Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Early-morning fog floats above the calm waters of Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks in this photograph of the Canadian Rockies of Banff National Park while morning light illuminates the vertical limestone face of the Wenkchemna Peaks. Located at the rugged heart of the Rockies, these valleys were filled with large Pleistocene glaciers to the point where only the highest mountains peaks protruded above the ice. These glaciers excavated countless basins which are now studded with cerulean-colored lakes with Lake Louise filling the valley to the north and Lake OHara only a few miles to the northwest. This small area at the core of the Canadian Rockies contains some of the most breathtaking mountain scenery in the world.