With so many new places to visit, it is not been often that we choose to visit a place for a second time.
This revisit is a late fall road trip (middle of October), and we are headed for Jasper National Park and Yoho National Park with a drive by of Kamloops to visit an old friend, Edmonton to visit some of our extended Chinese family and Calgary to visit a very pregnant niece. A little late for a trip up the Yellowhead Highway but Nonie has a wedding quilt to deliver to Edmonton and nothing will stop that from happening.
Our plan was after a short visit to Kamloops, to spend two full days in Jasper doing some hiking before heading to Edmonton. We had visited Jasper many years ago. So long ago we cannot remember the year. But it was one of those magical trips that had cemented into my psyche that we needed to and would visit again.
Our best guess was around 2004. On that trip, we tried to take in everything the park had to offer. Cycling on a very skinny single track along the Athabasca River.
A hike into Mount Edith Cavell and an up close look at the Cavell Glacier. With the added excitement of being chased off the mountain by a nasty rain squall.
The icing on the cake for that trip (no pun intended) was a guided hike deep onto the Athabasca Glacier. (Glacier, ice, get it?)
The current glacier is around 300 square kilometres with thicknesses of between 90 and 300 metres. 100 years ago, it was ten times that size.
The sun was shining and despite the fact that the glacier was almost 100 metres deep below our feet, it was melting fast.
It is estimated that the glacier is now losing about 5 metres a year on the surface despite getting annual snowfalls of between 5 and 10 metres. It would be a shame that our grandchildren might not have the opportunity to enjoy the same adventures that we have had.
A surprise on the last day of our trip, when we awoke to snow and me with only shorts.
Our return to Jasper in the middle of October meant seeing some snow was a definite possibility, and see some snow, we did.
From Kamloops to Jasper, we were hit by snow squalls all along the way. Thankfully the temperatures stayed above freezing and the roads were just slushy and wet.
We woke up in Jasper to thick over cast skies and a hint of fresh white stuff on the mountainsides.
Today we were planning a ride up the Jasper tramway where we would connect with a well marked trail up to the summit of Mount Whistler. We arrived to find the tram shut down due to the low clouds and the 20 centimetres of fresh snow they received at the terminus. Back to town for coffee and to keep our eye on the mountain tops. If we didn't see them clear in an hour, we would head out to hike the Maligne Lake trail.
Before our coffee could get cold, the top of Whistler was bathed in sunshine. Back at the tram, we found it open and headed up. But by the time we pulled into the terminus, the summit was once again socked in.
Undaunted, we headed for the summit. The clearly marked trail was covered in fresh snow, luckily, some one else had already made the trek so we were able to follow their foot steps in the snow. Hopefully they knew where they were going.
The summit of Mount Whistler is at 2500 meters with the tram terminus at 2300 meters. That left us with a climb of 200 meters over a 1.5 kilometer trail. 90 minutes later, the couple who had led the way, took our picture before they headed back down making new tracks for us.
Actually, we had not reached the exact summit, there was one last climb. Not to be undertaken with out oxygen.
As we headed back down, the clouds again moved on giving us a pretty decent view for a few minutes.
Jasper, day 2, we woke to a low, dark clouds, 2 centimetres of fresh powder and still snowing. Before we finished coffee the cloud level rose and the snow stopped. Today we were hiking the Maligne Lake trail and the Maligne Canyon Trail.
Maligne Lake was our first stop and once again, we lucked out and were able to follow in the footsteps of others and not have to break new trails through the snow.
The Maligne Canyon Trail is at a lower elevation then the Lake so the snow had somewhat melted by the time we started our hike here.
But enough was left to create some beautiful views along the way.
The trail drops down for about 4 kilometres crossing the canyon five times. The 4 K downy was more fun than the 4 K uppy. Slippery, slushy, sloppy would best describe the conditions.
The fresh snow and conditions kept most of the tourists corralled to the top first 500 metres of the trail leaving the rest of the trail vacant and undisturbed.
A great hike!
Quick stops in Edmonton, with a visit to the Edmonton Mall then on to Calgary before settling into our little log cabin in Field B.C.
A day hiking in the Yoho National Park was planned for the next stay.
We have driven through Yoho several times over the years but never stopped to doing any hiking. It looked like we might not get the chance this trip as we discovered that season was over and that they had closed most of the access roads into the trail heads. A visit to the still open visitor centre and we got directions to some areas that were still accessible.
Our first stop was a 8 kilometre hike into Wapta Falls. The road was closed into the trail head so we had to walk a couple of extra kilometres along the access road before hitting the trail into the Falls.
The extra distance was well worth the effort.
While not Niagara Falls big, they were none the less majestic. The very cold water glistened with the iridescent blue-green colour often found from glacial water.
The colour is created by glacial sediment called glacial flour and is the result of erosion of the bedrock. The fine particles are suspended in the water imparting the distinctive and recognizable colours of glacial water
This revisit is a late fall road trip (middle of October), and we are headed for Jasper National Park and Yoho National Park with a drive by of Kamloops to visit an old friend, Edmonton to visit some of our extended Chinese family and Calgary to visit a very pregnant niece. A little late for a trip up the Yellowhead Highway but Nonie has a wedding quilt to deliver to Edmonton and nothing will stop that from happening.
