Burgess Shale is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the great fossil discovery of the 20th century.  It is one of the few sites in the world that has preserves soft-bodied creatures from the Precambrian period.

Access to the actual shale bed is only possible on a guided hike that has to be reserved several months in advance.  Rebooking because of poor weather is not a possibility.  Our group was guided by a petroleum geologist and an ex-palaeontologist.  It also included a Danish theoretical physicist, an American journalist, a New Zealand kiwi fruit consultant along with folks from Alberta.  We were the lone couple from Ottawa.

Alpine weather is highly variable.  We started in the rain, which turned into ice pellets, snow pellets, snow and finally sunshine!