Dennis Dixon is heading West!: 2021 Fall Trip - Day 17

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021 - Excellent boating (Maligne Lake Cruise), driving (Icefields Parkway), and hiking (Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail) day today:

Got up - showered, shaved, and shined. Grabbed a cup of coffee in downtown Jasper, and headed down the road for my 9 AM Maligne Lake Cruise. Now-a-days (for me), this "travel stuff" can get pretty complicated:

First, decide on a destination/activity - for right now, that was having "Maligne Lake Cruise" pop-up on my radar-screen. It looked REALLY COOL!!

Second, purchase a ticket. I did that on July 25 - 7 weeks ahead of time.

Third, receive your ticket. Once-upon-a-time you were mailed your ticket (a physical piece of paper which they printed). You then put the ticket in your travel papers, and pulled it out and gave it to the appropriate person at the appropriate time [DOESN'T THAT SOUND SO LAUGHABLY QUAINT!]. These days, I receive an email confirmation. It gets confusing because

a) your ticket may be attached, which you then have to either print or show on your mobile device. If you print it, put it in your travel papers, ... If you have to show it on your mobile device, you better take a screenshot on your phone, because the venue's wifi might not be working, and there may not be a whole lot of internet/cell service in the Canadian Rockies.

b) your ticket may be your email confirmation. see a) above.

c) there is no "ticket" - just show up and tell them your confirmation # and name.

Without doing a lot of telephone-time/email-exchanges, I don't know the exact lay-of-the-land, and it does create a little stress right up until they say "Go right ahead, Mr. Dixon."

Anyway, I got there by 9 AM, gave them my confirmation # and name, and they had me. Since I was the only one on the 9 AM boat, they bumped me to 9:15. Worked Great:

We had a nice ride down the Lake, with the driver slowing down for kayaks and canoes. There were clouds overhead, but sometimes the lighting was pretty cool:

The mountains were awesome, but the highlight is "Spirit Island" - as we approached the island, a rainbow appeared:

and then we were allowed onshore to explore and take pictures:

Back in the boat, the views were still pretty awesome:

We headed back up the lake:

and were all done by about 11.

It was nice seeing Medicine Lake on my way back up to Jasper:

got a cup of coffee in Jasper, and by noon I was heading down the Icefields Parkway:

I've been on this road a few times before, and there was nothing I needed to stop and take pictures of - HA, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!

I was kind-of running out of time, but I really wanted to see Lake O'Hara, primarily because John Singer Sargent painted it back in 1916 (the Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA):

Unfortunately, the road is blocked for "private vehicles" - the only way to get up to Lake O'Hara Lodge, where the Lake is at the end of the road, is to make reservations for the bus that drives you up from the parking lot just off the highway. A planning detail that had escaped my attention.

So I left the parking lot and drove up to Lake Louise to hike the Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail:

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Lake Louise is pretty spectacular.

The Trail is 3 parts. The first is flat alongside The Lake:

The second part, going from the top of The Lake up to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House, is a good uphill climb. You keep going up, and the veiws keep getting better: