Bill and Eileen's Travels: Monday, August 04, 2014

We arrived in Jasper on July 20th, Jenn's 35th. This is probably one of my favorite places. The town is relatively small but it has some nice restaurants and there are a lot of interesting things to see in the area. It is a little more remote, in feeling, than Banff, and the shops aren't as nice, but there is something about this area that draws me. My nephew Ben would like it here. It's really an outdoor place with lots to do.

We had trouble with our reservations that turned out to be their mistake but they didn't really try to accommodate us with the full service site that we though we had. It was a little aggravating because there were full service sites empty the entire time we were here, but no effort was made by the Park System to accommodate us. Such is life.

The day we arrived we went to town, walked around for a while, and had a nice dinner. On day two we headed down the Ice Parkway to the Columbia Ice Fields. We rode the big ice machines out to the glacier and walked around for a while. We also went to a new attraction just north of the ice fields that is a skywalk hanging over the valley. This was really a cool thing. They bus you from the ice fields area up the skywalk.
You walk along the side of the mountain on a concrete path with an interpretive recording about the geology and interesting facts about the glaciers, the formation of the valley, the wildlife, and the construction of this wild thing. It is much like the overhang that is in the Grand Canyon. Great fun. Eileen stayed at the ice fields due to her fear of heights. She really would have enjoyed this.

On the way back to the campground we say two nice black bears along the road. We watched one turn over rocks to eat the bugs and we were able to solve a life long mystery. Does a bear sh-t in the woods? We watched him complete this task before our very eyes. The answer to the question is YES.

After the bears we stopped at Athabasca Falls which is along the parkway. A very interesting area where the water that comes from the glaciers is funneled into a small area at a major pitch. A really cool place.

The next day we headed for Maligne Lake. This is a lake southeast of Jasper that is very beautiful. Eileen and I took the boat trip to a beautiful spot on the south end of the lake. Mark and Kathie hiked nearby and were lucky enough to see a moose. This is a beautiful place.

On our last day in Jasper we took my favorite hike. It's a place called the Valley of the Five Lakes. This was our second time on this hike. It is about a three mile hike to a series of lakes that are beautiful in color, crystal clear, and it is a very soothing and beautiful place. This is not an easy hike and I'm proud of my wife, with the broken foot, for doing the whole thing. I didn't even have to carry her at all. Click on the pictures below to see the beauty of this place.

Bottom line, we enjoyed the town and the entire area around Jasper once again. I really love this place. Canadian Rockies do just that, THEY ROCK!!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!