We drove the Ice Fields Parkway from Banff to Jasper stopping along the way to take in the sights and take scores of photos; thank goodness for digital cameras and large capacity memory cards. The town Jasper is settled in a beautiful spot surrounded by great hiking and kayaking, which is a good thing ca
use Jasper is worth a one afternoon visit. It has lots of stores and places to eat, but after a short while you come to realize that the stores offer the same items; seen-a-couple-seem-em-all. Each park we’ve been in has a plaque dedicated to some historical significance of the park. Jasper National Park was one of the locations WW1 Interned “enemy aliens” were put to work. Between February 8th to August 31st, 1916 “Ukrainians and other East Europeans “ were put to work building roads and clearing land in the park.
We camped in Whistlers Campground just outside of Jasper and in the days we were there we saw p
lenty of wildlife, including a small herd of Elk that camped in our campground each night. We did several single day trips which allowed us to pick the time we went and gave us plenty of relax by the campfire time.
Day 1 was checking out Jasper and having dinner out – date night. Day 2 was kayaking Maligne Lake after checking out the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. Even though the map said Lodge and all the stuff I read mentioned the Lodge, I expected a large, grand railway hotel, not a lodge, especially when the per night rate is $700+. Maligne Lake (and the surrounding lakes) is worth the drive and time. The drive was via a winding road offering views of snow capped mountains, water, wildlife, Darwin candidates, and large swaths of fire damaged forest. Maligne Lake is long (14 miles/22 km long), amazing blue colour, clear, and calm. It is surrounded by the jagged mountains some with snow and glaciers visible from the lake. The parking lots were very busy yet on the lake we saw virtually no one. One couple loaded their sea kayaks with camping gear and set off to one of the water access only campsites. As they paddled off Molson took up his usual spot behind Jennifer and we kayaked to the midway point where we stopped for a floating picnic. For entertainment we watched a helicopter fly back and forth from its lake side landing pad to some invisible point in the mountains carrying cargo suspended in a net.
Day 3 we hiked the Trail of 5 Lakes. The day started out cool but a few short hours later it was quite warm and humid. Hot enough that we stopped at the river to dip our hats
in the cool water. The flowers were in abundance as were the birds. The trail is hilly and in some places steep but the change in elevation is not great. It takes a meander route to each of the lakes, some of which are barely big enough to call it a lake, but the scenery and time spent makes up for it. Realistically, I wouldn’t kayak 5 lakes so it was good they were small-ish. We spoke to a group that were taking the trail in the opposite direction who warned us of a bear and cubs ahead of us.
We were carrying our usual hiking packs containing bear spray (or seasoning depending on its attitude) and bear bangers (extremely loud projectile firecrackers) so two women from Germany joined up with Jenn and I. Within a few minutes we came into a small clearing and saw the mother and 2 cubs browsing in the deep grass. The three of them looked at us looking at them, then continued on with their browsing, some of it our direction so we continued on as well.
On our way back to our ca
mp site we stopped (had to) as a herd of Mountain Goats walking along the road side and clambering up the cliff on the opposite road side sorted out the Darwin candidates from the rest of us. Probably shouldn’t wish for some things out loud, especially with your window open, with all the Darwin-wannabees leaving their cars to try and get a selfie.
We also took a trip to check out the Athabasca Falls. Luckily we found one of the last remaining parking spots. This is a place to get too early or have patience. Keeping our safety in mind, we suited up again with our packs of water snacks and bear stuff. We saw the sign pointing to the falls, took about a dozen steps and saw the falls. We were the only ones equipped for a day hike at a place that takes 20 minutes. The Athabasca River starts at the Columbia Ice Field and by the time it gets to the drop into the canyon below it’s large and fast and it makes a spectacular view. There are well made paths all around the falls and several great vantage points. To get to the lower part of the falls you take a path through a narrow canyon that has steps built into it. At some point in the past the Athabasca River cut this path through hard rock. Earth events caused the river to divert to its present course where it is still slowly wearing away the rock.
Back at the campground we drove past the grazing and resting Elk that seem to like the place. We also ate and relaxed but beside our campfire.