Call This Number

Day 25: Saturday, July 31, 2010

Drive to Helena, MT

Auntie had originally planned for us to stay an additional day in Saint Mary for hiking Glacier, but Big Sky Country poured so much rain on us--and we were so disturbed by the helmet pictured below--that we vouched for continuing onward.

We were so afraid of rain that night, we caved and spent the night in a motel room. Helena, for the record, is a very humble little capitol—nothing on the grandeur of Boston, in case there was any concern. We did, however, notice a startling number of casinos, beer advertisements, and anti-meth artwork—frequently in conjunction with Indian Reservations, I am sad to say.

On a more uplifting note, the Missouri River just may be my new favorite river, behind the Charles.

No Mo' Gla-ci-ers

Day 24: Friday, July 30, 2010

Glacier National Park

After our breakfast of all-you-can-eat pancakes once more, we opted to do our laundry before heading to Glacier, hoping to beat the crowds in the evening.

While there, we discovered how KOA rakes in the revenue ($2 for 2/3 regular load, about $11 for all of our laundry!) and we met two Taiwanese women traveling together. They had attended kindergarten together back in Taiwan and had stayed close, and were now embarking on this epic road trip across Canada and the Midwestern United States, as one now resides in southern California and the other in northern Washington. Auntie and I were struck by how unexpectedly heartwarming their story was—childhood friends from another country, traveling without any men, a high school rising junior in tow, across the country, and all of Asian descent! These women possessed a fierce independence and passion for hiking and traversing the landscape, and they would not be deterred.

We pulled into Glacier National Park at last and, after a brief stop at the visitor center to admire an osprey nest, we drove along the acclaimed Going-to-the-sun Road.

Recent projections predict that by 2020 there will no longer be any glaciers remaining in Glacier National Park due to global warming. Many of the glaciers here have already disappeared, but the sculpting and depositing effects of these behemoths of the past have left their mark on the Montana landscape, scraping crevasses for deep lakes, forming elegant trickles of waterfalls, and leaving enormous buttes framing the area.

We drove from slender Saint Mary Lake in the east to Lake McDonald in the west, where I promptly hopped out of the van and dunked my feet in the clear cold water. You do not know cold water until you have been in glacial water.

Despite the massive construction in Glacier, the winding roads were occasionally deserted enough to provide the eerie feeling you might just fly off the side of the mountain into the river valley below. Surprises like the Weeping Wall, an entire rock face dripping water right onto the road, and Heaven's Peak, a glorious mountain looming at a soaring 8,987 feet tall, kept the ride anything but monotonous. Clandestine waterfalls, devastation from a forest fire, and bear warnings assailed our curious eyes. Even the miniscule glimpse we stole of Glacier was incredible, and we so wished we had had the time to discover more of her unique offerings.

But our heroes were weary and famished, and so they returned to camp that night and feasted on soup, pizza, orange juice, and huckleberry ice cream.

Magnificent Montana is Underrated

Day 23: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Bow Valley Scenic Parkway, Drive into Montana

Along the Bow Valley Parkway, the scenic drive leading from Lake Louise to Banff, Matthew's keen eyes spotted a black bear, ambling along in the woods close to the road. Our sudden stop allowed about six other cars pause and take note of the bear as well. All thanks to Matthew.
The topography through southern Alberta was markedly different from that of the Canadian Rockies. There were fields and farms and overall flatter land.
And then there was Montana! A great wasteland stretching as far as the eye could see! Or so I was expecting. Much to my delight, Montana was flat-out gorgeous! She has these soaring, layered buttes that jut out from the flat terrain, interrupting the fields with an infusion of texture, color, levels, and complexity. It was quite remarkable.

