Beautiful Bow Lake in Canada

Image 1: Bow Lake in fall, Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

On vacation, I always want the weather to be great for photos, but nature doesn't always cooperate.  On the fall day in late September when I went past Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Canada, the day was gray with swirling clouds and light snow.

Image 2: Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

The view was still beautiful, despite the clouds.  A light snow had dusted the mountains, accentuating the textures of the mountains' rocks and the large talus (rock debris) piles.  In winter, or a heavy snow, the mountain would be mostly white.  Without snow, the rock's textures are less pronounced.

Image 3: Bow Lake Alberta Canada

My photos from that day show an atmospheric and somewhat dreamy mountain and reflection.  The clouds moved below the mountain tops and the light changed from time to time as the sun tried to peek through.  The misty shot makes the mountain look deceptively small - the tiny band of green trees on the other side of the lake are forests of tall towering evergreen trees.

Image 4: Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

The snow emphasized the huge talus piles across the lake.  If I had ideas to go climbing (I don't), the huge amount of talus makes me think climbing here would be super dangerous.  Canadian Highway 93 has pull-off spots, from where some of these photos were taken.  Avalanche warnings are posted all along Highway 93.  These tall peaks seem to be crumbly.  We walked on some minor areas of talus, making me think that walking on the other side of the lake would not be my idea of safe.   

Image 5: Paddle boarding in the Mountains

A lucky opportunity allowed my daughter to paddle board on Bow Lake.

Image 6: Paddle boarding on Bow Lake

She wasn't dressed for paddle boarding, but she's skilled enough to know she was unlikely to fall into the icy water; and what to do if she did fall into the water.  (So don't try this on your own!)  If you look closely at the large version of her photo, you will notice it is lightly snowing.  Considering my daughter was paddle boarding in the mountains, while it was snowing, over icy cold water, I perhaps should have been more worried than I was.

Image 7: A favorite shot - Miranda Paddle boarding in the Mountains

She said looking in the water's reflection from the middle of the lake was stunning, something she'll never forget.  I can only imagine it - mountains and clouds reflected below, all around, and the real mountains rising up in front of her.  The lake was mirror smooth, but the camera caught more ripple detail, in the same way camera's can capture drops of water in a splash or waterfall that normally our eyes would not see.

Image 8: Bow Lake Alberta Canada

The photos above and below show the mirror-like lake reflection I remember from most of the day.  Bow Lake is known for the fantastic reflection of the mountain faces behind it.  When you stand on near the shore, the mountain's reflection seems to fill the lake.  The lake has intense blue-green water in the right light conditions, which sometimes adds subtle color to the reflection.

Image 9: Bow Lake Alberta Canada

The picture below was taken very near Bow Lake.  For a moment the sun started to break through the clouds, and I snapped "a cool sight".  But a camera can't capture the range of vision our eyes can see, and so the clouds are are grayer in the photo, the sun was blinding white, and the mountains and snow were less monochrome.  This photo only gives a memory of the moment.  But I included it here anyway. 

Image 10: Sun poking Through Clouds

Background notes:
Bow Lake is located in Alberta Canada's large Banff National Park.  Bow Lake is about 60 miles (95 km) North of the City of Banff along Highway 93, or 25 miles (40km) north of Lake Louise.

Image 11: Bow Lake Alberta Canada in Fall

Here in Wisconsin, we just had a real snow storm and very cold sub zero weather (below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), and it seems to be cold across much of the USA, so Stay Warm!

Click on the images to see them enlarged.

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