Precious Jasper

Jasper National Park may be one of Canada's more underrated park. During my talks with people when I was planning this I got many recommendations, 'go to Tofino, it's beautiful' or 'make sure you get to Montreal, it's got a rocking nightlife' etc, etc. However, no one ever suggested Jasper National Park, north of Banff, I think it may be the most exciting park we went to on this whole trip.

This place had everything, climbs, valleys, gorges and Animals! I found that with the other national parks they were very sterile. They had lots of plant life, trees, natural wonders, but they never had any animals bigger than a chipmunk. I don't know if I just went at the wrong time of year to see anything, or if I just had a bad location, but I just didn't see any. Now with Jasper, it seemed that I couldn't go more than 5 feet without seeing something. It was very fun.

Starting off the day we went for a hike to Old Fort lookout. On the way we saw a snooty fox who seemed he owned the path that was ahead of it. He just sauntered across the path, not even sparing us a second glance as he wondered off.

He's a bad mother-shut yo' mouth!

Once we got to the top of the hill we were able to get a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. That is, it would have been breathtaking if it wasn't starting to feel like a 'same old, same old' thing. I have to say if you're going to travel across Canada, space out the time you spend near the mountains, the best thing about them is that you can climb to the top of them and see the sights. Unfortunately after about the 10th climb, the whole idea starts to wear a little thin. It was still really fun though, and we got a great view of the town of Jasper itself.

Not as big as Banff, but better than one gas station as well.

On the way down from the Old Fort lookout we saw a few things worth noting. First, supporting my animal comments we saw a group of mountain sheep, complete with giant horns and all. They were more interested in chewing the grass on the side of the hill than us, so we were able to snap a few pictures. I wanted to get closer, but I also didn't want to end up in Jasper Hospital with blunt force trauma wounds.

Fortunately none of them decided to go all 'RAMbo' on me

Going back down the hill we were treated to an awesome sight of the athabasca river. It looks really cloudy but the water actually was quite clear. It was also freezing, once again we tested this with our own fingers so you know it's legit.

One Panorama of Many

After the hike up the lookout, we went over to a really nice lake, the water was literally clear as day. We were unfortunately not able to do the whole trail since there was a nest of eagles across part of it so it was closed down. However it will offered very nice views of the rest of the lake and it was still a nice hike along a handi-accessable trail (So it wasn't too difficult). As always, the walk was ringed by the omnipresent mountains of the region.

I have to say, don't go to national parks unless you REALLY like Lakes, Trees and dirt

On the way back to the parking lot we encountered a group of deer things. I think they are deer, Geoff thinks they are elk, he's the forest guy so he's probably right but I who knows? Just like the sheep they were more interested in lazing about than worrying about us. They didn't approach us for food or anything, but they just sort of glanced at us and when they deturmined we weren't going to eat them, they ignored us.

Just like when I go to the bars.

The final stop was the Malingne Canyon. This place was huge, basically a really deep, narrow canyon that had been warn away over thousands of years. It got its name when a Belgian Jesuit tried to cross the river with much difficulty, which I thought was hilarious. What was also interesting about the canyon was the surrounding area, the rocky cliffs surrouding it were riddled with underground rivers that came literally out the side of cliffs, feeding into the river. Eventually the river also goes underground, feeding into a lake that apparently is created out of nothingness. We didn't see the lake, but I did see the areas where water just came out of the cliffside. It was neat! Also the canyon was really friggin' deep.

It hard to tell, but that is about a 50m drop. That's 5 tens, and that will leave you in a bad way.

Finally we were on our away again. On the road we got one last shot of the mountains, these ones were wreathed in clouds so they almost looked like volcanoes. Fortunately we don't share the same geological conditions as Iceland so we don't have to worry about stranded flights anywhere around here.

Also, our mountains have pronounceable names

We're up in Whitecourt, AB so that Geoff could visit an old school friend. I have to say this much about Whitecourt, if you're looking for an idylic Alberta town this place is a good start, but for the love of god don't stay at the cheapest hotel. The Howard Johnson here is an absolute dive, I'm glad that we went out for drinks and food before we came back to sleep. Otherwise I think I would be grossing myself right now with thoughts of sleep. Fortunately I think I'm tired enough to ignore that fact for now, but I think from here on in we'll be sticking with Super 8's or Travellodges, at thest they seem to have standards.