Landscape of the Day in The World As We See It, or as we missed it – Aug 25, 2010
Featured in The World As We See It, or as we missed it – Aug 25, 2010

Patricia Lake is a lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, near the town of Jasper

Photographed in July 2010
Canon XT, polarizing and ND filters, f/8, 1/200sec, ISO-200, 23 mm focal length.

If you’re looking for a beautiful day trip out of the town of Jasper, head to the Pyramid Lake area of Jasper National Park.
You’ll be rewarded with panoramic views, mountain wildlife and more Canadian Rockies fresh air than you can handle.
The great Canadian glaciers carved the valleys that the Athabasca River flows in today. The Pyramid Bench was created in the same way, leaving 20 small lakes behind.
Just climb Pyramid Lake Road, meandering through a huge fir forest (some trees up to a meter in diameter!).
Further along the road, you’ll find Patricia Lake which besides being gorgeous has also a unique history.
During World War II, the site was home to Winston Churhill’s “Project Habbakuk.” The project consisted of building an unsinkable battleship made completely of ice. A scale model prototype was built and managed to stay afloat during the whole summer of 1943.
The project was eventually abandoned when the calculations for the full ship were made. The astronomical cost of refrigeration sunk the ship. Divers routinely explore the bottom of the lake to marvel at the remains of this unique structure.