Rocky mountain high

Even if you’re prepared for it, the approach to Mt. Robson is dramatic.

 The highway winds for hours following the North Thompson River northwest, slowly 

gaining altitude, then crosses the high Frasier River valley and climbs into the Rockies. The grade is gentle, the scenery is outstanding, around a valley curve and you’re suddenly face to face with the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The drama is not only the height but the thousands of meters of sheer  rock face presented, striated with layers of granite and permanently capped with glacial ice .

We remind ourselves how this granite wall finds itself two miles above sea level: Sediment settles on a warm shallow seabed near the equator (200 to 500 million years ago) Time passes as the layers thicken and are compressed into rock. The tectonic plate drifts north and crashes into another; a slow motion geologic train wreck.  Layers of granite are bent, twisted and thrust upward with force hard to imagine. The whole continent is covered with an ice shield a few times over a few million years. Glaciers grind, rivers scour, ice melts, vegetation moves in and here we have, Rocky Mountains.

We walk along the trail following the Robson River 

up to Lake Kinney. It’s is a warm summer day, sunlight sprinkles on the fern, lighting patches of the forest floor .

 The water is green and milky from glacial flour (ground up mountain). Rivers are usually said to “run”. This one leaps, bounds, tumbles and sprints as it drains the north face of Mt. Robson and surrounding mountains. The roar it makes is a direct reminder of the force involved. Water is the shaper. Tilted, twisted tectonic plates would probably be interesting by themselves, but the wearing  and shaping of water gives a magical finishing touch. And it all starts with vapor.

Sometimes invisible and sometimes a cloud carried high over the passes, the energy   vapor carries is the molds the mountains. Condensing and freezing, a snowflake comes to rest on a peak; hardly a threat. Yet when trillions of them gang up to form a glacier   they can literally gouge  valleys  , grinding granite into, yes, flour; and the fun has just begun. Thawing and freezing  water cracks and  tears the rock apart and a final thaw sends the water pouring down the valleys, carrying glacial silt, sand , pebbles and boulders. Slowly the land changes. What we see is a work in progress. In fact the mountain range will eventually be torn down (and re-built). We find it today in a very nice state… and are appreciative.

The highway signs warn “high mountain road, weather can change suddenly”.  We disregard this and head off walking on a 4 mile loop around a marshy, wildlife  preserve It’s sunny, warm and dry; the sky nearly cloudless

 

We hear the first roll of thunder about half way around. The rain starts about a mile from the car (where the raincoats are). The raindrops are large, but we reach the car without getting soaked. We get the point though, a gentle slap on the wrist. “Leave on no hike without the raincoats” We knew that didn’t we?

You might notice the parkas, in August. It's turned cold, but warmth and sunshine are promised in a couple of days.