Day 9....Waterfalls and the Columbia Icefields

 Athabasca Falls

After spending the night in Jasper, we headed back down the Icefields Parkway on our way to the Columbia Icefields where we will take a tour out on a glacier.

First, we stopped to view a few gorgeous waterfalls along the way. 

A powerful, picturesque waterfall, Athabasca Falls is not known as much for the height of the falls (80 feet) as it is known for it's force due to the large quantity of water falling into the gorge.

The Athabasca River thunders through a narrow gorge where the walls have been smoothed and potholed by the sheer force of the rushing water carrying sand and rock.

Next we stopped at the Sunwapta Falls which were not as massive as the Athabasca Falls but just as beautiful.

The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of the Banff and Jasper National Parks. This is one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle and covers an area of 233 sq. miles and receives up to 275 inches of snow per year. The eight glaciers of the Icefield provide meltwater that eventually flows into the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

Snow Dome Mountain and the Dome Glacier from the Icefields Centre.

The summit of Snow Dome is the hydrographic apex of North America. While glaciers in the Icefields melt into different oceans, water from this point flows to three oceans. So for a snowflake drifting down onto Snow Dome, three destinations are possible. If it falls on the western side of the peak, it is headed to the Pacific. A few inches north, it's going to the frigid Arctic Ocean. A bit east, it will eventually end up in the Atlantic.

 Mount Athabasca and Sunwapta River.  Mount Andromeda is the mountain to the far right.

  The Athabasca Glacier is one of the major attractions of the Jasper National Park and is the most accessible glacier in the icefield.

To give you an idea how massive this glacier is, the two dots in the middle of the photo are two of the Snow Coaches and at the bottom of the picture you can see hikers approaching the glacier.

The Icefields Centre is across the road and this is where we start the tour.

 First we are ushered onto a bus that takes us up a lateral moraine to the staging area for the Ice Explorers.

 The Ice Explorer takes us down a very steep slope out onto the middle of the glacier.

After being warned to stay within the designated areas, we were given 20 minutes to wander around on the glacier.

It was extremely cold and the wind was fierce, I think I lasted all of about 10 minutes before I retreated back to the toasty warm bus. I could barely stay upright on that slick ice!

 Looking back to the Icefield Centre. That road doesn't look bad from here, but seriously it felt like it was straight up and down!

This glacier is approximately 3.7 miles long and covers an area of 2.3 sq miles and is 1000 feet thick! To give you an idea how deep that is, the Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet tall.

The glacier is constantly moving, like a flowing river of solid ice.

While the Athabasca Glacier is huge in size, it is slowing diminishing having receded just under a mile in the last century. At one time this area back to the road was covered by the glacier.

 The shrinking glacier has left behind a moonscape of rocky moraines. As glaciers slowly move along, they accumulate rocks, dirt, gravel and clay. As the glacier melts this debris is deposited as land formations known as moraines. There are several types of moraines. A terminal moraine is the farthest most point a glacier reached before it started it's retreat. A lateral moraine is what is pushed aside as the glacier advances and retreats.

Another view of both types of moraines.

Walking on a glacier can be very dangerous. Moulins, holes worn by melting water, spiral down into the glacier and there are deep crevasses on the glacier that are difficult to see and many people have lost their lives falling into them.

Collecting glacier water.

Apparently I'm now ten years younger because I drank glacier water. Obviously time will tell, but it's not looking promising so far.

Heading back to the Icefield Centre.

  to be continued.....

Laurel Falls

If you are looking for one of the easier hikes to a waterfall in the Smoky Mountains, this is the one for you.  Perfect for all ages this hike is 2.6 miles roundtrip on a paved trail, with a steady climb but never overly steep.



Laurel Falls is very photogenic, especially after a good rain which is why we picked this day to hike it. I have never seen it with this much volume. It was absolutely beautiful!!

The day after we returned from Mt. LeConte it poured! We were very ready for a relaxing day so we spent the morning sitting on the deck with our coffee, watching the rain come down and turn the stream........

which normally looks like this......



into this.

Lots of firewood went floating by......

and even a chair. Hope that chair wasn't occupied at the time!

After all that rain we knew this was the perfect day to hike to Laurel Falls.

Laurel Falls is located about 3.5 miles west of the Sugarlands Visitor Center on Little River Road.

