Of course She was right... because we were going here
No visit to Alberta would be complete without visiting the Columbia Ice Field, that's what everyone who knows stuff told me, and no trip to the Columbia Icefield would be complete without getting ones picture taken in front of the wheel of the ice bus. So, let's do that first....
These things are huge! 66 (that's taller than Linda!) x 43 inches of Goodyear that's hardly inflated.
and not wanting to be left out, here I am doing a very good impression of Mr. Benn, just as he was about to change into one of his adventure outfits having left his house at 52 Festive Road. Those of you as old as me will know what I'm talking about ;-)
“As if by magic... the Shopkeeper appeared...” No? Oh well...
Back to the ice then.
We left the warmth of our log cabin and log fire and sunshine in Jasper and I confess to wondering why on earth I was trussed up like Sir Ranulph. Then, as we approached our destination, the clouds came down, it rained like we were back in Burscough on a Saturday and Oh My God... was it cold! Then as we got out of the car the hail started and I wished now that I was wearing a welders mask to protect my eyes as it came in sideways, no really... sideways!
We checked in having already booked our tickets from back home. Then there was time to look at the gift shop where I confess... the first thing that I did was buy myself a hat. A very thick and very warm hat! The bear above would have lost at least one of his arse cheeks if I hadn't been able to get a hat I can tell you. Did I mention that it was cold?
The ride up was exciting and very interesting. The bus drivers/guides were good raconteurs and explained everything from the weather to the gearing ratios of the buses.
Here's our babies looking a bit chilly up on the glacier.
The water up there is possibly the freshest water that one could ever get. The ice is constantly melting and this little trickle here, is actually the start of the Athabasca River. A lot of people actually knelt down, took off their gloves, and put in a bottle or a cup to try it. As much as I would have loved to taste the freshness, they must be mad!!
did I mention that it was cold?
Some individuals did provide good entertainment as they slid around in their leather soled sandals and chattered in their shirts and one even stepped into the stream as he tried to cross it. He was later seen in the restaurant dipping his foot into a bowl of soup to thaw it out... so he could have it sewn back on... Here is that stream. Sadly Linda couldn't cross because it was too wide.
What we can see here is the 'toe' of the Athabasca Glacier which is just one of the feeds from the Columbia Icefield. The “Icefield” is the largest sub-polar body of ice in the whole of North America covering 325 square kilometres. In places, the ice can be up to 365 metres (that's 1200 feet for most of us) deep. 
It's incredible to stand on this moving surface and consider to oneself that it's equivalent to standing on a snow ball, that's as tall as the Eiffel Tower. The surrounding views as the cloud lifted were stunning.
This was the first Ice Explorer from the 1950's. Although there were some pictures of early tourists going by horse and cart. 
and at the first base station there is this exibit from later in the last century.
The current fleet.
It was a fantastic experience, VERY educational and thought provoking and afterwards we fled back to Sunwapta for a very welcome bowl of the local stew. It was SO COLD!!
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