The atmosphere in Phoenix City is like a rainbow: The Sixth Journey of the Rocky Mountains – The Ten Thousand Years Icefield

The atmosphere in Phoenix City is like a rainbow: The Sixth Journey of the Rocky Mountains – The Ten Thousand Years Icefield. On the early morning of the fifth day, the tour bus left Huanghuang Town, and the tour guide Lao Xie announced that he had officially entered the Rocky Mountains,…

Phoenix City is like a rainbow: Roaming in the Rocky Mountains Part 6 - The Ten Thousand Years Icefield. On the morning of the fifth day, the tour bus left Golden Town, and the tour guide Lao Xie announced that it had officially entered the Rocky Mountains. There were towering mountains on both sides of the road, overlapping each other, and the peaks were connected. The tops of the mountains towered into the clouds, covered with white snow, and the rocks between the walls were firm, rugged, and majestic. I grew up in subtropical Vietnam. Half a century later, I immigrated to the United States and lived in the desert state of Arizona. I am accustomed to hot weather, warm-hearted and enthusiastic, and have rarely been in severe cold areas. The coldest time was when I traveled to the Grand Canyon during Thanksgiving a few years ago and experienced the biting cold wind. Another time I took China Airlines back to Vietnam and stopped in Alaska in the middle of the night to drop off passengers. It must have been the coldest situation, but we didn't get off the plane. We just sat in the cabin and saw the snow everywhere outside. During this trip to the Rocky Mountains, I experienced firsthand the joy of being surrounded by mountain lakes and the endurance of being attacked by the cold currents of ice and snow. The tour guide kept talking about the scenic spots visited today, which is an important part of the trip. It is like the theme of the drama "playing meat", which is the most exciting. Everyone is reminded to appreciate it carefully. First, we went to the Rockies National Park, which is not very large. Everyone got off the car and watched the famous Natural Bridge, which is where the Kicking Horse River flows. Watch the fast-flowing river violently wash away the rocks, forming holes in the bottom layer and expanding them. It looks like two connected stone bridges on top. The state is magical. The riverside area is full of green pines and beautiful scenery. It is said that when the Indians first came here, they were attracted by the wonders and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Yo! Ho!" So it was called Yoo National Park. Going further is Peyto Lake, with high terrain, deep water and bright color, like the beauty of sapphire, dazzling. At noon, the tour group finally arrived at the Columbia Icefields. Wow! It was the first time I saw ice and snow, and the first time I experienced the cold frozen world. This location is on the ridge at the junction of two national parks, Banff and Jasper. It is a primitive land covered by ice and snow for thousands of years! The tour guide first let us enter the tourist service center to solve the problem of urination and defecation and have lunch at our own expense. There is also a commodity store. To my surprise, in this almost Arctic ice field, there are Cantonese compatriots serving guests in the dining area, and the menu also includes Vietnamese beef noodles, ha! For me, who doesn’t understand English and eats little Western food, it’s very comfortable. After lunch, we boarded a bus provided by the visitor center and took us along the Icefields Parkway to a higher concentration point, where there was a huge modern icefield snowmobile to pick us up. It was not in the form of a tank chain in front of the visitor service center, but a giant special snowmobile. The special snowmobile has several deep-grained giant wheels, one and a half meters high. It adopts the low-pressure giant tire principle of the lunar landing rover, so that it can drive on slippery glaciers. However, it feels shaky while sitting in the car. There is a steep slope halfway down, which is scary! It takes about fifteen minutes to drive to the Athabasca Glacier with an altitude of 2,210 meters. After arriving at the destination, everyone got off the car, looked around the boundless white ice fields, and stepped onto the river bed of thousands of years of ice and snow. It was crystal clear. It was really a rare experience in life! It is said that tasting the sweet and cool glacier water is refreshing. The tour guide asked tourists to bring empty bottles to contain the ten thousand-year-old glacier water and share it with relatives and friends at home. However, looking around, there was condensation everywhere, and there was no drop of ice water. Only Lan Tai from Taiwan was not afraid of the severe cold. He walked cautiously to the snowdrift in front and took the trouble to scoop the snowflakes into the bottle. Well, after visiting the Columbia Icefield, which is unique in the world, and taking a snowmobile to reach the coldest and frozen Athabasca Glacier, it is like entering the Arctic Circle of the earth. This is the most exciting state of this Rocky Mountain adventure, and I am satisfied. Leaving the Ten Thousand Years Icefield, we headed to Banff National Park, preparing to take the cable car to view the scenery from the peak to the cable car center. There were many tourists gathered here, most of them were Asians with yellow skin and black hair. They lined up in a long queue to board the cable car. We heard conversations in different languages. It was obvious that the Chinese had an advantage. No wonder some scholars had predicted that the 21st century would be the century of the Chinese. It seems that what they said was true, and this trend has gradually formed. I was afraid of heights and wanted to give up taking the cable car. It took a lot of persuasion on my part to not miss this rare opportunity. Only four passengers in each carriage sat across from each other, covered by transparent glass doors. It was very safe. Climbing to the top of the mountain, overlooking the entire Rocky Mountains, and appreciating the breathtaking towering peaks, mountain scenery, and beautiful lakes. After taking the cable car down, the tour group finally went to admire the Bow River Falls. Marilyn Monroe became famous when she filmed the movie "Going Down". Now, Monroe has been dead for a long time. As the saying goes, her bones are beating, but every time people travel to Bow River Falls, they will mention this famous porn star. The trip originally included hot spring baths at their own expense, but most of the group members were not interested, so the tour guide arranged for sightseeing in the charming town of Banff, where they had a Japanese dinner and purchased breakfast for tomorrow, and then stayed in the nearby city of Canmore. I had hoped to invite old Calgary classmates to meet here tonight, but when I saw the clock, it was past half past eight, and it was too late, so I had to cancel my original intention.