Tripping with MikenJudy 2012: Hip-Hip-Hooray, We're Back Home in the U S A

Hi All:

We finally got back home to the USA after having the rig inspected for contraband (our green onions were confiscated). We're spending the night in Naples (Idaho that is).

We’ve spent the last eight days enjoying the beauty of the Canadian Rockies. The two unofficial capitals are the towns of Jasper and Banff, connected by the 142 mile Icefields Parkway.

Jasper National Park

Our first stay was four days in Jasper National Park which runs along the eastern slopes of the Rockies. This is Canada’s largest mountain park covering 4,200 square miles of towering peaks, broad lake filled valleys, and dense forests. It is the home of the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. We are staying at Whistler Campground in the park, which has 781 sites. They are spread out with greenery separating each one. Our trip started with temperatures in the fifties and reached a high of eighty as we got closer to Jasper. It was a gorgeous sunny day.

Our first stop the next morning was Medicine Lake. The Maligne River flows in, but where does it flow out? During the warm weather, run-off and glacial melt flood the lake; in the fall the lake drains via sinkholes at the south end, like an unplugged bathtub! Following a limestone cave system, the water surfaces around the area of Maligne Canyon. It is believed to be one of the largest underground systems in North America. Next on our agenda was a boat ride on Maligne Lake, the largest body of water in the Canadian Rockies. We left the dock and it took almost an hour to get to Spirit Island where we got off the boat (with about 55 other passengers) and walked a short path to where we could take pictures of more beautiful scenery. We saw several glaciers on the ride.

On our return drive we saw a ‘family of five’ Big Horn Sheep wandering on the road and the parking lot by Medicine Lake. They were busy licking salt off car tires and bugs off car grills. It’s amazing how many vehicles park in the lot and on the road because there are animals to photograph. Of course, we are some of those people!

Our next stop was Maligne Canyon which Mike hiked while Judy read in the truck. There are six foot bridges over the canyon, but number five was closed so nobody could go the entire length, which Mike felt he wasn’t going to do since the hike was pretty steep and strenuous. It is a very deep, narrow canyon and very beautiful!

Next we toured the Fairmont Jasper Lodge. Over 900 acres of pristine forest surround this lodge, which is Jasper’s only year-round resort. Their grounds are well-manicured and gorgeous. We walked from the farthest parking lot for visitors to and through the lobby of the lodge to see the pool and lake behind the building. They have a spa, Canada’s #1 golf resort and many more amenities to spoil those who can afford it!

Before returning to the campground from Jasper, we saw many vehicles parked in parking areas and in the road. We figured there must be some kind of animal in the area, so we parked and got the cameras ready. Wow, a herd of female elk with a few young ones grazing on the grasses by the side of the road. In the distance we heard a strange (to us) noise coming from the woods a few times, and FINALLY out comes this HUGE male with quite a rack on him. He walked to where his harem was and made sure that those two-legged animals with the cameras didn’t come close. Quite a few times it looked as though he was going to come on the road as he feigned a charge several times, which made everyone scatter.

When we were getting in the truck, which was on the other side of the road Judy heard, and then saw three other female elk grazing. We left, not knowing whether a male showed up or not. What started out to be a quiet wildlife day ended up pretty exciting. We were gone more than 8 hours.

The next day our first stop was Sunwapta Falls, a scenic hour drive from the campground along the Icefields Parkway. At the end of the last ice age, a glacial moraine blocked the Sunwapta Rivers northerly course. The water spilled into a rock fault and created the falls. It was a pleasant hike through a pine forest to view several cascades. Our next stop was Athabasca Falls where the river is forced through a narrow canyon and over a cliff. Our last stop was to be Mt. Edith Cavell which we enjoyed on our last visit here six years ago. Unfortunately the road is closed indefinitely due to a piece of glacier that broke off causing a mudslide.