Peyto Lake November 18, 2022 *skating on wild ice*

With winter upon us even though it is still autumn, the thoughts of skating on wild ice have slowly been inching their way into my day dreams. While that pace of inching thoughts has been slowly with me, it's been a different story for Adventure Designer.  She says "It's go time, now!" She put a skating shout-out out to me to skate on Peyto Lake and I jumped on board like there was no tomorrow! We had a couple of days until our schedules aligned.  I looked back at photos I took when I saw Peyto Lake from high above.  Looking at my photos and dreaming of skating there was enough inspiration to go ahead and do a watercolour painting.  While I was water colour painting a view of Peyto Lake... 

....Adventure Designer was designing a stained glass skate for me!  That explains why at one point she asked me what colour and what kind my skates were.  The photo on the left is her photo she shared with me after presenting the skate to me.  The photo on the right is of my skates after skating today.

Peyto Lake is along The Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park.  There are many gorgeous places on the way one of which is Bow Lake.  We pulled off, hopped over the snowbank then scooted down to the edge.  Sections of the lake were clear of snow and sprinkled with delicate snow flowers.  We could clearly see through the ice to the bottom.

reflecting in Bow Lake

crystal formations

it's crystalling

The temperature was getting warmer which we were thankful for.  At Lake Louise Village it was -23C and we were concerned about even being able to get our skates on and laced up with out getting frost bite.  It was around -16C at Bow Lake and it remained around that while driving to Peyto Lake.  We bundled up with backpacks, skates, safety gear, warm clothes, snacks, hot beverages, spikes on our boots and then hit the trail down to the lake side.  This was a view along the trail.

Once we reached the shore, we scouted out the area, first walking along the shore to our left, all the while checking the conditions close by.   We decided where we might like to skate, then Adventure Designer performed due diligence checking the thickness of the ice.  Where we wanted to skate passed the test. After a short period of time, she performed another test a bit further out and it was safe there also. Even a short while late, it warmed up quite a bit and was a perfect temperature to be out in the wild surrounded by a winter wonderland.  

We skated.....

.....and skated.....

...then skated some more!

It was incredible!  It was beautiful!  It was magical!  

There is something so special about being able to skate on wild ice!  The air, the scenery, the sound, all paired together, offer up an unforgettable and amazing embrace from Mother Nature.  Her canvass today was decorated with thousands and thousands and thousands of crystal snow flowers.  We added our creative etchings to her design!

This one crystal snow flower measures about an inch in size.  It's intricate and delicate.  It's hard to imagine how something like this even forms with such precise, perfect details.  Mother Nature is an incredible designer.  Take her creations that are presented along The Icefield Parkway and at Peyto Lake then intertwine them with Adventure Designer's idea of a spectacular day and you are gifted an adventure to treasure!    

⛸Be sure to cherish the special sights you see and the magical moments you experience!⛸