July 27: early morning freeze and glacial glory along the way to Jasper

I woke up to find la bestia‘s windows covered in dew. Some of the neighbors had started a fire in the stove to warm up. I had not expected temperatures this low this early in the year. I’m not complaining; D.C. is having power outages amid scorching heat.

Highway 93 from Lake Louise to Jasper led us through spectacular terrain: majestic glaciers and emerald green lakes in the dozens.

This was near Bow Lake.

A view of the southern section of Columbia Icefield, the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains.

The central glacier of Columbia Icefield. Note the small dots–visitors–at the bottom of the picture for an idea of scale.

The northern section of the ice field. A family from the U.K. took the picture. We had a good chat about economic exploitation of natural beauty. I was a bit jealous of their samosas but managed to hang in there until Harry and I had reached Jasper and I was able to reward myself (for nothing, really…) with a slice of apple pie.