Jasper National Park
(If you don't want to read but just want to see the pictures, click on the first one for a slide show)
We decided to take a two night getaway to Jasper the beginning of the week. We haven't been there for almost 18 years so it was pretty much all new to me although my husband kept saying we'd seen most of it before. There was lots he didn't remember too so it was a nice break from the city.
Not long after turning off the number one highway on to 93 north we came to a stop to see this handsome fellow trying to get across the road. There were a large number of cars as we'd just past a construction site and he was getting frustrated by all of us creeping by him but not letting him pass. As we went by he turned and went back into the trees. I'm sure I heard him muttering "Damned Tourists".
Further up the road there was another group of cars stopped with people running around with their cameras trying to get close-ups of this other bear below. People are so stupid as to try to get within ten feet or closer for that "perfect" shot. If these animals decided to charge they would never get to see the picture they died for. Not worth it. The tragedy is that the bear would be tracked down and shot as well and all for just trying to eat in his own territory.
The pictures aren't clear but I'm alive to show them to you and the bear got to leave and live.
The mountains through this park are so different from what you see along the number one highway ! They are jagged and quite bare with lots of waterfalls coming down off the top but well treed lower down. I love the perfect little circle of cloud that was peeking through the peaks in the middle.
Lots of waterfalls coming down off the top.
The mountain below looked like a huge lump of coal, it was so black, very impressive.
This is the panoramic scene from the viewpoint at the top.
|One of the many waterfalls in the park. Right beside the road.
Just a short drive north and a bit west of the town of Jasper is Pyramid Lake. This is one of the Dark Sky Preserves for star gazers. There is a fairly large resort as seen in the picture below and they have rooms as well as cabins. There is a restaurant and boat rentals to enjoy the lake. Most of the lakes in the Park are glacier fed or from springs that most likely get water from the glaciers so unless you belong to the Polar bear club you might not be swimming in them.
The pyramid shaped mountain that gives the lake it's name.
The crystal clear waters. Fishing is good as well.
On our first full day in Jasper we drove up to Maligne Lake. It's about 27km from the town of Jasper and is a winding road so it takes twice as long as you might think it would take for the distance. The lake and the canyon are probably the most popular sites to visit. We decided to pass the canyon and go to the lake first then stop on the way back. That was a good plan because we were tired after the canyon and wouldn't have continued further. The boat house below was underwater inside because of the spring melt but seemed to be fully operational.
The lake was a beautiful blue/green color and very scenic as you can see. There is a restaurant, gift store, tour boat and canoes but no accommodation. There are campgrounds nearby but they are trying to keep the resorts out of the area to help preserve it. Good idea I think.
We stopped at a picnic site beside the Athabasca River for lunch. The river is well above it's usual levels due to the spring melt.
There was a rock slide behind the picnic area that I wanted to get a picture of but I was soon stalked by a wild animal ! It saw me from about 40 feet away and within minutes was right beside me!
Got cookie lady? When he found out I had nothing he left in search of better pickings. I would have found something for him but the park ranger was right there and you are NOT to feed the animals !
We left the picnic site and backtracked towards Maligne Canyon. This took us by Medicine Lake pictured below. Such a beautiful color.
Once again we were stopped by the local residents. It was hard to get by this group as they couldn't go left much without ending up in the water and they'd come from the hillside so didn't really want to go back that way. The nice thing about holidays is that you have lots of time to be patient. These were a group of three females with their babies. They look horrible because they are losing their winter coats so look like they have mange or some horrid thing.
They had the car in front to contend with and would periodically turn to see what we were up to. When they got close to the white car the one closest to it would lick it to see if it could get some salt off of it. In winter when the roads have been salted there have been cases of sheep licking the paint right off cars.
Here you can really see how the females are looking so ratty. The young ones of course are recently born so have no winter coat to shed.
Time to get going only they are going to make a race of it . We eventually won.
In the treed area to the right of this picture were a mother bear and her two cubs. Once again people were trying to sneak in for the picture, I headed the other way as this time the danger potential was really high. I did however use my zoom and got something black and small but indistinguishable as a living thing. Fortunately the rangers came along and shooed the people back and then clapped and shouted to make the bears leave.
Now we are at Maligne Canyon. You have to be able to do a lot of steps up and down to see the canyon. We made it to three bridges out of six, we tried for the fourth but all we could think about was the walk back up and our weak knees so abandoned the venture which turned out to be a good idea. We did a lot of stopping and deep breathing on the way back up. Apart from that....what we did see was impressive. The first picture is the start of the canyon. It is hard to get a sense of how deep it is in a flat picture but trust me it is a long way down.
This one gives a bit more perspective at least of the narrowness of the gorge.
Here you see a bit more of the height and the water that is carving out the canyon.
It was beginning to flatten out a bit here just before we turned around and went back up.
On the way home we saw the sheep in their own element instead of being on the roads. I must say they are more impressive this way. Our one big disappointment was that we didn't see any mountain goats while up there this time. Perhaps next trip.
How they manage these steep cliffs is amazing. They are just as nimble on this rock as they are on the flat roads.
Check out the jagged terrain in the picture below, my feet hurt just looking at it.
This was the guard sheep I guess. He never moved all the time we were there and his eye is looking right down at us.Looks like his horn has his ear pinned back.
Another beautiful mountain, brushed with gold highlights.
After leaving the canyon we had dinner then a soak in the Miette Hot Springs, no pictures but worth the drive up and the soak for tired muscles.
On the way back to Jasper we stopped to watch these bull elk with their pristine velveted antlers having a feed by the side of the road. Believe it or not but these animals, especially the cows with their calves are one of the most dangerous animals in the parks and have injured and killed tourists that don't adhere to the boundaries recommended by the wardens.
The antlers on this one were huge!
A frontal view to show the width.
It stays light until eleven at night in the mountains but the sunsets are different from the prairie kind.
First the haze sets in and then the reflection of the setting sun reflects off that haze and silhouettes the mountains while turning the sky different intensities of color. As we passed this area we once again came into blue sky and looking back saw that the sunset was just localized in that one spot.
Time to head home but on the way we will stop at the Athabasca Glacier which is much smaller than the last time we saw it.
Here we are approaching it while heading south on Hwy 93.
Almost at the Columbia Icefields now.
A zoomed in picture of part of the glacier that isn't accessible.
Looking up to where we have to walk to the base of the ice, it's a full kilometer up with a 30m rise.
We finally made it to the top and then there is a walking path that takes you as close as possible without a guide or proper footwear and knowledge of glaciers. In 2001 a nine year old went out onto what he thought was a snowbank only it gave way and he fell into a crevice hidden underneath, he did not survive.
What you see at the end of the dirt is the melting ice, the face of the glacier is way back between the two rock faces.
There are buses that take tourists out onto the ice and up to the base of the glacier.
There are also guided tours where you walk all the way up. Wouldn't be my choice.
This is how rugged the ice is and the crevices are deep and not always visible.
These cliffs at the side show how high the glacier used to be. It is 60% gone now and is expected to disappear in the next 100 years or less.
The marks of the ice scrapped into the rock below.
The melt making a gash down the middle of the ice.
There is still some ice off to the side below the field of ice that is above.
A close up of the clean ice underneath that is visible in the above shot. That blue is amazing.
Another shot of the melt field and glacier.
Some people prefer to go it alone such as this guy in the yellow jacket in the middle of the picture.
This trail information shows the layout of everything. The glacier originally covered all the space up to the road.
This is the area that was covered. You can see the building in the middle distance which is on the other side of the road that the ice came right up to.
Our last scenic picture is of Bow Lake . The color of the water is breathtakingly blue.
