Walk Around Moraine Lake

 

After hobbling down from the Moraine Lake Rockpile, I went back to the main lodge and ate lunch. They were just about done serving lunch, but I knew my server Kimberly pretty well now and they made lunch for me even though lunch time was actually over. I had some salmon and cream cheese. The outside patio of the lodge is the nicest place I have ever been for lunch. The views from the outside lunch patio were spectacular. I decided to take a slow walk around the lake. The path was level and only about a mile long. I took a very leisurely stroll around the lake and took quiet a few photos.

I was saddened knowing this was my last night at Moraine Lake Lodge. Tomorrow morning I would be packing up, and traveling back to Banff. I was not looking forward to being back in city, as quaint and nice as Banff is. I built my last fire that night. I was determined to stay up late enough to see the multitude of stars come out. I was not exhausted from hiking all day the way I had been the last two nights, so I figured I had a pretty good chance of being awake at 1 or 2 in the morning.

Very late that night, I put on some warm clothes and left the toasty warmth of the cabin. There were zillions of stars overhead. I was hoping to have an epiphany tonight, the way I did back on my last night at Moraine Lake in 2000. However, I did not have any such experience. I suppose you cannot plan on having such experiences no matter how beautiful the setting. You can’t just recreate moments like the ones I had in 2000 at the Plain of the Six Glaciers and Moraine Lake. Life changing experiences just happen when all the right forces in the universe line up.

So, I have included the writings from my experience at Moraine Lake in 2000. The following text describes my experience on my last night at Moraine Lake Lodge in 2000.

The story starts out from when I was sitting on a rock ledge at the end of the trail in the Plain of the Six Glaciers

“He shall set me up upon a rock”

                                                                                                                    –Psalm 27:5c

Fifteen thousand years ago, glaciers filled this entire valley, including where I was sitting now. Only the tops of these mountains were above the ice. The grandeur of the scene overwhelmed me. Due to the total physical exhaustion I felt at this point, and with all the endorphins rushing through me, my body, mind and spirit all joined together. I transcended into a state of mind and body numbing delirium.

Suddenly I realized that the mountains that surrounded me had been there for over 70,000,000 years. Five ice ages had come and gone over the last 1,000,000 years. These ice ages had carved out the spectacular valleys and mountains that I was now seeing. The last ice age, the Wisconsin Age, occurred around 15,000 years ago. I quickly realized that the 70-90 years that I might spend on this earth was just a blip in geological time. Ninety years is totally insignificant when compared to the time these mountains have been here. Thinking about my brief flash of existence in the eons of time made me feel very insignificant and quite humble. I thought of all the people with large egos and people who are so full of themselves. I thought that all those arrogant people needed to sit on the rock I was sitting on, and realize how little their existence really matters on this earth. These mountains will be here for another 70,000,000 years, and by that time, mankind will have long since vanished from the face of the this earth.

I returned back from Lake Louise and my trek into the Plain of the Six Glaciers around 8:30pm on my last night at Moraine Lake Lodge. The sky was almost dark now and the brightest of the stars were starting to appear. The first stars appearing were just a prelude for the incredible celestial show that was to follow. I built my last fire in my cabin lodge that night. I was pretty good at building fires by now compared to the first night. I sat by the fire for a few hours and drank a bottle of wine in total silence and quietness. Around 11:00pm I ventured out for my late night walk as I had every other night during my stay. I talked to a girl at the front desk who had the most beautiful eyes and the prettiest smile. I told her how much I enjoyed my stay and how appreciative I was of being able to stay there. My five nights had come and gone very quickly.

I walked around the Moraine Lake Lodge area quite a bit in almost total darkness during my stay. Now on my last night’s walk, I eventually ended up down by the lakeside. The sky was very clear and very dark. Billions of stars were visible overhead. That night, the heavenly hosts put on a star show that was mind expanding, almost incomprehensible, and wondrous. The time was somewhere around midnight. There are almost no lights at Moraine Lake Lodge. I saw more stars than I had ever seen before. I even saw some shooting stars. The canopy of stars strung out over the black velvety curtain overhead was the most beautiful and inspiring sight I have ever seen. The Milky Way Galaxy our solar system resides in was very easy to see. There was no guessing where the band of stars that form the Milky Way was that night. Then a profound thought hit me. Not only was I just a mere speck on the earth for a short time, but the earth was just one an indeterminable number of planets. Looking out at the universe, I realized that our sun is just one of trillions of stars. The Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies. Who can even imagine how many earth like planets are out there? The grandeur of this view of the universe overwhelmed me. I felt simply enthralled. Shivers ran up and down my spine. Tears welled up in my eyes. The night was completely still and silent. No other creatures beside myself were stirring at this late hour. I felt completely alone in the universe that night as I gazed up into the heavens. I thanked God for this wonderful world that he had provided for mankind.

