ROCKY MOUNTAINS from CANADA to WYOMING the Rocky Mountain Range of North America Forms the Cordilleran Backbone of the Great
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ROCKY MOUNTAINS FROM CANADA TO WYOMING Swiftcurrent Lake and East Glacier sunrise The Rocky Mountain range of North America forms the cordilleran backbone of the great uplands that dominates the west, and extends from northern Alberta and British Columbia southward to New Mexico, a distance of some 3,000 miles (4,800 km). Differing in subranges, the rockies still share the physical attributes of high elevations with many peaks exceeding 13,000 feet [4,000 metres] elevation and great local relief (typically 5,000 to 7,000 feet in vertical difference between the base and summit of ranges. In contrast to the coastal ranges, the sedimentary formations form spectacular scenery from past glaciation and volcanic activity. Central to the Canadian Rockies, the Columbia Icefield is situated on the continental divide at elevations between 10,000 to 13,000 feet (3,000 to 4,000 metres). It includes the large Athabasca Glacier, which is nearly five miles long and about a mile wide. The Canadian Rockies originate a several large rivers including the Columbia, Fraser, the Missouri and Mackenzie, and equally divided flowing east (Atlantic and Arctic oceans) and west (Pacific Ocean). There is a vast forested and tundra ecosystem within the Canadian and Montana/Wyoming Rocky Mountain Range. There are ten forested zones , and in more southern, warmer, or drier areas are defined by the presence of pinyon pine/juniper, ponderosa pine, or oak mixed with pine. In more northern, colder, or wetter areas, zones are defined by Douglas firs, western hemlock, lodgepole pines/quaking aspens, or fir mixed with spruce. Near tree line, most trees that dominate are whitebark or bristlecone pine, or a mixture of white pine, fir, and spruce that appear as shrub-like krummholz. These zones are an important habitat for a great deal of wildlife that include large ungulates such as elk, moose, mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, badger, black and grizzly bear, coyotes, lynx, wolf and wolverine.North America's largest herds of moose is in the Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests. I first began exploring Glacier Park with my parents in 1962 as a teenager. My father loved to hike, and I remember our first guided hike to Grinnell Glacier along the Garden Wall. We not only viewed several grizzlies up close, but also saw a wolverine running near us across the glacier. I returned many years later, climbing and hiking throughout the park. My first trip into the Canadian Rockies was in 1968 after graduating from the University of Washington in Forest Science, anticipating a Vietnam War draft notice. I spent a month solo hiking into Mt Robson and Robson Lake, then the Tonquin Valley in Jasper National park, and worked my way south into Banff and Jasper. The Rockies in summer are always subject to fierce changes in weather, and both areas I was hit by snowstorms in late August. Since that time, I attempted to summit Mt Robson, and Mt Assiniboine, but failed because of weather. Since my early climbing and hiking in the Canadian and Montana Rockies, I have returned many times exploring and bringing my children from the time they were young to the Kananaskis, helicoptering in to both Berg Lake in Mt Robson where I had hiked decades before, Magog Lake on Mt Assiniboine, Yoho, Banf, Jasper, and filming mountain caribou in the Tonquin Valley. It is a dramatic landscape that always draws me back, with wildlife that is an attraction around the world. GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA Top Logan Pass and Hidden lake, bottom Logan pass Top Grinell Glacier Hike from Swiftcurrent lake, Bottom: Sperry glacier from summit of nearby peak Hidden Lake Logan Pass Beargrass Liliaceae flowering in meadows at Logan Pass, Bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis Garden Wall Haystack Middle: mountain goat nanny and young, Bottom:black bear, grizzly bear, moose KANASKIS AND MT ASSINIBOINE PROVINCIAL PARK Ethan and I Magog Lake Mt Assinoiboine Mt Assiniboine from Windy Ridge by Ethan Boehm Top Ethan and I helicoptered in to Assiniboine 2011, Bottom, Several climbing attempts Mt Assiniboine 1981, 1972 Ethan towards Wonder Pass, Mt Assiniboine Mt President, Yoho national Park, Trilobite, Burgess Shales, Yoho National Par, porcupine, me 1981 Assiniboine KANANASKIS Ethan at Burstall Pass, Kananaskis Kananaskis and the partial mountain bike then hike to Burstall Pass 2006 with Clara and Ethan Bustall Pass and Mt Sir Douglas accessed through the Chester lake trailhead Kananaskis campground Banff national Park Paintbrush, lupine, Canadian dogwood Cornus spp, Ladyslipper orchid Mt Robson JASPER NATIONAL PARK Middle: \Waterfalls below Sunwapta Pass, Lower:Athabasca River outside of Jasper Flicker, Water ouzel nest Rufous hummingbird nest, Chestnut backed chicadee Tonguin Valley approach Ethan and I in 2014 Moutain Caribou, part of the Tonquin valley herd down to only 70 animals from several hundred 20 years ago. ‘ Grizzly bear predation and in both summer and winter wolf predation taking toll on Mountain caribou population Mountain caribou above Tonquin Lake, Amethyst Peaks of the Rampart Range Kalmia spp, Indian Paintbrush Scrophulariaceae, Astor Compisitae family Amethyst lake and the Rampart Range accessed by trails from Mt Edith Cavell, and Portal Creek Marmot Basin Rd Top: rainbow trout spawning that attracts grizzly bear; Bottom: Rampart Range 1972 my second trip after graduate School. MT ROBSON PROVINCIAL PARK BC Pass and approach to Robson Pass, glacier view to the east of Tatel Ridge, a day hike from Robson Pass camp Mt Robson and Robson Glacier with Philip in the foreground and Robson Glacier Top: moose, pine marten, Columbian ground squirrel, Golden mantled ground squirrel, Middle: Pasque flower meadows, Ranuculaceaes, Bottom: blue bells campanula spp, heath meadows Bottom photos Robson falls by Philip Boehm .