Don Harmon: 1958 - 1985
Athabasca Glacier Flowing From Columbia Iceield, 1976 || Headwater of Athabasca River, this glacier is the most visible of Columbia Icefield’s glaciers. Its recession has been documented for years and its long tongue exploited for tourist sight-seeing excursions in “snowmobiles”. A tourist once sued Parks Canada after he fell in a crevasse.
Mt. Assiniboine, Wedgewood Peak and Mt. Strom, 1969 || Sometimes called the Matterhorn of the Rockies, the borders of Banff National Park and Assiniboine Provincial Park bisect it. Mt. Assiniboine Lodge is a popular hiking and skiing destination.
Mt. Cory from Cory Pass, 1969 || Mt. Cory is one of the most popular climbs near Banff. The mountain was named in 1923 after William Wallace Cory, deputy minister of the Interior from 1905 to 1930. The mountain, not the minister, has been the inspiration for several boy’s names
Ice Bridge on Opabin Glacier, 1960's || Ice formations as dramatic as this one is are transient. Opabin Glacier is above Lake O’Hara on a route which can be followed to The Valley of the Ten Peaks.
Mt. Ball and Whistling Valley, 1972 || A popular back-packing trip from Sunshine Meadows, over Healy Pass to Egypt Lake, over Whistling Pass to Whistling Valley ends at Shadow Lake. Whistling Pass is named for the whistling marmots whose home this is.
View of Columbia Icefield, 1977 || This aerial view of Columbia Icefield shows the tumultuous descent from the apex of Snow Dome as gravity causes the snow and ice to crack.
Ice Detail, 1976 || This photograph was taken in a large ice cave on Athabasca Glacier which lasted several years before melting and collapsing.
Ice Cave Detail, Athabasca Glacier, 1979 || Ice in caves and crevasses of glaciers always appears this gorgeous turquoise.
Peyto Lake and Mistaya Valley, 1975 || This lovely view looks north from Bow Summit on the Icefield Parkway. The lake is named for legendary pioneer, hunter, trapper and guide, Bill Peyto.
Maligne Lake, 1985 || Maligne Lake, near Jasper in Jasper National Park, is very large. Canoe rentals and a launch allow visitors to explore.
Bert Mickle, Castleguard Meadows, 1975 || Outfitter, Bert Mickle, with his wife, June, ran Timberline Tours near Lake Louise from 1962-1974.
Dawn at Bow Lake, 1983 || My father would wake me at 2:30 to drive with him to Bow Lake for first light.
Columbia Glacier and Mt. Columbia, 1979 || This is the ultimate headwater of Columbia River. It was photographic goal for both Byron and Don Harmon.
Alexandra Glacier, 1975 || Alexandra Glacier is a tributary of North Saskatchewan River.
Abbot Pass and Abbot Hut, 1970's || Abbot Hut was built by Swiss guides from locally quarried stone, on the pass between Lake Louise and Lake O’Hara, in 1922. It accommodated climbers for a century before climate warming caused the hut to be removed by Parks Canada.
View from Wiwaxy Col, Lake O'Hara || Lake O’Hara, in Yoho National Park, is unique in the Canadian Rockies for its extensive trail system developed by volunteers of the Lake O’Hara Trails Club, Carson Simpson and George Link, who planned the trail at Lake O'Hara from 1943 to 1951. Warden Lawrence Grassi further improved and developed the trails while stationed at the Lake O’Hara warden cabin.
Carole in Castleguard Cave, 1975 || Castleguard Cave is one of several outlets for a vast under-glacier karst system which collects meltwaters from Columbia Icefield and periodically floods.
Tangle Falls, 1978 || Now easy to see from the Icefield Parkway in the Canadian Rockies, Tangle Falls was once protected from view by torturous Sunwapta Canyon which was avoided by travellers before the highway was built.
Tom Wilson's Cabin, Kootenay Plains || Kootenay Plains is traditional land of several Indigenous nations who still visit and hold ceremony. When Bighorn Dam was built in 1972 my father and I photographed Tom Wilson’s old ranch on Kootenay Plains, which would be flooded by the dam, along with the rest of this fertile and culturally significant land, which had been a major trade route through the mountains.
Moraine Lake, 1969 || Moraine Lake is located in Valley of the Ten Peaks, near Lake Louise. The peaks all bear Indigenous names, as recorded by Samuel Allen, an early white visitor to the lake.
