|
Leaving Calgary behind and heading for the mountains. We arrived at the
airport at 1:30 in the afternoon, had a late lunch in Banff and finally
got to Jasper at around 8 PM. It was still light when we arrived! |
 |
This is the first real glimpse we had of the mountains close up. It was
a cloudy day, but the scenery was still impressive. |
 |
You can really tell where "ground level" used to be before the
plates got so active. It was amazing to see some of the stratification. |
 |
The view from our balcony at the Jasper Park Lodge. It was a wonderful
place. |
 |
There was a path that went all the way around Lake Beauvert at the Jasper
Park Lodge. It was a wet day, but still beautiful. |
 |
Jim watching the duck that was diving for its breakfast. |
 |
Later that day, we went up the Jasper Tramway on "The Whistlers,"
named for the hoary marmots that live up there. They were all hiding from
the cold, though, so we didn't see any. Heard from others that they had
seen a mother bear and two cubs from the tram, but we didn't. |
 |
The town visible is Jasper - across the river and the highway is Lake
Beauvert, where the Jasper Park Lodge is situated. |
 |
People were actually climbing up to the summit, although the snow was
freshly fallen and a little slick. We went up a little ways, but not too
far, as it appeared to be a long way down! |
 |
Another view of the mountains surrounding the area, with that fresh snow. |
 |
The tram, on its way up. It took 8 minutes to arrive at the top. There
was a guide who told us about the local environment during that time, and
made jokes about the operation of the mechanism... |
 |
An old locomotive in the town of Jasper. |
 |
Scenic viewpoint |
 |
The other direction from the scenic viewpoint. Note the odd color of the
water. This river was fed by the glacier, and had what they call "rock
flour" suspended in it. It causes the water to be a sort of turquoise
blue. |
 |
There were mountain goats on the slopes across the road from this area;
we saw about 12-13 of them. We never saw any others closer than that. |
 |
Jim testing the temperature of the glacier-fed river. It was on the cool
side, to say the least. Not something I'd care to go swimming in. |
 |
The aspens were just beginning to turn; later on in the week they were
gorgeous. |
 |
Everywhere you looked, it was spectacular. |
 |
Right off the side of the trail - it didn't smell of pepper and have bells
in it, so it wasn't from a grizzly. We started making more noise anyway,
as even black bears are not fun to meet by surprise. |
 |
Yet another scenic vista |
 |
We saw a couple of these guys, this one up near Jasper and another down
in Banff. Hardy little buggers! |
 |
Athabasca Falls - wish we could have captured the sound! There was a great
trail that went all around the area, with informative signs about the growth
of the falls and the local history. |
 |
More of the falls, with a mountain (I forget which) in the background. |
 |
The river leaving the falls - note the color. |
 |
Jim, with the start of the falls behind him. It didn't rain, but it sure
felt that it was going to. |
 |
Yeah, I was there, too. |