Alberta’s Winters: As soon as I walked out of the airport doors after the plane landed, the cold air felt like a wave. The wind was blowing small pieces of white snow on the ground, and the super moon was shining in the crystal clear sky above.
Stepping into the initial -30 degrees (which is -22 Fahrenheit) cold was a kind of shock. Your lungs feel tight, your skin starts tingling, and your nose hairs freeze. If you stay too long, your eyelashes are next, or your mustache, if you have one.
I looked up at the sky and was happy. This kind of weather is good because when it’s so cold, crowds stay away, the snow in the air forms rainbow-like shapes around the sun, and sunrises look exactly like deserts, appearing like a layer cake of purple, blue, and pink.
Locals said it was an unusually cold spell. They apologized for the cold weather.
I said it was perfect, because this is what winter in Alberta’s Rockies looks like:
Taken from a bridge in town in Canmore
What is it about winter in Alberta that is so amazing? Maybe it’s the mountains – the three sisters – standing with the rising sun.
Thanks a lot to the bridge for holding such a good frame of big, crystallized snowflakes.
Standing on Vermillion Lake in Banff
The frozen lake, famous for its sunrises, is another option.
View of Banff from Mt. Norquay
Perhaps it’s the gorgeous view of Banff from above, and that sunlight.
A small avalanche falls from a tree in Johnston Canyon
Or when it snowed in Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, flying from tree branches and the sky simultaneously.
Ice climbers in Johnston Canyon
These could be ice climbers making the icicles their playground.
Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park: a hidden spot
These are small hidden places in snowy Johnston Canyon.
Lower falls in Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park
Imagine how a part of frozen waterfall looks like popcorn icicles stuck together.
Lake Minnewanka
This is the solitude of a lake that is often crowded, except for the winter cold.
But then it turns white, and freezes with snow, and it forms a good shape.
At Paintbox Lodge in Canmore
Magic can happen in a room with a perfect Pinterest-type design that makes you feel warmth inside just by looking at it.
A frozen river in Canmore
A little further, there’s the reflection of the sunrise on this frozen river in Canmore, a perfect looking glass for the three sisters.
Taken in Canmore
When you find a crack in the ice, which creates a racing line in the snow.
Snowshoeing at Lake Louise Ski Resort
This is the magic of snow machines; they have been running since it was too cold for snow to fall, and steam was rising at Lake Louise ski resort.
A frozen Lake Louise in Banff
A small part of the famous Lake Louise is still unfrozen, and there’s a boy in red who was enough to make this photo a little more interesting by walking on the ice.
-30 degrees on the mountain at Lake Louise Ski Resort
This snow globe holds a magical charm.
On Spray Lakes drive outside Canmore
Where you have to stop the car every few minutes and just gaze in wonder.
The way the rising sun gilded the dramatic Rockies.
Kananaskis Country
Or the super moon saying goodbye for the day behind them.
A gorgeous drive
This might be the way the mountains seem to grow as they get closer to you, and appear to rise as you move away.
Snowshoeing in Kananaskis Country
The way the sun shines unobstructed in the crystal clear sky.
Snow-shoeing to Chester Lake in Kananaskis Country
And makes the ground sparkle.
Delicious tea spread with cheeses and bison speck at Mt. Engadine Lodge
The tea arrangement you wait for, which instantly warms you from within.
Cozy room at Mt. Engadine Lodge
This is the kind of place where I could comfortably stay for many days.
Lying on a frozen Chester Lake in Kananaskis Country
And rediscover my inner six-year-old.
Near Chester Lake in Kananaskis Country
Definitely, it’s hard to say what gives the Canadian Rockies, Alberta that magical touch.
Well, let’s just leave it at that: Now you can count me among the many Americans who are googling ‘how to move to Canada’.
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