Our plan was after a short visit to Kamloops, to spend two full days in Jasper doing some hiking before heading to Edmonton. We had visited Jasper many years ago. So long ago we cannot remember the year. But it was one of those magical trips that had cemented into my psyche that we needed to and would visit again.
Our best guess was around 2004. On that trip, we tried to take in everything the park had to offer. Cycling on a very skinny single track along the Athabasca River.
A hike into Mount Edith Cavell and an up close look at the Cavell Glacier. With the added excitement of being chased off the mountain by a nasty rain squall.
The icing on the cake for that trip (no pun intended) was a guided hike deep onto the Athabasca Glacier. (Glacier, ice, get it?)
The current glacier is around 300 square kilometres with thicknesses of between 90 and 300 metres. 100 years ago, it was ten times that size.
The sun was shining and despite the fact that the glacier was almost 100 metres deep below our feet, it was melting fast.
It is estimated that the glacier is now losing about 5 metres a year on the surface despite getting annual snowfalls of between 5 and 10 metres. It would be a shame that our grandchildren might not have the opportunity to enjoy the same adventures that we have had.
A surprise on the last day of our trip, when we awoke to snow and me with only shorts.
Our return to Jasper in the middle of October meant seeing some snow was a definite possibility, and see some snow, we did.
From Kamloops to Jasper, we were hit by snow squalls all along the way. Thankfully the temperatures stayed above freezing and the roads were just slushy and wet.
We woke up in Jasper to thick over cast skies and a hint of fresh white stuff on the mountainsides.
Today we were planning a ride up the Jasper tramway where we would connect with a well marked trail up to the summit of Mount Whistler. We arrived to find the tram shut down due to the low clouds and the 20 centimetres of fresh snow they received at the terminus. Back to town for coffee and to keep our eye on the mountain tops. If we didn't see them clear in an hour, we would head out to hike the Maligne Lake trail.
Before our coffee could get cold, the top of Whistler was bathed in sunshine. Back at the tram, we found it open and headed up. But by the time we pulled into the terminus, the summit was once again socked in.
Undaunted, we headed for the summit. The clearly marked trail was covered in fresh snow, luckily, some one else had already made the trek so we were able to follow their foot steps in the snow. Hopefully they knew where they were going.
The summit of Mount Whistler is at 2500 meters with the tram terminus at 2300 meters. That left us with a climb of 200 meters over a 1.5 kilometer trail. 90 minutes later, the couple who had led the way, took our picture before they headed back down making new tracks for us.
Actually, we had not reached the exact summit, there was one last climb. Not to be undertaken with out oxygen.
As we headed back down, the clouds again moved on giving us a pretty decent view for a few minutes.
Jasper, day 2, we woke to a low, dark clouds, 2 centimetres of fresh powder and still snowing. Before we finished coffee the cloud level rose and the snow stopped. Today we were hiking the Maligne Lake trail and the Maligne Canyon Trail.
Maligne Lake was our first stop and once again, we lucked out and were able to follow in the footsteps of others and not have to break new trails through the snow.
The Maligne Canyon Trail is at a lower elevation then the Lake so the snow had somewhat melted by the time we started our hike here.
But enough was left to create some beautiful views along the way.
The trail drops down for about 4 kilometres crossing the canyon five times. The 4 K downy was more fun than the 4 K uppy. Slippery, slushy, sloppy would best describe the conditions.
The fresh snow and conditions kept most of the tourists corralled to the top first 500 metres of the trail leaving the rest of the trail vacant and undisturbed.
A great hike!
Quick stops in Edmonton, with a visit to the Edmonton Mall then on to Calgary before settling into our little log cabin in Field B.C.
A day hiking in the Yoho National Park was planned for the next stay.
We have driven through Yoho several times over the years but never stopped to doing any hiking. It looked like we might not get the chance this trip as we discovered that season was over and that they had closed most of the access roads into the trail heads. A visit to the still open visitor centre and we got directions to some areas that were still accessible.
Our first stop was a 8 kilometre hike into Wapta Falls. The road was closed into the trail head so we had to walk a couple of extra kilometres along the access road before hitting the trail into the Falls.
The extra distance was well worth the effort.
While not Niagara Falls big, they were none the less majestic. The very cold water glistened with the iridescent blue-green colour often found from glacial water.
The colour is created by glacial sediment called glacial flour and is the result of erosion of the bedrock. The fine particles are suspended in the water imparting the distinctive and recognizable colours of glacial water
Our next stop was Emerald Lake.
The lake gets its name from?
The deep turquoise green colour of the lake.
The colour is created by?
Glacial flour.
The last stop of the day was the Natural Bridge. A rock formation that spans the Kicking Horse River near Field.
From here, we spent an hour exploring the Kicking Horse river.
We have added Yoho to our "must see again" list. There is so much more to explore. Perhaps during a warmer season.
It was back to our little log cabin to barbecue some steaks and with some sadness, plan our trip home.