This is the most popular waterfall in the park and it shows. Parking is limited so it can be very hard to find a place to park unless you get there early. We have hiked this trail several times but avoid it during peak seasons or weekends. One day we counted close to 100 cars in the lot and parked beside the road. No way would I go at a busy time like that.

It is late afternoon by the time we feel the rain has passed and when we get to the trailhead, there are only a few cars left in the parking lot. We met a few people on their way down, and by the time we reached the falls it was deserted. Just the way we like it!

This trail isn't know for it's views which are almost nonexistent except for this one spot. It's fascinating to watch the fog drifting up and down and over the ridges but we don't have time to waste. When we left town the skies were clearing but it looks like it could rain again.

The 80 foot waterfall consists of an upper and a lower section, divided by a walkway which crosses the stream at the base of the upper falls.

Another shot of the upper falls. Laurel Falls gets it's name from the mountain laurel and rhododendron that grows in abundance along the trail and overhang the falls. This hike was in September so of course it's not in bloom but here is a picture of mountain laurel from my archives.

The trails are so pretty when mountain laurel or rhododendron are in bloom.

The lower falls are harder to get a good picture of without climbing down a steep bank. I would have been tempted to try it if the rocks wouldn't have been slick from all the rain.

This is the best picture we could get of the entire waterfall. You can see the walkway that crosses the two sections.

About this time it started raining again. Not a gentle light rain either. I'm talking downpour!! It was a very wet hike back to the car but it was worth the hike to see the falls.

Western North Carolina Waterfalls

We had a great ten day vacation to the Smoky Mountains and while it's good to be home, I'm missing the mountains already.
One thing I wanted to do on this trip was visit Cataloochee on the North Carolina side, so we stayed in Waynesville one night. But before we went to Cataloochee we wanted to find some waterfalls in the area.

Western North Carolina is home to hundreds of waterfalls and I could spend a lifetime trying to see them all, but since we only had a few hours before we wanted to go to Cataloochee we needed to find some that didn't require a lot of hiking to get to them.

Soco Falls

Our first stop was a beautiful double waterfall located just off of US Highway 19 between Maggie Valley and Cherokee on the Qualla Boundary.

Soco Falls

This waterfall is located only several hundred feet off the road but unless you know where the pull-off is you would drive right past it.

Some cascades at Soco Falls.

This waterfall in Graveyard Fields can be viewed from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

View at the highest elevation on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Devils Courthouse

According to the sign at the overlook:

"The bare rock profile named Devil's Courthouse is sinister in appearance and legend. It's "devilish" look has contributed to the many folk tales surrounding this mountain. Within the mountain is a cave where, legend claims, the devil holds court. In Cherokee lore, this cave is the private dancing chamber and dwelling place of the slant-eyed giant, Judaculla.
Despite its name and reputation, Devil's Courthouse is home to rare and delicate high-altitude plants. If you walk the one-half-mile route to the summit, please stay on the trail. Rare plants, like the Rock Gnome Lichen and the Spreading Avens, live on Devil's Courthouse. Some of these alpine species may be remnants from the last glacial period. The panoramic view from the summit includes four states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee."

Looking Glass Rock

The name "Looking Glass" is derived from it's appearance when rainwater freezes on it's surface and reflects the sun like a mirror.

The following waterfalls are located in Transylvania County known as "Land of Waterfalls" for a good reason. There are 250 waterfalls located here amidst the mountains. These were all within a few miles of each other and very easy to get to.

Looking Glass Falls

 At 60 feet, Looking Glass Falls is one of the most spectacular falls in the area.  Located right next to the road on Highway 276 in the Pisgah National Forest makes it very accessible for everyone.

Moore Cove Falls

Just north of Looking Glass Falls are the Moore Cove Falls. This was a short hike of less than a mile and had I known how little water there was, I probably would have skipped it. The falls flow over an overhanging bluff and you can walk behind the falls. These would be viewed best after a good rain.

I loved the stone bridge at the Moore Cove trailhead though.

Sliding Rock Falls

Not far from the other two falls is Sliding Rock so named because.........

visitors can slide all the way down the waterfall and plunge into the pool below.

Eleven thousand gallons of water flow down over this rock every minute. There is a one dollar per person fee to get in here.

Mingo Falls

I'll include this waterfall here because it is located close to Cherokee but this photo is one from a previous year.

Years ago we found a side trail up to the top of these falls and found another set of falls further back in the woods and I've always wanted to go back and find those again. That will have to go on my to-do list for a future trip.