Athabasca Falls

June 14, 2012

After spending most the the Friday at Horseshoe Lake I managed to squeeze some time in to grab a couple shots of this tourist populated waterfall.  The day was great, sunny with little clouds which helped bring out the natural colour of the water.  You can find this waterfall when driving down the 93, there will be a sign showing you to the parking lot.  As soon as you exit your car you can hear the thunder of the water plunging down only meters away.

As I mentioned above, after spending the day at Horseshoe Lake cliff jumping, I was a little winded and needed to unwind the adrenaline and excitement.  Athabasca falls is extremely close to the lake and is often visited by many people in the run of a day.

I would caution that you see this waterfall on a whim like I did this day, and attempt to avoid it during long weekends.  The first time I witnessed this waterfall was during the long weekend, and it was over crowded.  When watching nature's thunderous force, I would always recommend doing it with limited interferences.  However, due to the nature of these waterfalls, it may always be difficult to achieve this.

Athabasca is fed from a beautiful icy blue river that bends around a forested shore to nest further up the mountains.  In one glance when standing broad facing the waterfall you can soak in the visuals of the nearby mountain and the trees that descend from halfway up the mountain to meet you at the shore of the waterfall.

From the above angle you stand on a man made bridge which also travels around a five minute walking path.  The interesting thing is the history that has occurred at this waterfall.  Where you stand at that moment was where the waterfall existed a few decades ago.  Over many years the Athabasca Falls have slowly deteriorated the condition of the rock and has chiseled the rock down to what we are currently witnessing.  This would mean that the current 10 - 13 meter drop could have been a more gradual waterfall years ago.

This waterfall is still actively engineering the scenic rock in its path, and as a result you may get the occasional spray from being so close to nature's construction.  If nothing else this is a good family destination waterfall; keeping in mind that children under 5 will need to be hand held around the waterfall due to wet walkways.

The strength and power of this waterfall would suggest to me that it is operational through most of the winter (if not all of it).  I will attempt to return with a snowy picture sometime in the near future.  However for now I will continue to capture more falls with warm surroundings and icy blue waters.