Jasper 2

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Today we decided to have a relaxing day! Firstly we enjoyed yet another delightful breakfast. Everything here is home-made even the yoghurt and granola and they provide brown paper bags for you to take away anything you can't eat then, for future consumption. So with lunch sorted we set off for a 'local' attraction, Miette Hot Springs. We had enquired how long it would take to get there; the answer about an hour. Not so local then. The journey was, as usual, not without interest and we did stop at one or two features. We spied 2 bald eagles sitting on top of two conifers, with the aid of the binoculars, but still no elk or moose.

Entrance to the hot springs was a reasonable price and our host had provided us with 2 towels. There are 4 pools in all at this hot spring complex; 2 large pools with water temperatures of about 40c and 35c and 2 small pools at about 17c and 13c. The hot pools were beautifully relaxing, but the cold ones freezing!! It was rather surreal to be lounging around in such warm water, whilst surrounded by huge snowy mountains and pool attendants wearing woolly hats!!

We spent a very pleasant morning there, stopping to eat our pack-up on the way back to Jasper, at yet another waterfall. It was by now very warm, 25c according to Dora, so we decided not to attempt a hike, but to explore the shops of Jasper town. We bought ourselves a delicious picnic from a local bakery and headed out to a few lakes, recommended by the helpful ranger in the tourist office.

The circuit around Lac Beauvert was only partially open due to elf carving season, but we were able to walk far enough to admire the beautifully manicured greens of the Jasper Park Lodge hotel. We then took the road out to visit Patricia and Pyramid Lakes, having waited until around 6pm to maximise our chances of seeing wildlife. Result - not too far into our journey we came up to a bend with a large elk grazing alongside the road. Then just like buses, we spied two more elk at another 2 locations just a little further up the road. Pyramid Lake had a lovely little island, accessible by a wooden bridge, whilst Patricia Lake apparently contains the wreck of a WW2 boat. We certainly saw no evidence of that, as we enjoyed our picnic on a small beach beside the Lake. On returning to the B&B we spied yet another large elk, so we were very pleased with our early evening exploit. Tomorrow we leave this delightful B&B to travel back down the Icefield Parkway to our next and final destination, Canmore.

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Comments

[Cath]

Food
Loving the pictures of the food! You should try a nice juicy steak. Ooh sorry, Dave try a nice juicy steak. Enjoy what is left and safe journey home.