Canadian Rockies - Personal TOP 10

In summer 2010 we went hiking in the Canadian Rockies. We stayed in a small town in Yoho National Park, but also visited Banff National Park and the south edge of Jasper National Park.
Although this vacation was my first big vacation with the DSLR camera (kind of my rookie vacation ^^), the landscape pictures are some of my favorites and probably will be for a long time. The nature in the Canadian Rockies was stunningly beautiful and we were mostly lucky with the weather. Since we traveled in the end of June, there was still snow and ice in high elevations, while the lakes in the valleys turned a beautiful turquoise through the minerals they received from the snow melt.
Below are my TOP 10 favorite landscape pictures of our vacation.

Here we go:

Lake Agnes, up on the mountain above Lake Louise and right on the state border of Alberta and British Columbia. I love the partially frozen surface of the lake and the green color of the water underneath. On the right you can see a steep mountain ascent with a quite challenging alpine hike. In the background is a warm and comfortable tea house.

A panorama photo shot from the Banff Skywalk. In the foreground you can see a valley with the city of Banff, surrounded by mountain ranges on both sides. In the background is the western end of Lake Minnewanka. The sheer vastness of this open landscape is still breathtaking when I look at this picture.

This photo shows the opposite side of the Banff Skywalk. One can see the bow river and the mountain range called Sawback. Strong contrast in the clouds on the left and a warm split toning give this picture a fairytale, Lord-of-the-Ring-ish atmosphere.

A panorama shot from an elevation above Lake O'Hara. The hike from Lake O'Hara up to Oesa Lake has truly been the best hike of my life so far. The trail was very diverse and the multitude of panoramic views left a strong impression of beauty and serenity.

This picture shows Lake O'Hara from ground elevation. Unfortunately it was quite windy and the ripples on the surface prevented a nice reflection of the mountains in the background. Nevertheless, Lake O'Hara showed it's sunny side in this picture.

A beautiful view of Emerald Lake with a near still surface showing reflections of Mt. Burgess and neighboring mountains. Behind the trees you can see Lake Emerald Lodges with a nice restaurant which had a delicious wildlife platter.

One of my absolute favorites is the view of the Icefield Parkway, a long road with plenty of stunning vistas and touristic sites. In this picture you can see the far reaching fingers of Mt. Saskatchewan on the right and Mt. Cirrus on the left. The shape of the slopes clearly shows how glaciers ate their way through the landscape in ancient times.

 

Our destination were the Columbia Icefields, more specifically the Athabasca Glacier. The glacier can be accessed by foot during a guided tour, or by a specialized passenger transport vehicle, a so called "snow coach". Don't be fooled by the small appearance of the glacial tongue in between the moraines: we were told the ice is as deep as the Paris Eiffel Tower.

Located off Icefield Parkway is one of the most scenic vistas the Canadian Rockies have to offer.  A view of Lake Peyto. When we arrived back in the guest house on this evening and I realized that I had forgotten to use the circular polarizing filter (which cancels out the bright reflections of sunlight in the lake surface) I was really mad at myself. What a rookie mistake! The picture is one of my strong favorites nevertheless.

Needless to say, the next day I had my circular polarizing filter ready. On our last day we had a short hike around Moraine Lake which had a bright and lively turquoise color.