All along the highway are signs like the one at left, which I remember from a vacation as a young boy, pointing out the mountains nearby. I particularly like this Endless Chain, because that's what it looked like. Click on the sign to see what I'm talking about. It was this very long ridge of continuous mountains. Very cool.
All along the way we stopped at several places along the road to take pictures, each one awe inspiring. I know the weather looks like it was threatening, and I suppose it was, but it never made good on the threat. It was cool, but not cold, so it actually was very pleasant. I'd rather the weather be little on the cool side than too hot. There's a limit to how much clothing you can remove and still be safe. We continued to ride and take pictures along the way. Here are a few more that we took.
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Continuing south, we eventually came to Athabasca Glacier, which my family visited back in 1967. Receding at a rate of 7-10 feet per year, it has lost half it's volume in the past 125 years. Take a look at the two pictures below. The one on the left was taken on July 29, 2011. The one on the right, during the summer of 1967.
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You can see how much it has been reduced in 44 years. If you haven't taken time to go visit one of these treats of nature, do so while they're still here. Last year when I went to Glacier National Park in Montana, I was struck by the lack of Glaciers. There are still glaciers in the park, but nothing as accessible as Athabasca. |
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
