Things To Do In Western Canada: Columbia Icefield

This is an experience of a lifetime. It was exciting, educational, and
fun.

The Icefield is a place where there are acres and acres of snow that
is hundreds of years old.

Canada has experienced four major Ice Ages. The Athabasca Glacier and
the Columbia Icefield once formed part of an enormous ice sheet that
ground and carved the landforms that you see today thou rout the Rocky
Mountains. At one time, the Athabasca Glacier flowed north to the
present site of Jasper, and joining other glaciers, moved east to the
prairies and south past Calgary. Its journey of hundreds of kilometers
took many centuries. The most recent Ice Age ended only 10,000 years
ago. Most glaciers in North America are still in retreat, as the
summers melt is greater than the winters accumulation.

An alpine icefield is formed when snow that falls on high mountain
peaks and plateaus accumulates year after year with the little summer
melt. When the snow attains a depth of about 30 meters, the bottom
layers become pressurized into ice. More snow falls on top and the
depth of ice increases, eventually overflowing into the surrounding
valleys and starts flowing downhill a glacier is born! Although most
of the Columbia Ice field is not visible from the Ice Explorer road,
its edges cap the surrounding mountains like icing on a cake.

The Athabasca Glacier us one of the many glaciers fed by the Columbia
Icefield. It is the only one that you can actually walk on. There are
tours that take you onto the glacier to walk on the ice.

When you go there, you will get a complete education on glaciers, how
they are formed, how they move and how global warming is melting them.

If you are staying in Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise, Jasper, or Calgary
you can go on a tour that will take you to the glacier via motor
coach. Or if you have a car you can drive there yourself. Just take
Icefield Parkway. If you drive yourself you will get to spend as much
time at the glacier as you want. Otherwise most of the day is spent
just getting to the glacier and coming back.

Once you get to the glacier you can pay for a ride on an Ice Explorer
to take you all the way onto the ice itself. Stand on ice that is
hundreds of years old and marvel at how amazing the view is.

If you have time, you can actually walk up the glacier for free. If we
had the time we would have loved to hire a guide and walk up to the
top of the glacier. It was already an experience we will never forget
but walking the glacier would have been even better.

The Columbia Icefield and its glaciers form a gigantic, frozen
reservoir, providing fresh, clean water for a variety of uses to
hundreds of thousands of people. It moderates local summer
temperatures and increases the severity of winter, profoundly
affecting the areas plants and animals. Icefields provide our
scientists with a frozen record of atmospheric and climatic conditions
of the past, while providing all of us with a spectacular glimpse of
what was much of North America looked like as the surface of this
continent was being shaped, tens of thousands of years ago.

Mans accelerating use of fossil fuels, destruction of the planets
forests and release of industrial gases like chlorofluorocarbons, are
causing a global warming trend, commonly called the Greenhouse effect.
This phenomenon is hastening rates of he glaciers retreat and the
icefields loss of volume.

Water now melting from ice that fell as snow up to 150 years ago, is
the purest natural water known. More recent snowfalls carries an
increasing amount of mans airborne pollutants.

Mrs. Kamadia is currently traveling the country while working as a
travel nurse. Most of her expenses are paid for and she only works 3
days a week. To learn how, visit http://www.travel-nursing-info.com

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