Canada, The Land of Natural Beauty

Canada is one of the few countries in the world that is always bursting with scenic beauty in just about every corner you're traveling to. It has several thousands of lakes, world famous Niagara waterfalls, many beautiful canyonn, few dozens of national parks and approximately 20% of the Earth’s glacier ice volume excluding the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. In summer 2016, I traveled five provinces (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebeck, British Columbia and Alberta) out of ten provinces in Canada. During my trip I visited many lakes and canyons, some national parks, Niagara falls and other small waterfalls and Athabasca Glacier. In this blog I introduce some of the beautiful places that I visited.

Lakes:

Canada has an extremely large number of lakes, with the number of lakes larger than three square kilometers being estimated at close to 31,752 by the Atlas of Canada. Of these, 561 lakes have a surface area larger than 100 km2, including four of the Great Lakes; Lake Superior, Lake Huron,Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake. Almost 9% (891,163 square kilometers) of Canada's total area is covered by freshwater lakes. (Source: Wikipedia)

Moraine lake:

Moraine Lake is a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park, 14 kilometers outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet (1,885 m). The lake has a surface area of 50 hectares (120 acres).The lake, being glacially fed, does not reach its crest until mid to late June. When it is full, it reflects a distinctive shade of blue. The colour is due to the refraction of light off the rock flourdeposited in the lake on a continual basis. (Source: Wikipedia)

Until now it is the most beautiful and colorful lake I have visited.

Lake Louise:

Lake Louise is a glacial lake within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located 5 km (3.1 mi) west of the Hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway. The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km2 and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River. In winter people play ice hocky on the surface of the frozen lake. (Source: Wikipedia)

Maligne lake:

Maligne Lake is a lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. It is famed for the color of its water, the surrounding peaks, the three glaciers visible from the lake and Spirit Island, a frequently photographed islet. The lake is located 44 km south of Jasper town. It is approximately 22.5 km long and is 97 m at its deepest point, in the south end of the lake. It averages 35 m in depth. Maligne Lake is fed and drained by the Maligne River, which enters the lake on its south side, near Mount Unwin and drains the lake to the north. Maligne Lake, as well as Maligne River, Maligne Mountain, and Maligne Pass. (Source: Wikipedia)

Two Jack Lake:

Two Jack lake is in Banff national park, Alberta. It is one of the lakes where people can swim. We did Barbecue beside the lake and afterward went for boating and swimming.

Emerald Lake (British Columbia):

Emerald Lake is located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada.[1] It is the largest of Yoho's 61 lakes and ponds, as well as one of the park's premier tourist attractions. Due to its high altitude, the lake is frozen from November until June. The vivid turquoise color of the water, caused by powdered limestone, is most spectacular in July as the snow melts from the surrounding mountains. (Source: Wikipedia)

Tourists are kayaking in the lake. The color of the water is spectacular.

Waterton Lake:

Waterton Lake is a mountain lake in southern Alberta, Canada and northern Montana, United States. The lake is composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosporus. The two parts are referred to as Lower Waterton Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is crossed at the tip by the Canada–United States border. (Source: Wikipedia)

The day we visited this lake was very windy and cloudy. So water color was not that amazing. If you travel few more kilometers by boat, you will reach in the USA.

Lake Ontario:

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is surrounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the American state of New York, whose water boundaries meet in the middle of the lake. (Source: Wikipedia)

The lake looks like a sea. You can not see the other part of the lake by naked eye. It is just huge.

Toronto, the biggest city in Canada is situated on the bank of lake Ontario. This picture (Downtown of Toronto) was taken from the ship, when I was traveling to the Toronto island with my cousins. The island is very beautiful and it has nice historic Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. You can rent bicycle to visit the island. There is a small airport in this island. ​

Tower is the world's 9th tallest free-standing structure. It is 553.3 m-high. It was completed in 1976, and held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure for 32 years from 1975–2007. The glass floor and outdoor observation deck are at 342 meters. If you don't have acrophobia, you can walk on the glass and can get thrilling feeling. By the way I walked on the glass.

View of lake Ontario and airport in Toronto island from the observation deck in CN tower.

Canyons:

Red Rock Canyon:

It is located in Waterton National Park, Alberta. The layers of red and green colored minerals offer a brilliant contrast to each other and the lush surroundings. Short self-guided hikes explain some of the ancient history of mountainous native civilizations, as well as the unique formation of Red Rock Canyon.

Maligne Canyon:

Maligne Canyon is a natural feature located in the Jasper National Park near Jasper, Alberta, Canada. Eroded out of the Palliser Formation, the canyon measures over 50 meters (160 ft) deep. Popular for sightseeing and exploration, the area contains waterfalls, stream outlets, birds and plant life. (Source: Wikipedia)

Niagara falls:

The falls are 27 km north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, and 121 km south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York. I don't need to write too much about Niagara falls. It is not only beautiful but also huge. You can feel the vibration of the falling of water from few hundred meters away. It's like a monster. I also visited the falls by cruise. It is impossible to explain the feeling when I was mouth of the falls. In the picture below, you can see the cruise looks so tiny. So it is easily imaginable that how big the falls is!

Canadian part of Niagara falls. Though both Canada and the USA share the falls, it is more beautiful to see the falls from Canada.

US part of the falls

At night it has different beauty. Laser light with different colors makes the water flow so colorful and vivid.

Banff- one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations:

Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately 126 km west of Calgary and 58 km east of Lake Louise. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. In both summer and winter it looks like paradise. You can also enjoy northern lights from this city.

The Athabasca Glacier in Columbia icefield:

The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier is approximately 6 km long, covers an area of 6 km2 , and is measured to be between 90–300 meters thick. It is the most visited glacier in North America. (Source: Wikipedia).

The glacier currently recedes at a rate of about 5 meters per year and has receded more than 1.5 km and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years. It is melting so fast, so maybe in 50 years it'll vanish completely from our planet.

Hello from the top of the mountain:

It was amazing to see the small city from the top of the mountain. Though it was chilling on top, it was an adventurous and exciting hiking.

Wild life:

National parks in Canada are full of wild lifes. I also saw some nice wild animals during my travel in national parks. When we were coming back from Jasper national park, we found this Grizzly bear family. The mother was with her two cubs but I only abled to capture the mother bear.

Mountain goat in Banff National park

Wild deer in Waterton national park

Wild deer near Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park

Canadian parlament:

Canadian parlament is located at Otttawa, the capital of Canada. During summer every evening you can enjoy laser show on parlament building which depicts the history of Canada.

Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal):

Notre-Dame Basilica is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the church is highly decorated. It is one of the colorful churches I have ever visited.

Along with these places I also traveled many other beautiful places. I have already written another blog about Drumheller and its extraordinary landscape. Here is the link for that blog.