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Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka Banff National Park, Banff, Alberta

Lake Minnewanka (pronunciation: /ˌmɪnəˈwɑːŋkə/)("Water of the Spirits" in Nakoda) is a glacial lake located in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about five kilometres (3.1 miles) northeast of the Banff townsite. The lake is 28 km (17 mi) long and 142 m (466 ft) deep, making it the longest lake in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies (the result of a power dam at the west end).

The lake is fed by the Cascade River, flowing east of Cascade Mountain, and runs south through Stewart Canyon as it empties into the western end of the lake. Numerous streams flowing down from Mount Inglismaldie, Mount Girouard and Mount Peechee on the south side of the lake also feed the lake.

Aboriginal people long inhabited areas around Lake Minnewanka, as early as 10,000 years ago, according to stone tools and a Clovis point spearhead discovered by archaeologists. The area is rich in animal life (e.g. elk, mule deer, mountain sheep, bears) and the easy availability of rock in the mountainous terrain was key to fashioning weapons for hunting

Photo Credit: "Lake Minnewanka 11092005" by Gorgo - Photo taken by author. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Minnewanka_11092005.jpg#/media/File:Lake_Minnewanka_11092005.jpg

Text Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Minnewanka

NEWS FEED
  • Explore150 photoSpot Snapshot/ Sharpy3/ May 21, 2017
  • Lake of the Spirits
    guestBook Guestbook/ efotherby/ Mar 10, 2015 Lake of the Spirits

    Standing on the shores of Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, I silently appreciate the demonstration of brilliance nature is displaying for me, but a nagging sense of unease persists in my subconscious. That ancient part of my brain, often forgotten but never lost, is tingling with a sense of foreboding and anticipation. I slough it off as nothing; the wind I decide, or the charged air from the now clearing summer storm. As the wind howls through Devil's Pass, it glances my skin and sends an involuntary shiver through my body as it would in response to a gentle touch. The Nakoda called this place The Lake of the Spirits, and with that in my mind I reflect on the many thousands of years past and the people who settled on these shores and the possibility that I have just been welcomed into their final home.

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There is a submerged village at the bottom of the lake.

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Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka

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Discovery Quest

There is a submerged village at the bottom of the lake.

False True
NEWS FEED
  • Explore150 photoSpot Snapshot/ Sharpy3/ May 21, 2017
  • Lake of the Spirits
    guestBook Guestbook/ efotherby/ Mar 10, 2015 Lake of the Spirits

    Standing on the shores of Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, I silently appreciate the demonstration of brilliance nature is displaying for me, but a nagging sense of unease persists in my subconscious. That ancient part of my brain, often forgotten but never lost, is tingling with a sense of foreboding and anticipation. I slough it off as nothing; the wind I decide, or the charged air from the now clearing summer storm. As the wind howls through Devil's Pass, it glances my skin and sends an involuntary shiver through my body as it would in response to a gentle touch. The Nakoda called this place The Lake of the Spirits, and with that in my mind I reflect on the many thousands of years past and the people who settled on these shores and the possibility that I have just been welcomed into their final home.

Lake Minnewanka (pronunciation: /ˌmɪnəˈwɑːŋkə/)("Water of the Spirits" in Nakoda) is a glacial lake located in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about five kilometres (3.1 miles) northeast of the Banff townsite. The lake is 28 km (17 mi) long and 142 m (466 ft) deep, making it the longest lake in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies (the result of a power dam at the west end).

The lake is fed by the Cascade River, flowing east of Cascade Mountain, and runs south through Stewart Canyon as it empties into the western end of the lake. Numerous streams flowing down from Mount Inglismaldie, Mount Girouard and Mount Peechee on the south side of the lake also feed the lake.

Aboriginal people long inhabited areas around Lake Minnewanka, as early as 10,000 years ago, according to stone tools and a Clovis point spearhead discovered by archaeologists. The area is rich in animal life (e.g. elk, mule deer, mountain sheep, bears) and the easy availability of rock in the mountainous terrain was key to fashioning weapons for hunting

Lake Minnewanka Banff National Park, Banff, Alberta
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Photo: "Lake Minnewanka 11092005" by Gorgo - Photo taken by author. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Minnewanka_11092005.jpg#/media/File:Lake_Minnewanka_11092005.jpg

How does this place make you feel?
reflective exhilarated curious empathetic happy frustrated appreciative amazed secure surprised calm inspired guilty sad lonely fearful