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Below: The journey on the
Glacier Adventure started at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery
Centre where the two RV Gypsies boarded a shuttle and traveled towards
the Athabasca Glacier. As the glaciated terrain became more rugged,
everyone transferred to the snowcoach. Karen Duquette took photos out
the side window of the snowcoach. |
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Below: Along the way, the
driver shared information about glaciers and ice fields and their impact
on our environment. Even the dirt area is actually part of the glacier.
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The red arrow in the photo below is pointing to the RV and toad of the two RV Gypsies in the parking lot of the Icefield Centre, as seen from the traveling snowcoach. |
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Below: The dots seen on the 'road'
in the photo below are snowcoaches. |
Below: One snowcoach in the dust
and one on the 'road' ahead. |
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Below: Alongside the snowcoach
path, Karen Duquette photographed a small, slow moving river of ice
that goes 30 stories deep. WOW! |
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Below: Time for the two
RV Gypsies to exit the snowcoach
and walk on the glacier. |
Below: Lee Duquette made some new friends.
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Below; The two RV Gypsies
head for the water flowing down the bank of the Glacier. |
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Below: Karen Duquette did
not bring her water bottle with her to refill with the pure glacial
water that was flowing by in rivulets, so she decided to cup her hands
and get a few sips of the water anyway. She had to be careful not to
fall into the crevice while reaching for the water. |
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Below: The water tasted
great, but almost froze Karen Duquette's hand off. |
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Below: A close
up of the water as it reached the crevice area, and the water on the
floor of the glacier. |
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BEWARE: There were people
everywhere. Suddenly there was a bit of a commotion because a hole opened
up where a lady had stepped. When her friends helped her get her leg
out of the hole, her sneaker was still in the hole. So someone reached
down into the hole to get the sneaker for her. She dumped the water
out of the sneaker and had to wear it again. Bet her foot was frozen
for real! |
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Below: Lee Duquette and
the Canadian Flag. |
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Below; Karen Duquette's
foot sank into a small hole as she was holding the Canadian flag, but
she moved quickly enough not to get trapped in the hole like the other
lady did. |
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Below: Another area with
water flowing down into a crevice. This water was flowing faster and
wider than the other section. |
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Karen Duquette had a harder
time reaching for a drink of water this time. |
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Time for Karen Duquette
to get back on the snowcoach. |
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Below: View from the side window
of the snowcoach. |
Below: One dot on the 'road' ahead
- another snowcoach. |
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Below; Karen Duquette stuck
the camera out the small opening in the side window to get photos of
the snowcoaches. |
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Glacier Definition: Glaciers
form where more snow falls in the winter than melts each summer. As
the snow get thicker and heavier, it compacts into dense glacial ice
that slowly flows downhill, like a river of taffy. Water flows to three
different oceans from this area, known as a hydrological apex. On the
British Columbia side of the icefield, meltwater flows into the Columbia
River and eventually into the Pacific Ocean. On the Alberta side, the
North Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers feed into the Atlantic Ocean
and Arctic Ocean, respectively. These rivers provide fresh drinking
water for millions of people and are crucial to agriculture and countless
ecosystems. That is why their source is protected in a national park. |
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