Cavell Meadows August 27, 2013 Day 3

Now it was time to head into Jasper National Park and north of there to hang out for a few days.  First things first though, of course I have to get another hike in and today it would be the Cavell Meadows Loop with my friend that I ran into yesterday at Parker Ridge.  I left my home away from home just before 7:00 am.  It was almost a three hour drive and during that time, I passed through every kind of weather forecast possible.

Yes, to have a rainbow there had to have been rain and boy oh boy was there!  I had been once again feeling unmotivated by seeing the rainbow, I knew there would have to be a pot of gold.  I had faith and carried on.  

We met at the parking lot, shared some pleasantries, geared up and took off.  I already had a change of attitude and was glad I had a friend to share the day with, otherwise I may have cut it short and went on with my day elsewhere.  We passed by the glacial lake formed from the melting ice.  It is not the prettiest snow but still there is something about it that left me in awe. 

Angel Glacier

View from the trail as we approached the first high point.

We reached the first high point on the Loop of Cavell Meadows where we could see the glacier and the lake.  Every now and then we could hear rock fall and ice collapse.  We stopped here for our lunch and while dining.......

.....we were witness to another rainbow.....

I had that sense we were at our pot of gold.

This was a sight worth framing so my friend and I did our best.

We managed to frame the lake perfectly but we were a little off with Angel Glacier.

Just part way through the loop and a plan to complete it all, we packed up and carried on.  

The going got steeper and the views got even more amazing.  

We reached the summit of the Loop and here we were eye level with Angel Glacier and you can see the lake looking tiny near the middle bottom.  It was bitterly cold and wildly windy here so once we got our summit shots we began the descent.

We climbed up over the boulders for a closer up view of the glacial lake.  

a pair of baby marmots

Mother marmot

I appreciated being able to check out this area today.  We are not sure how long the opportunity to explore here will be open.  The glacier is disappearing at what seems to be a rapid pace.  Last year a large portion broke off and created devastation.  Parks people are still working at restoring what they can.  We do take our chance venturing into here.  All that being said, it truly is a spectacular space of territory on this earth.