Abraham Lake and the Icefields

Almost two years after a friend showed me a photo of Abraham Lake in a book and us trying to decipher where the Kootenay Plains are, I finally took the drive to Abraham Lake.  Of course it's very different in August than it is in Darwin Wiggett's now infamous Abraham Lake ice photos, but it's a beautiful spot to be!  No big trip report today, but some photos to tell a story...

Nordegg - great if you're into abandoned buildings photography

Crescent Falls - my first time back in 20+ years

First glimpse of Abraham Lake and yes, those are the actual colours

Abraham Lake

Abraham Lake

Athabasca Glacier and Mount Athabasca at left - one day...

Athabasca Glacier

Hilda Creek Hostel

The description read "not for the faint of heart." I was after some solitude and ended up being the only person staying here. Your first welcome is parking up the road and walking in through chest-high brush. Then the pungent smell (where else can you have a place all to yourself when every single other place and campground in Banff & Jasper National Parks is booked solid?!?!). At 11pm the rodents showed up, and at 5am the bunk house was hit by lightning, literally making me sit up from bed with my feet on the floor in a fraction of a second. The entire cabin shook violently, the propane tank was ok. I started having visions of some big animal gazing in the window in the middle of the night, so created curtains from dish towels and duct tape for those windows that didn't have any. It was a welcome sound hearing cars in the distance in the morning. Alberta's best kept secret at $27 a night (including taxes!) for two whole buildings.

Hilda Creek Hostel

Hilda Creek Hostel

Hilda Creek Hostel

Yup, that's Hilda Creek Hostel in there

Driving north of the icefields - such a calm morning

Tangle Falls

Tangle Falls

Athabasca Glacier

Athabasca Glacier

Athabasca Glacier - glacial striations

Lateral moraine on right and Wilcox Peak in the distance. 

Was up there last September.

Old bridge near the Big Bend - I'm happy with how the tree is

centered and stands out from the shadow

Mistaya Canyon

The total loop driving Calgary - Sundre - Rocky Mountain House - Nordegg - Columbia Icefield - Beauty Creek - Lake Louise - Calgary was 798km.  And yes, I've had my fix of solitude.  Thanks to Darwin Wiggett's How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies and Ben Gadd's Rocky Mountains Geology Road Tours, I found some nice hidden gems.