Jasper, Alberta, Canada - Aug. 18 - 24, 2005
On August 18th we headed for Jasper. The day was bright and crisp, and the mountains sparkled in the newly fallen snow. The Icefield Parkway is absolutely breathtaking as it traverses a valley with peaks and glaciers to the west, jagged thrusts of bare rock to the east, the Bow, Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers running along the valley floor, punctuated by glacier fed cascades and waterfalls. Once again, the pictures can't capture the beauty.
After a three-hour drive we checked into the spacious, wooded, and peaceful Whistler Campground. After setting up our home we headed to the park visitor center to check out the weather forecast and get advice on day hikes. We were very cheered by the forecasted three days of sunshine - these two former Californians were suffering from Vitamin D deficiency.
Well, "three days of sunshine" was a bit optimistic, but we made the most of the intermittent sunshine. During our time in Jasper we picnicked on and walked around Lake Annette, cruised Maligne Lake to Spirit Island, explored the Icefield Parkway and took a tour onto the Athabasca Glacier. We rode the Jasper Tram to Whistler Mountain, and then hiked to the summit for a 360-degree view of the Canadian Rockies.
Surprisingly, we haven't seen a lot of wildlife; however, our second morning in Jasper we awoke to find six female and young elk grazing around our home. The next day the elk demonstrated how habituated they are to humans by grazing right up to our campsite while we were outside reading. One rather large elk moseyed over to the table and ate Susan's basil plant! She didn't even say "by your leave", or "thank you." How rude. Fortunately, she didn't care for the rosemary, oregano and thyme.
It was a damp and chilly morning when we started our trip south. We noticed the leaves were beginning to turn gold and it definitely felt like fall, but it was only August 23rd. The drizzle turned to snow as we started the steep climbs to Sunwapta and Bow Passes. We decided to take the Trans Canadian Highway to cross the mountain because it only has one low pass, but then a very steep decline into Golden, British Columbia, our home for the night. On Wednesday we drove south along the Columbia Valley and past Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia River. We spent the night in Cranbrook and on Thursday crossed the border into Idaho, destination Coeur d'Alene. Ahhh... it is good to be back in the U.S.!
