2020 AUGUST 26 —
Our first stop was the Columbia Ice Fields. I had been here about 20 years ago and was excited to be back and to see if I could see the retreat of the glacier edge. Glaciers are formed when accumulating snow packs form into dense ice under its own weight. Considering it can snow up to 3 metres with the average yearly temperature only about 2 degrees Celsius, any precipitation has a good chance of condensing. Gravity causes it to slide sloooowwwly down the mountain, and into warmer weather. As it slides down the mountain it picks up rocks. The rocks, along with the weight of the ice, grind against the ground and cause gouges called striations.
The descending glacier also pushes rocks and debris out of its way like a giant bulldozer. These rocks are pushed to the side of the glacier and create huge valley walls called lateral moraines.
A lot of mountain lakes are actually water trapped in an extinct glacier moraine. The Columbia Ice Fields is also a hydrological apex, any glacial melt flows in three directions and onto three oceans – Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic.
Climate change has the glacier retreating about 5 metres per year. In the last 100 years it has retreated 1.5 km. In fact, the glacier used to sit where the interpretive centre is now. Glaciers have grown and shrunk many times over the past 250,000 years. At one point most of Canada was covered by glaciers. The last significant mini-ice-age was between 1840 and 1860. The Athabasca Glacier was 2 km longer than it is today. So maybe there is still hope that it will grow again – bearing in mind it will feel like Hell has frozen over for us humans. The glacier is currently approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) long, covers an area of 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi), and is measured to be between 90–300 metres (300–980 ft) thick.
We stopped at the Interpretive Centre, only to find it closed due to Covid. I had been on one of the tour buses that took tourists onto the glacier on my first visit and wanted to experience it again. However, only a month ago a tour bus rolled off the top of the moraine, killing 3 and critically injuring 24. All bus tours were shut down pending investigation. So basically, we were left with a bathroom break and the gift shop. We had the option of going out on the Glacier Skywalk – a glass walkway that loops out over a valley. Tickets were only $40 each, but we chose not to go. In hindsight, with Covid still wrecking havoc on everyone’s life, going forward, I think I will opt for EVERY opportunity that presents itself. So many things that we thought we could do any time, are no longer available. Who knows when things will go back to normal? Many shops, restaurants and other attractions have already closed their doors for good. With no revenue for 6 months, they were unable to survive.
As we were leaving the Interpretive Centre, I decided that I wanted to walk up to the glacier edge. We crossed the highway, I put on my down-filled jacket, grabbed my walking sticks and headed up the trail while Ed took a nap in the car. It was about a kilometer to the top. It didn’t seem steep, but once at the top I realized just how far one can see.
There is a looped path, barricaded by a rope, to walk along to get to the glacier edge. Signs stress to stay on the path because of hidden sinkholes. I met a fellow who was taking pictures with a very professional looking camera. He told me if I ever have the opportunity to come back at night, do it! He said one can see the Milky Way moving over the glacier in crystal clarity. Perhaps when the Lodge reopens it would be a great holiday idea.
Walking up the trail, there were signs with a year, depicting where the glacier edge was in that particular year. As I neared the glacier I saw a sign that said 2006, with the glacier several metres away. When I was here in 2000 I actually walked on the edge of the ice. How times have changed!
We also stopped at Stutfield Glacier for a photo op.
An Old Lady with a Backpack 
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