In a 'Blue' mood – Banff and Jasper

No, not sad at all; quite the opposite – Blue is actually my favorite color. Our vacation included Montana's Glacier National Park, but that part was cut shorter due to the huge fire there, burning over 4,000 acres. We could only see parts of the GNP that were open. Luckily, Banff and Jasper, also in the plan, more than made up for that loss. It was as if an accomplished painter had decided to do this whole area of the Canadian Rockies as an exploration of the Blue. Blue of the sky, blue of the water, blue of sky in the water and sky blue borrowed by the mountains so they could participate in the exhibition! So many shades of the blue unfolding – powder blue, sky blue, navy blue, grey blue, azure, aquamarine, sapphire, turquoise, purple and shades that I don’t even have names for.

This was also about driving – my other love! This was really the first major foray on the Canadian roads (previous Toronto and Vancouver were quick hops compared with the 2,600 KM – yeah, this is the metric Canada, man!) this time – and must say they are excellent! Often they reminded me of Alaska, partly because of the constant companion mountains. But mainly because of the vast open landscape – which even by American standards appears humongous! Montana prides itself as the ‘big sky’ state, but just across the border we saw what real big sky looks like.

And then, there were glaciers, more than we could count, small and large, on most mountains. We had seen huge glaciers in Alaska – but they were often farther away and seen mainly from the boat tours. Here it was glaciers galore! Our constant companion during the drive – one we even climbed up to for an up close and personal look. They call them ‘rivers of ice’ – surely for the quirky contradiction in the flowing motion implied in a river against the frozen immobile nature of the ice. It seems particularly whimsical when you think that these can be hundreds of feet deep.

Finally, there were the lakes! The beautiful, breathtaking lakes formed by the melting glaciers – they are something to gaze at – absolutely crystal clear water that absorbs all the blue of the sky and green of the trees and turns into an amazing colorful display better than either one of them.

Lots of driving, lots of hiking... and lots of nature – not to my heart's content, but enough to recharge the battery.