Jasper National Park

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Got on the road to Jasper early and found a delicious bakery and the information center, where we got surprisingly little information. Altered our plans a bit based on some recent trailhead break-ins. Took a shuttle up to the Skyline trailhead and headed up the trail. The first 4-5 miles were up through spruce forest and then we got up on the “skyline,” and the rest of the way was primarily above treeline. The alpine meadows were fantastic and loaded with wildflowers and pudgy marmots. Day 2 was more of the same, with perfect weather and incredible views. By midday we were headed up to the “Notch,” which features ridiculous views of the Rockies in all directions. On the trail up, Lauren took a big digger off the side of the trail on some loose gravel. She used her shin to break her fall and slow her descent, and came up with quite a bloody leg. Our first injury of the summer! A nice nickel-sized gash of missing flesh…quite a badge of honor, although I’m not sure Lauren thought so. She toughed it up the mtn (what else could she do?) and we were rewarded with mountains galore….a perfect clear day. We further admired Lauren’s wound (many kind offers of assistance from fellow hikers) and ate lunch and then continued on the remaining 9 km, most of which was just amazingly beautiful walking along the mtn ridge. Saw a bighorn ram and her baby (littlehorn?). Nice campsites near a river. We hiked out the last 7 miles the next morning, calling and whistling for bears a lot of the time (didn’t scare a one).
After shuttling back to our truck, we headed for Wabasso campground and were awarded with one of the best sites there…relatively private and right next to the river. Back to Jasper for overpriced laundry, showers, and pizza, but it was all most welcome. We hung around Jasper for much of the next day too, catching the Simpsons movie (Spider Pig!) and tooling in an internet café for most of the day. We also found out we were offered positions in South Africa, which we readily accepted. We head South tomorrow….

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