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Athabasca Glacier

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Glacial under flows

There's nothing quite like walking on a glacier... listening to its gurgling over and under-ice flows and its occasional rumbling crack - you feel simultaneously the power of history and the temporaryness of now.




The Athabasca glacier is receding at an alarming rate - 5m/yr.  The Angel Glacier at Edith Cavell had also receded a lot since our last visit in 2004.  Seeing these changes in Alberta - Canada's energy juggernaut - is all the more poignant.

Here we all (literally) are, on a runaway train, and Alberta is clamoring to stoke the fire - and if you try to stop us, we'll separate from Canada and thereby legally force BC to give us our pipeline (no land-locked sovereign nation can be prevented from accessing a major shipping route).

Rant done.  Sorry.  Sort of.

We parked our vehicle in the icefields visitors center parking lot across the HWY from the glacier and walked over - we needed the exercise and fresh air.

 
Foliage at the base of the glacier - where it was in the 1920's!

The valley
The approach
Receding glaciers
Toe of the glacier

The parking lot nearest the base of the glacier is a gong show - it takes so much away from the place - I wish they didn't have it.

The approach is otherwise pretty flat - I'd recommend sturdy footwear though due to the amount of loose rock.  Parker and I had fun finding cool pathways on which he could find 'special rocks' but also paths that didn't disturb the plant life.

Once atop the scree mound at the valley base (after a brief but steep climb), you're treated to a great view of the glacier - about 60ft from its base.  Though interesting,  we found the distance too far to really take in and understand glaciers, so...

On the glacier
Look ma - top flows!
Rivulets
Caves

Rock striations
We LOVED visiting the Athabasca glacier - it was very accesible and very interesting.  You may be wondering why Chelsea and Nathan were not in the pictures... well... that's a story to be told another time :)




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