The Most Beautiful Road in the World

Day 22: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Icefields Parkway

I will confess to being extremely skeptical of the beauty along the legendary Icefields Parkway, and I was blown away. The Canadians know it's a hefty claim to make and they recognize that. Upon entering the road, the ranger hands you a map, bearing the question in bold: “The Most Beautiful Road? Really?” But sure enough, every single recommended viewpoint or attraction or trailhead was utterly incredible. At 230 kilometers in length, the Parkway snakes around pristine lakes, under enormous crags, alongside roaring waterfalls, and beside enormous icefields.Upon my insistence, we stopped to gawk at Mts. Hardisty, Kerkeslin, and Edith Cavell, some of the most prominent peaks in that stretch. The Athabasca Falls (Stoney for “the place where the bulrushes grow”) were incredible, as large waterfalls usually are. Hearing the roar of the falls and feeling the spray of mist on our faces made me nostalgic for Niagara Falls. It was amazing seeing how far the falls had receded, and the surprising amount of life that flourishes in the turbulent waterfall. Even more unbelievable was that while it is natural for fish to flourish in the river after a waterfall, it is essentially impossible for fish to thrive in the river preceding one, especially one such as these falls. Yet there is one type of fish that manages this daunting task; how the species ever came to be in that portion of the river is a mystery to this day.At Horseshoe Lake, scores of locals were thronging the cliffs along either side, waiting to jump into the glorious water.
The Icefield Centre along the Parkway was mainly built in 1996, and it showed. The exhibits were extremely informative and quite interactive—those that worked were, anyway—but the language regarding the disastrous effect of global warming on the recession of the icefields (the Columbia Icefield in particular)--was vague, indecisive, and out-and-out misleading. As the daughter of an earth scientist, I know these statements are wrong, but I digress.

The Columbia Icefield itself is awe-inspiring, if upsetting. Its sheer size, even after the toll humans have taken on it, demands its own climate. That portion of the road is quite chilly, the New Englander will concede.

I learned way more about glaciers than I thought possible that day.

For instance, different parts of the glacier move at different speeds. The ice on the top of the glacier will get to the bottom much sooner than the ice at the bottom because of the massive amount of friction it creates against the rock.

With ice core samples from the Icefield, scientists can ascertain how much pollen was in the air x number of years ago, and from it conjecture about the vegetation, the level of the glacier, and the surrounding plant life.

One cool side fact was that apparently previous ice core samples have shown layers of peat (essentially plant matter) and layers of ice, interspersed with layers of ash. These layers of ash came from volcanic eruptions—one from Mount Mazama, the volcano that created Crater Lake, and one from Mt. St. Helens—and we had just visited both of those places! The dispersal of volcanic ash in the atmosphere is incredible, yet worrying. Just think what this means for the world every time we endure another Icelandic volcanic eruption.

Up to Jasper

Day 21: Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

The day began, once again, with a Lisa-pigging-out session.

We purchased the combined gondola and buffet tickets, thereby giving me free reign to clean out the dining hall with my monstrous appetite. Three coffees, three iced teas, a whopping plate of vegetables, an overflowing plate of pasta and rice, two generous slices of cake, and a cup of fruit. It got to the point where the kitchen and cleaning staff knew me by sight. There was one man in particular, who appeared out of nowhere, no less than three times to answer random musings I had directed at no one in particular. Hilarious. Add to that the fact that the music blaring was all songs from my iPod, so I knew all the words. Of course I could not resist belting out “Kryptonite” in the line, a shout-out to my unrequited love Jason Varitek, but luckily another man joined me in song. He even upped the ante by whistling whilst cleaning. Impressive.

The gondola ride at Lake Louise was pretty incredible. The actual Lake Louise was so far off in the distance, and yet such a striking blue-green. It was amazing to realize we have canoed across that thing. Once atop the peak, we ran into two giant Chinese tour groups, so of course Auntie had to chat them up. We discovered they were all from the Beijing area and their white translator was a Mormon missionary.

The road between Jasper and Banff National Parks is known as the Icefields Parkway, supposedly one of the most beautiful roads in the world. On the drive up, we were pressed for time so we only stopped at a handful of places: Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, and Waterfowl Lakes and Mts. Chephren and Howse.

Our campground in Jasper was nothing special, just somewhere to spend the night. It was out about 14 kilometers from the main road, south of the town of Jasper, which, for whatever reason, describes itself as both “Stunning” and “Formidable” on its welcome sign. Ominous sign?

Like Banff, Jasper is a little town nestled underneath these sky-scraping mountains. Jasper, however, is significantly less touristy. Interesting and revealing side fact: Workers at their one grocery store are unfamiliar with tofu. The scandal!

Incoming: Grizzlies!

Day 20: Monday, July 26, 2010
Banff National Park and Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
So our campground is surrounded by an electric fence. And I promptly touched the fence by accident whilst pretending to electrocute myself for Matthew. Call me Grace.
We were down at the sinks, washing our dishes this morning, when a man called over to his son, "Hey Junior! (I don't remember his name) Look, it's a bear!" So we immediately waddled over to the fence to take a peek and saw a grizzly bear mom and her two cubs in the meadow.
Warning: Lisa geeking out.

