Up Over: 7/1716 Fate

I rose from the ashes today and flew into the mountains.

Neither my words nor my pictures can relay the spiritual beauty of the Canadian Rockies. I am smitten! We left Radium in the sun then literally danced in and out of the clouds all day. Into the Kootenay National Park, we began a journey on route 93, that took us through a landscape equaled only in dreams. Immediately, we were surrounded by craggy snow capped peaks that loomed on both sides of the road for 250 miles.

Shockingly blue rivers, lakes and waterfalls caught the glacial melt from the giants that surrounded them. The low lying clouds teased us as peaks peeked out, then disappeared. So close to these clouds, we took flight into heaven.

Into Alberta, we followed the increasing traffic to Lake Louise. An attraction for internationals, this gemstone of a lake, surrounded by glaciers, epitomizes the grandeur of the Rockies. Hovering over the lake, the Fairmont Chateau looks down on the masses of tourists like a disapproving dowager. Adventurers, riders and seekers of the unknown, we fled the crowds, after having the obligatory picture taken.

Through Banff and Jasper Parks, we continued on 93, now named The Icefield Parkway. The Columbia Icefield, the largest in North America, stretches along the highway adding another nuance to this already perfected vista. Layers of ice creep down the mountains to the valley we rode. Avalanche warnings were prevalent as sheep and goats silently watched us glide by.

The other-worldliness of this ride came to an end in Jasper where cars lined up into the road to pump gas that had not been available for hundreds of miles. We too gassed up, then headed away from the bottleneck created by the exodus from the parks. An hour of yet more spectacular views (the beauty never seems to end) and we landed in Hinton, Alberta for the night.

So it was fate that brought us this amazing day. Had I not been too sick to travel, we would have taken off in the rain and fog that totally covered the mountains. To travel yesterday would have meant eyes ahead, rain suits on and not much to see. Today we experienced it all and it was worth the wait.

A tantalizing sign on the way into Hinton read "Scenic Route to Alaska". Still thousands of miles away, we will take this road tomorrow and head toward "Seward's Folly". I cannot imagine a more exhilarating ride than we had today, but I predict that there will be many more as we head into the wilderness together.