Tag Archives: Bow River

“Pic of the Week”, April 23, 2021: Crowfoot Glacier, Banff National Park

Crowfoot Glacier is located in Banff National Park, off the Icefields Parkway, about 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Lake Louise. This hanging glacier rests on Crowfoot Mountain, with Bow Lake nearby (see photo below). Its meltwater drains into Bow Lake, then on down the Bow River and ultimately to Hudson’s Bay.
The glacier was originally named for its appearance of three claw-like ‘toes’. The glacier has retreated since the end of the Little Ice Age and lost one ‘toe’ by the 1940s, but the name remains.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)

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Karl on Apr 22, 2021 | Comments Off

Prince’s Island: A popular Urban Park in Calgary

Karl on Mar 17, 2021 with Comments Off

One of the most popular places in Calgary during the (all too few) warm summer months is Prince’s Island Park. The park occupies an island in the Bow River and is situated immediately north of downtown Calgary. It’s open from sunrise to sunset (5 am to 11 pm). Several pedestrian bridges provide park access from downtown.
Prince’s Island Park was named after Peter Prince, who moved from Quebec to Calgary in 1886. Mr. Prince founded the Eau Claire Lumber Mill, and formed the Calgary Water Power Company to provide hydroelectricity to the city. Prince’s Island Park was developed as a community park after the Prince family sold the land to the city in 1947, resulting in the development of a …

Tagged Bow River, Calgary, Park, Prince's Island Park

“Pic of the Week”, April 26, 2019: Downtown Calgary

Returning to Calgary from Whitehorse (17)

I’ve always thought Calgary had a pretty skyline — and I’m not alone in that opinion as it’s been featured in several movies. Rising from the prairies, a modern city that seems to be optimistic about its future.

Downtown Calgary is about 12 miles southwest of Calgary International Airport, so you often see it as you fly into the city. Usually it’s too dark or I’m sitting on the wrong side of the plane or there’s some other reason not to pull out my cell phone and snap some photos, but recently the conditions were perfect.

My plane approached downtown from the west, looped south of downtown, then to the east and north up to the airport. From my seat in the …

Karl on Apr 25, 2019 | Comments Off

“Pic of the Week”, January 25, 2019: Bow Valley Provincial Park

Alberta has a fine network of provincial parks (analogous to American state parks). One of these is situated just east of the Alberta Rocky mountains on the banks of the Bow River as it makes its way from Banff to Calgary and ultimately to Hudson’s Bay.

The park has several campgrounds which are very popular during the summer months. It provides excellent access to Banff and Canmore, and is also not that far from Calgary. The park also offers some easy hiking trails that provide a nice way to explore the terrain of the Rocky mountain foothills.

We parked at Middle Lake and explored many of the trails in the area — Middle Lake, Moraine and …

Karl on Jan 24, 2019 | Comments Off

“Pic to the Week” Bonus. Bow River flooding in Calgary

This past week the Canadian Rocky Mountains were hit by severe rains, up to 8 inches (20 cm) in a day, that on top of a melting snow pack in the high alpine areas. This resulted in severe floods in Southern Alberta the likes of which no one can remember. Some say that in 1932 it might have been as bad, but this seems to be “the flood of a century”.

Canmore, gateway to Banff and the Canadian Rockies, was especially hit hard. The town is still to a large extent isolated because the Trans-Canada Highway coming and leaving the town is closed at both ends because of flooding and damage. Calgary was also hit with the flooding of the Bow …

Karl on Jun 22, 2013 | 5 Comments