Jasper NP - horses and laundry

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We’re off! It rained hard early this morning but we stayed nice and dry in the tent… so far it has held up very well. We got to camp around 7:30-8pm last night and set up the tent. I looked over to the next campsite and 3 large elk were wandering on through! We worked until about 9:30 getting the camp ready (rain tarp, got a fire going, etc.). The wood was supplied by the campground (no picking wood off the ground) and it sucked. The wood was very green and could not be lit due to the lack of tinder. Greg used the “scoutmaster helper” - white gas. We finally got settled in around 10 and finished off the leftover spaghetti. Our site is near the bathrooms which are very nice & clean. I couldn’t believe it! So far, a great experience.
We drove through the town of Jasper and checked out the local sights… the mountains and rivers are spectacular. Greg booked a 1hr horseback ride @ the pyramid riding stables. Before the ride we had lunch by Pyramid lake & we crossed a bridge to get to the small island in the middle of the lake. The lake was so still, so serene… it was like looking at glass & very dark green in color. I tried to take a picture of the reflection of the trees but I don’t know if it worked or not. We started our ride at 1:30 and had 4 others in our group. My horse’s name was Buster and Greg’s was Plinko. Plinko liked to take the high road through tall grass so he could grab a few bites (which was not allowed). Buster liked to be nose to butt with the next horse in front of him. Greg had to keep working to keep Plinko under control the entire ride. Once we were done it just dumped rain… perfect timing! We were happy that we didn’t book the 2:30 ride J.
Later in the afternoon we enjoyed some time in the campsite and then went into town to do some laundry and shopping. There was a really nice native arts store that had a mix of PacNW and Iriquois art. We joked that we should get G’s dad another mask and give it to Sue and Gene for Christmas (it would not be very popular with Sue). Dinner was at Jasper brewing company where the taster tray was 6x6oz of beer… Greg was very happy. We got back to camp before dusk and worked again on the fire (again using the white gas to get everything going).

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Photos

The Jasper campsite
Here's our full blown campsite with the tent, tarp, chairs, and car.

Pyramid Lake
These kinds of views are everywhere. Check out the cool reflections!

Laura on the hoof
Here's Laura and her trusty steed Buster.

Greg on the hoof
Here's Greg and his not so trusty steed Plinko.

Athabasca river
Here's the Athabasca valley from our horse ride.

Jasper, AB
Here's the main street in downtown Jasper.