The Columbia Icefields ... Where Have They Gone?

Leaving Jasper on our way to the Columbia Icefields in Banff National Park, south of Jasper National Park, practically right on the border.  Notice the amount of snow and ice in the peaks now?

Hubby stands next to the marker indicating where the glacier sat in 1982.  There is still quite a hike up the mountain to where the glacier rests now in 2013.

Still hiking upwards....

Here we are at the base of the field.  The dark mass in the above photo is part of the glacier.  

Here is where the glacier rests now in 2013.  It was mighty cold and windy up there!

The area is roped off so visitors cannot walk on the glacier.  It is far too dangerous to do so now as there is a river running beneath it and a small lake forming at the foot thereof.

This is the Athabasca Glacier.  It is one of six in the Columbia Icefield.  This glacier recedes at the rate of two to three metres per year.

This is what global warming looks like.  How does it affect you to see it up close?  To see how it has receded just over the last two decades is phenomenal!!  It's rather frightening.  The very first marker indicating where the glacier once sat is at the road's edge.  Now one must hike 1.5 kms up from where it sat 125 years ago.