You Take the High Road: Discovering Bonnie Banff from a Brewster Bus

By Stephen A. Nelson
The Brandon Sun
August 15, 2009

Almost Heaven: Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta

Discovered by explorer Mary Schäffer, celebrated by Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris, explored by local guide Curly Phillips, and made famous by local photographer Harry Rowed, Maligne Lake has been called the most beautiful place in the Canadian Rockies.

It is stunningly beautiful. But the whole area would be better off if there weren't so many people -- or at least if we were committed to minimising the impact we are having on the environment and the endangered wildlife... and I don't mean American tourists.

A Taste of Heaven: Angel Glacier in Jasper National Park

 Mount Edith Cavell (rhymes with travel) is just south of the town of Jasper and is one of the mountains that define Jasper.

The mountain went by many unofficial names until 1916, when it was named for Edith Cavell. She was an English nurse executed by the Germans during World War I for having helped Allied solders escape from occupied Belgium.

The rapidly receding Angel Glacier is one of the best known in the park, and was once part of a massive glacial system that carved out the valleys of Jasper.

If you don't believe in global warming, just take a look at what's happened to this glacier in 25 years.

Ice Age 2 - The Big Melt: Touring the Columbia Icefield

Sno-Coach Tours and Icefield Explorers
on the Athabasca Glacier

Looking like a Volkswagen on a bulldozer track, this is one of the original Bombardier snowmobiles used for tours of the Athabasca Glacier (Columbia Icefield) in the 1960s and 1970s.

Note that the front skis have been replaced by two wheels, since the Bombardier is no longer used for touring the glacier - only for display.

These vintage "lunar rovers" have been replaced by modern "Icefield Explorers" or "Sno-Coaches" that let you visit the glacier in comfort.

full story:
http://brandonsunnews.blogspot.com/2009/10/highway-to-heaven-travelling-canadian.html

more stories:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-A-Nelson-Writer-Editor-and-More/374226352256