finally strapped together. We took off pretty fast and the ride was pretty bumpy, but it was so much fun. Our guide talked to us the entire way. He told us about the breed of dog and its history. He told us about each dog on his team and how he trains them and how he picks out the team leaders. It was all really interesting. The ride itself was neat because first of all, we were dog sledding, and second, the route took us along the continental divide. We've been in Alberta for most of this trip and towards the end of the ride, we crossed the continental divde back into British Columbia, where we stopped to let the dogs rest and take pictures. Our guide asked us if we were interested in driving the sled, and of course Mr. V volunteered. I opted to stay nice and cozy in the sled. I have horrible balance and since good balance is key to staying on the sled when you're driving it, I decided that being a passenger was what was best for me. (this picture is small, but its the British Columbia/Alberta border right on the Great Divide)
Yesterday we left Banff and drove into Jasper National Park. We drove on the Icefields Parkway and saw tons and tons of large glaciers on the way. Our reason for going to Jasper in the first place was to see the Athabasca Glacier. Its the only glacier in the area that you can actually walk up to. In the spring and summer you are able to take a tour on a large truck/bus thing that drives you right onto the glacier. Unfortunately, the Icefields Centre tours don't open until a few days after our trip is over. So of course, Mr. V wanted to be dangerous and adventurous as usual and wanted to walk right onto the glacier. He chose to ignore all the warnings in every guidebook about how walking onto the glacier is dangerous and deadly. So we had to compromise again. He agreed to talk to a park ranger and only walk in the areas that were deemed safe. Once again, I was right and the glacier itself was not considered safe. However, the moraine (dirt and rocks carried by the glacier) in front of the glacier is safe to walk on so we decided to walk there instead, much to Mr. V's disappointment. I have to admit that this was even a little scary. There is a trail that you can walk on over the moraine that takes you to the toe of the glacier, but not any father. Because of all the snow in the area, the trail was partly covered so there were points where we were sinking into pretty deep snow. The signs all over the place warning everyone about falling into crevasses and dying weren't helping me as we hiked along. We did make it to the very top of the largest morain pile right at the toe of the glacier. Thankfully there were ropes at that point and signs warning people to not walk any further. Mr. V wasn't happy about that (I think he was going to attempt to make me walk on the glacier regardless of all the written warnings and the park ranger warnings.) This was a pretty rough hike for me too because the moraine isn't even, and between the snow and mud, there was lots of sinking and lots of panicking about falling into one of the deadly crevasses. I knew that we wouldn't actually fall into a glacier crevasse if we stayed in the moraine area, but there was also a stream running under the snow nearby that was worrying me a little bit (we never did find the actual steam so I think at one point we walked over it without realizing it).
In high school I actually did a science fair project about glaciers. I hated science in school and chose the topic half heartedly at the time. When I was all finished I realized that glaciers were actually pretty interesting things, so my nerdiness kicked in again and I thought that seeing an actual glacier (a life sized version of my science fair project) was pretty cool. The sad thing is that this particular glacier is melting fast. It is already at least 300 yards smaller than it was in 1992, which means that in a few years it may not even be something you can walk up to anymore. Knowing that fact, makes me happy that we saw it now. The first picture is Mr. V and me in front of the glacier from the middle of the moraine field. The second is us at the top of the largest pile of moraine right at the toe of the glacier. The third picture is a view of the moraine in front of the glacier. The glacier is behind it and not visible from this angle.
I'm somewhat sad to say that tomorrow morning we are leaving Banff, and driving straight back to Whidbey. I'm not so sure that I am ready to return to the reality of the real world yet....
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