Canada's Glacier NPJul 14, 2011
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View from the Trans Canada Highway west of Golden
The sign for Canada's Glacier National Park
Some of the many glaciers for which the park is named.
The morning started off a little cloudy but it wasn’t raining and it showed promise of brightening up a little; so, we packed the cooler and we headed northwest bound for Glacier National Park, Canada’s Glacier NP that is.
Glacier is 521 sq. miles and the Trans Canada Highway runs right through it. It is primarily a hiking park with some other transportation and mountaineering history exhibits. But, it’s known and named for its 400 glaciers. The area receives heavy snowfalls and, combined with the steep mountainsides, it is one of the world’s most active avalanche areas. When the CPR put the Rogers Pass line through the Selkirk Mountains, they built snowsheds to protect the rail lines. Today, the TCH 1 passes through tunnels or snowsheds which protect the highway from winter avalanches.
Unfortunately, the Rogers Pass Discovery Center is still closed but the lodge was open and we had lunch there. At the summit, there is an arched monument commemorating the opening of the highway in 1962.
We took Foxy on several of the trails; she loves Canada because their National Parks allow her everywhere as long as she’s on a leash and we clean up after her….so, she was in doggy heaven. She leads the way and we follow; we all got our exercise today. The mosquitoes weren’t too bad and we didn’t need the jackets we tossed in the Jeep either.
We had a great day and enjoyed the fabulous mountain scenery in the cool, dry weather.
Weather permitting, we might do Yoho National Park tomorrow.