Blogs from Jasper, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 14

Before we left the Crossings Motel, we walked around the large gift shop and hoped to get breakfast, but we missed that by five minutes. The only thing we could find to eat in the little food area was oatmeal and raisin cookies and nuts, which we got, and a drink. Just as well, as there was nothing to eat until we reached Jasper later that evening! The drive up towards Columbia Icefield was again spectacular, aided by the clear blue skies and oatmeal and raisin cookies! We pulled over at the numerous scenic stops and admired the views as well as keeping an eye out for any sudden appearance of bears or other vicious carnivorous animals on the prowl. Depending on the density of the surrounding forest, we would keep a safe running distance (usually ... read more

I did manage to get some sleep, but I still woke up feeling pretty shabby. Headache, dry sore throat, runny nose. It's so cold outside, and so warm and humid inside that your body doesn't know what is going on. We had planned to have breakfast at the Athabasca, but it wasn't open so we went across the road. It was clear sky as far as the eye could see, as well as there being a few stars, and of course huge snow covered mountains. Beck went and got me some aspirin which seemed to help a bit. After breakfast we checked out, and headed to the service station to clear the snow and ice off the windscreen, before we picked up Christian and Nicole from their hotel at 8 a.m. We grabbed some supplies from ... read more

We got up early to get to Jasper at a reasonable time, foregoing breakfast. In the car we had some fruit and vegemite on bread. While the scenery in Canada has been amazing so far, it went to a whole new level today. There were virtually no cars on the road, and those that were over took me quickly. We made a few stops to take photos of massive mountains and frozen lakes. Mt Robson is the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies (at nearly 4000 metres), and was the only one with some cloud around it. Hopefully the photos still turn out alright. There were road signs threatening sightings of moose, but there wasn't any today unfortunately. Just before Jasper we hit the British Columbia/Alberta border, and I got out in my t-shirt for a ... read more

Today was our first day in Jasper and we decided to go on a hike in search of wildlife. It was about -5 degrees C which is a perfect temperature for outdoor winter activities. We drove to Pyramid Lake and parked at the end of the road at Pyramid Island. We then started on a trail to Pyramid Bench. Pyramid Bench is a big ridge with smaller ridges jutting out of it. There is series of trails that cross one another and cover most of the Bench. We started at the far end and followed the trail up a steep incline to the top of Bench. We then followed the main trail along the edge of the bench. We were so keen to see wildlife that we ended up following the main trail for five hours! ... read more

Christmas was all about improvisation and eating! Despite the fact that the snow was melting and our hopes of a white Christmas with it, we set about having a memorable Christmas. In the morning of Christmas Eve, we went into the town to buy everything we needed. That included sneaking around town, trying to buy presents for each other without being seen, a difficult task in a town the size of Jasper! We headed home to start cooking. We were determined to have a christmas tree of sorts and Quin set out to find one. He went down the street and snuck into a neighbour's yard where he yanked a branch of their pine tree! We propped the "tree" up in a pot and decorated it with whatever we could find. Foil balls, string, paper stars, ... read more