The grandeur of the night sky and infinite view overhead made me think about the beginning of the earth and of the universe. Words from the Book of Genesis came to my mind. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” I remembered the Apollo 8 astronauts William Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman reading these words to the world from the lunar module while their spacecraft orbited the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968. I imagine I felt the same sense of awe that night that these astronauts felt viewing the earth from 250,000 miles away.

At first glance, Moraine Lake appears black at night. After about 20-30 minutes of being in the almost total darkness, my eyes adjusted to the almost total blackness of the night. The lake color now appeared as a deep indigo blue. I looked over the dark lake surface and up at the barely visible dark mountains. The mountains and lake were visible only from the reflection of the faint starlight of the billions of stars overhead. I thought that this must have been what the earth looked like during the first day when God created the earth. I was literally looking at the darkness upon the face of the deep mountain. Then I thought, who created God?

To ask that question, I had to assume there was another creator before God. Suddenly I realized that there had to be something that has always existed. God is that infinite Being that has always been and who was created by no one. This concept was difficult for me to understand, for my finite mind could not comprehend the infinite. I came to the realization that I could not understand, and that I must stop thinking of the infinite God in finite terms.

I sat on a rock near the north end of Moraine Lake. I was quite sure I could now see the Spirit of God move across the dark face of the waters of Moraine Lake that night. I bowed my head and prayed. I thanked God for this wonderful place and for allowing me for the fortunate circumstances to be here. A few times in one’s life, one experiences a gestalt, a sudden realization and understanding, a life changing experience. I was keenly aware that was happening to me right now. Chills went up and down my spine as I sat completely alone with my thoughts next to the lake under the incredible star lit sky. Most people are afraid of the dark and of the imagined evil spirits lurking about. I was not afraid that night. I knew that I was surrounded and protected that night by the good Holy Spirit of the Lord.

I knew the two spiritual experiences I had today must have somehow been connected. Many people pass through life without ever having a spiritual awakening like I had experienced today. Today, I had two such awakenings in the same day. I realized that the experience I had earlier in the afternoon while sitting on the rock ledge in the Plain of the Six Glaciers had opened my soul and freed my mind so that I was in a position and open to receiving the Almighty’s’ spirit that evening by the lakeside in the dark valley. I am quite sure that the Almighty’s’ spirit is always around us. It is just up to us to be able to put ourselves into a situation where we can receive it. What a wonderful day and night I was having.

I did not want the evening to end. The evening had passed by quickly, and the time was now after midnight. I am quite sure I was the only person still awake in the dark mountain lodge setting. This was now the end of my stay in a stunningly spectacular mountain setting, and the end of an incredible week of mountain hiking. Tomorrow I would change my mode of transport from my two legs to the two wheels of a bicycle. After spending almost a week here, I felt incredibly calm, and my spirit was finally at peace and in concert with the surrounding wilderness. With my mind totally mellowed from the peace and tranquility of the completely silent dark night, I slowly made my way back to my mountain cabin. After my many walks around the area, I had memorized the paths in the area. I was now able to navigate the paths in the almost total darkness of the night. I walked confidently knowing that I would not fall off into a ditch, stumble into a tree, or crash into a fence. The soft glow from the stars faintly lit up my surroundings, and prevented the area from being in total darkness. The only other light in the area came from a few mountain cabin windows on the hillside. Most of the dwellings were now dark. The aromatic smell of fireplace smoke exiting chimneys filled the air. The entire mountain lodge area was quite dark, extremely peaceful, completely quiet, and very still. I walked through the blackness of the still night for the last time and back to my mountain cabin.

As I opened the cabin door, the light from the fire still burning in the fireplace pushed backed the darkness into the night. I walked out of the cold nighttime air and into my warm cabin.  With the only light in the room coming from the fireplace, the room took on a soft yellow, red and purple glow. I shut the cabin door, and gazed around the room. Shadows danced on the walls of the room from the flickering fire. I prepared for sleep, and crawled into the huge comfy oversized bed. Then I went to sleep for the last time in my perfect little mountain cabin cradled in the magnificent Valley of the Ten Peaks.