The Jasper National Park has some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen - challenging Tajikistan and the Himalayan foothills. But here there are glaciers by the dozen!
There's geology enough to convert the most committed creationist. Amazing! A must see. Photos don't do it justice.
It's obvious that, in summer, the glaciers are melting and the melt water is cascading away at their feet. But are they being fully replenished higher up by winter snow?
Well, no they're not. At the present melt rate glaciologists reckon that, like us, they will all be gone before the end of this century. So, it was good to see them now.
In addition to being another ski resort, Jasper is a rail-head into which very long tourist and cross-country trains slide. The station hall features a huge, good and truly stuffed, grizzly bear in a glass case. He was 'stuffed' for the first time when, distracted by doing whatever it is that bears do in the woods, he failed to notice a hunter. The taxidermist simply finished the job.
The black engine in the snow was photographed by my father, Stephen McKie, circa 1943, He'd got some sun in his lens.
The older Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive is on display at the station.
This engine caused me to recall the 'Ballad of Eskimo Nell' in which the pistons of the C.P.R
are likened to Deadeye Dick's sexual prowess (no match for Nell as it turns out).
How is this still in my head?
Yet, the world has changed since I was amused by such bawdy smut, me too.
Shale deposits, like these (lower left), are sedimentary and were, obviously, laid-down horizontally, around half a billion years ago. Since then, they have been raised and tilted and are still moving, imperceptibly, without very sophisticated measurement, to us short-lived humans.
Since 1901 the Burgess Shale deposit, not far from here, has been under intense study as it contains unique soft-tissue fossils from the earliest animals Earth. Click on the image above to learn more.
Can anyone still believe the Biblical creation myth?
Our next stop would be Calgary where we would say farewell to Brian and Kat. A pity, as they are excellent travel companions. Brian and I have known each other since 1972 in Australia; then in the UK; and then in the US; each on numerous occasions, and have always enjoyed sharing ideas. Kat and Wendy hit it off the moment they met.