Now, a grizzly bear differs from a black bear in a few fundamental ways. Most obviously, a grizzly has a large and prominent hump behind the shoulders, a muscle build-up from all the digging for berries and squirrels they do. Black bears have no such hump, so their hind quarters are higher up than their front. Grizzlies also have much longer claws, and a more dish-panned face than black bears, which, by the way, are not only black, but reddish, brown, and blond. Black bears are also much more accustomed to people, and have no qualms with hanging around by the side of the road, while grizzlies want their peace and quiet. Additionally, grizzlies reproduce much less frequently than black bears, which is a factor in the endangered status of grizzly bears. I will stop here. Feel free to ask me more questions about bears, though.


The mother was hunting a Colombian Ground Squirrel, which she snatched right up from its hole, when suddenly one of her cubs ran in front and grabbed the squirrel from her mother, instigating an epic chase. Adorable.

Minutes after we started watching, the Bear Squad ("Save a bear, Don't stop and stare") pulled up. After quite a crowd had gathered, we saw a man suddenly pop out of the undergrowth way too close to the bear, and the Rangers immediately set about identifying who in the world could be so brainless.

What a treat, all the same.

After my experience on the Bow River, the river that cuts through much of Banff National Park, I was hooked on canoeing. Give me a hollowed out log and a branch and I would be across the lake or trying my hardest to get there. I think Auntie sensed my growing obsession, because as soon as we pulled up to Lake Louise, a deathly tourist trap if I ever saw one, she suggested we grab a canoe and hit the lake.Now, Lake Louise is special for many reasons. Named for the daughter of the Queen of England, she consists of purely glacial water, mostly from the glaciers on Mt. Victoria, which looms behind her. She is surrounded by many other stately peaks, like Mt. Fairview, The Beehive, and Mt. Lefroy. Lake Louise, like many of the lakes in the area, contains a sediment called rock flour, which absorbs all the colors except blue, which it reflects out in a stark, pure way, thereby giving Louise her gorgeous coloring.

This is where I brag. The three of us paddled out basically to the other side and back in one hour. It was so humbling, seeing these transcendent peaks up close, watching as the hordes of people receded to pinpricks in the distance, the deep blue radiating from the frigid water.
But as wonderful as Lake Louise was, I prefer Lake Morraine, another underrated jewel in Canada's crown. The water was even more vivid, so bright it almost hurt to behold, and her placement in the Valley of Ten Peaks offers great hiking challenges. I for one am determined to return to climb Mt. Babel, named after that Biblical tower.
Matthew quite enjoyed the chipmunks and squirrels, who posed patiently for photos, then waited expectantly for food morsels. Clever little critters.

Let's Talk About Banff

Day 18: Saturday, July 24, 2010
Kamloops, BC to Banff, Alberta

Well, the first thing that I need to start off with is a confession: Until July 24th, 2010, I had never ever eaten anything from a Dairy Queen. That all changed when I caved and had a Skor and cappuccino blizzard. Yum.

We drove all day and pulled into Lake Louise Campgrounds at 11:54 PM. There were a surprising number of trucks and big rigs I had to battle to make it through to Alberta that fast.

Day 19: Sunday, July 25, 2010
Banff, Alberta, CanadaOur late night drive had hidden from us the grandeur of the surrounding landscape. The morning drive into humble little Banff, a Scottish name by origin, can you tell, revealed a lovely town nestled right under huge, sweeping mountains covered with green pines. The city of Banff is adorable, if touristy. The street names are all animal names, like Wolf or Elk or Lynx.
The day was perfect and I insisted we go canoeing on the Bow River and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. You are completely surrounded by nature at her finest, tranquil and serene, the water flowing by you, the mountains looming nearby, the sweat from your paddling coating your body. It was so rewarding. Every bend revealed a more majestic vista, and we (okay, I) were (was) reluctant to turn back. Unfortunately, every time I stopped to snap a picture, the canoe would veer suddenly to one direction or the other, as I was perched in the back, as the gubernator is wont to do.
We spent the day enjoying Banff National Park--an underrated gem, not just for Canada, but for the world, in my humble opinion.