One of the most gorgeous places I’ve visited. Words have a difficult time conveying the vastness and beauty of this space. Hopefully my photos will help illustrate.
The quest of Mount Temple:
Seated in the Canadian Rockies of Banff National Park just West of Calgary.
(I might have been pointing with the wrong hand)
I flew into Seattle, Washington to meet up with my long time mountain climbing partner and long time friend since we were neighbors at the age of five. We hit the town for a night and set off for an epic road trip the next day. For anyone who has traveled through the Rocky Mountains of the US with fascination, the Canadian Rockies ups that amazement five fold. The truly gnar gnar mountains of the Rockies lay north of the border.
The peaks are higher. The cliffs are steeper, and the waters are a lot bluer.
We lodged near Lake Louise, an amazing magnificent glacial lake nestled between mountain peaks and glacial fields melting into its cool blue-green ice cold waters. Beautiful vistas and hiking with a giant hotel looming pronounced reminded me of the one from the movie "The Shining." Truly far beyond my budget for hospitality. If you have never been here, google it, and you'll want to visit.
At daybreak we set off for the trail head, but were held back by the imminent potential presence of bears. A sign prohibited individuals from traveling in groups less than three. We waited a half an hour wasting valuable time when finally a group of three crossed our way and joined us. They didn't know they were going to summit that day with the only aspiration to make tree break. Surprise surprise.
The group held a good pace. And me, forgetting my hiking shoes back in Seattle was fucked wearing heavy ass snow boots. The clunky shit kickers gave me blisters on my heels after three hours. Every step forward (and back down for that matter) added an extra wince of pain.
Strange Dr Seuss-like fauna
The views made all the pain vanish.
And summit was reached:
Nap time at 11,627'
In all directions the Earth fell below, vast empty pure space. Space so large the mind struggles to comprehend distance.
And the return down, across the loose dangerous scree fields, over boulders, and through valleys into bear country.
Back to the ice cold lakes below where I soothed the burning broken bleeding blisters on my feet.
And back at the lodging for more not walking activities
The next day I purchased a new pair of Salomon hiking shoes, mole-skinned and taped my feet, and we set off on a 9 mile round trip hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House for a cup of tea. The trail passed the melting head wall of the Victoria Glacier. Thousands of pounds of snow fell and thundered through the canyon carved out by centuries of glacial movement. I felt the weight and emotion of ages and the motion of time echoing through this part of the Earth.
http://banffandbeyond.com/plain-of-six-glaciers-the-other-tea-house-at-lake-louise/
Thanks for reading. Check out my other Mountain Adventure:
https://steemit.com/dtube/@ghostfish/1yznv7uf
https://steemit.com/adventure/@ghostfish/defeated-but-not-dead-a-mountian-climbing-story
https://steemit.com/dtube/@ghostfish/u0x2zcn5
https://steemit.com/moutain/@ghostfish/sometimes-i-climb-mountains