Mountain Monday and the Glacier
Before I even get started, this story reminds me of another tale... the one about the Great Los Angeles Glacier Meltdown of 1975... That's not what this post is about however. Maybe I'll tell you a little of that story, but you'll have to wait till the end of this post.
This post is for #mountainmonday, hosted by yours truly. If you have something to share that involves mountains in any way at all, make a post and drop me a link in the comments. I'll make sure to upvote and resteem your post. Meanwhile, jump in the car, we're off to see the glacier!
Trans Canada Highway near the British Columbia/Alberta border
So here we are, somewhere in the vicinity of the Kicking Horse Pass, and it's time to get off the main highway. Let's hang a left.
OK, this is better... follow that red car!
Our first stop is Emerald Lake, BC. (I know you may have seen a couple of these photos before but I'm just trying to tell the story, the best way I know how...)
Emerald Lake, May 2018
Our next stop will be the Natural Bridge over the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park.
The Bridge
Check out the colour of the glacial run-off water that makes up the Kicking Horse River. That is some mighty cold water. I would not want to fall in!
The Source
I can't swear that this particular mountain is the one that feeds the Kicking Horse, but it is nearby and you can get the general idea.
What a Real Glacier looks like.
Above is a close-up shot where you can see the ice at the top of this mountain. This is the end of the "official" portion of my #mountainmonday post. However...
This all certainly reminds me of when I was in L.A. in the summer of 1975...
I was a twenty-year-old, long haired, guitar playing hippie of sorts, staying with my friend Dennis who lived in the valley in a place called Canoga Park. We kinda had the place to ourselves because Dennis' parents were away in Japan... for two years! I remember how incredibly bad the air pollution was in 1975. It's nothing like that now. About a mile from the house was the Santa Susana Pass State Park in Chatsworth, and you could not see the mountains in the middle of the day - just a sort of dark patch in the haze. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about.
One morning Dennis is rummaging around in the fridge and he pulls out some ice cubes. He took a pocket knife and started carving away on one of them. After a while my curiosity got the better of me:
"Whatcha doing?" I asked.
"Making you something" mumbled Dennis as he continued carving.
"What is it?"
"Well... since you're from Canada, I wanted you to feel at home. This is for you." he said and tossed me an ice cube.
I looked at it, and on the side was carved my initials: KB
"What the hell?" I asked...
"Haven't you ever seen a Monogrammed Glacier before?"
I threw the "glacier" at him and missed and it went through the open patio doors and landed in the sun beside the pool where it quickly melted, turning into a puddle...
And that was the story of the Great Los Angeles Glacier Meltdown of 1975!
Thanks for reading, my friends. Now let's see your mountains!
Thank you @pixresteemer!
Wow Keith! What a story! Well the title it's certainly catchy! LOL!
On the other hand, these shots are phenomenal and the those mountains are majestic. You know, it's so beautiful there that the winter wouldn't bother me.
Thank you very much! The only problem is a lot of the roads are closed in the winter. Even in early May lots of places in Banff are closed. I want to go back this year in late May or early June. The roads will all be open, the bugs won't be bad, and not many tourists. I will never again go in August - last year the forest fires were awful and the air quality was so bad... and the mountains were just dark patches in the smoke...
Oh my gosh, that is very sad, but good to know. Thanks for telling me in case I would like to go sometimes in the future. You know, May is my favorite time in year anyway 😊
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Some really great pictures, and the "Glacier Meltdown" was a cool funny little story.
Thanks a lot, glad you liked it! :-)
Those glacial streams can certainly be a little bit cold. Here are a few more pictures from our Friday Drive. https://steemit.com/mountainmonday/@bashadow/mountain-monday-friday-s-drive-to-the-end-of-the-road
Awesome - on my way to check it out!
Al Gore was right! lol
I'll tell you what - emission controls on cars made a huge difference over the years!
Huge. LA and Denver too. We used to visit Denver in the 70's and there was always a layer of smog visible laying over the city and below the mountains. It is thankfully gone.
Howdy sir Keith! These shots are all magnificent! The mountains are stunning and the water of Emerald Lake is so clear. The Kicking Horse River...gorgeous. Funny story too! lol.
Thanks a lot! If you liked that story, you might like to hear about the road trip to Berkeley that came right after. It was just a few months after they captured Patty Hearst, and Berekely was a little strange. Throw in some magic mushrooms, a rented cube van catching on fire on the Oakland Bay bridge... oh yeah, those were the days!
Haha! wow sir Keith, I think you should be posting about those things, that would be highly entertaining!
Ok - why not! Just as long as any law enforcement agencies who may be following my blog realize that all the drug references are... ahem... purely fictional. I could talk about Berkeley, then back to L.A., followed by the trip back home on Route 66 which still pretty much existed in back in 1974. Sure, why not @janton?
I love the idea sir Keith! most of the audience is American right? and most of your followers are kind of older I assume. so you were running down from Canada causing all kinds of trouble and then escape back home where no one could find you? lol.
Truly magnificent scenery @keithboone and I'm not even going to attempt to choose my favourite. How I'd love to jump in a plane and parachute my way into that icy, cool water. Austalia is breaking all kinds of uncomfortable heat records at the moment with January looking to be the hottest EVER! So, admittedly, the beautiful clear water at the base of those remarkable mountains would be the biggest wake up call I've had in a while, but right now, I think it would be worth it.
And speaking of records being broken, I haven't met anyone who has thrown a glacier before. Very impressive! I might have to check the Guinness Book of Records, to be sure.😄 (U & R)
Wow, sorry to hear about your heat wave, Trudee! I recommend you get over here right now. Victoria is not cold enough for your needs but we could travel to the mountains and find some snow. That river is probably frozen over but we could chop a hole in it so you could plunge right in. Thanks very much for the vote & share, I truly appreciate it!
Now that's an offer I find hard to refuse Keith. Pity it wasn't possible.☹️ I'll just have to make myself some glaciers and keep them in the freezer to use as I see fit.