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Wedding Morning: Moraine Lake background

So, as beautiful as Lake Louise was, one would think that is where we were to be married, right?  But no.  We headed about 10 km to a more remote lake, Moraine Lake.

Walter Wilcox was a Yale college student whose passion was the wild beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Hired by explorer Tom Wilson to help map the area around Lake Louise, Wilcox set out in August 1899 in search of a new route up Mount Temple. For two days he endured rain and snow, but on the third day the sky cleared. Invigorated by the sun, Wilcox hiked up the valley to the top of a pile of rocks. There he discovered a splendid sight - "a narrow, secluded valley with a small lake enclosed by wild rugged precipices... one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen."

Wilcox named it Moraine Lake after the moraine, or rock pile, deposited by the Wenkchemna Glacier. He was later to write that, "no scene had ever given me an equal impression of inspiring solitude and rugged grandeur", adding that his time spent contemplating the view was the happiest half-hour of his life.

We were about to spend our own "happiest half-hour" of our lives on that very same lake! Moraine Lake truly rivals Lake Louise for scenic grandeur. This tiny aquamarine lake sits in a bowl surrounded by glacial moraines and 10 towering peaks. Each of the surrounding mountains is greater than 10,000 foot elevation. This is mundane-existance-shredding stuff! Moraine Lake is tucked into its little valley at over 6,000 feet elevation. The most spectacular views are from "the rock pile" at one end of the lake. To get to the top of this rock pile, one has to make an easy ½ mile hike, gaining 165 feet in elevation to a spectacular view point. Of course, the hike is easiest when not in wedding gown, corset, crinoline, and high heels, but I’ve always been up for a challenge! Some photos:

A closer-up view of the glacial moraines is below.  Moraines are rock and debris that are picked up by the glacial ice and then deposited at the foot of an actively flowing glacier.

 The back of the Canadian $20 bill features the site of our wedding!

Take a virtual tour of the summit of the "rockpile" at Moraine Lake, where we were married! http://www.virtualguidebooks.com/Alberta/CanadianRockies/BanffAndLakeLouise/MoraineLakeViewpointL.html

Here are 2 more Virtual Tours of the Rock Pile Trail we hiked in our wedding finery! http://www.morainelake.com/360/rockpiletrail/rockpiletrailwapan_c2.htm

and: http://www.virtualparks.org/scenes/ZNcQpKgkII0RQsuoiWuE5JQ.html

On to July 5:  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!