Jasper
“……Believe
me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolute nothing -- half so much
worth doing as simply messing about in boats. …..-- or with boats…….In
or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's
the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you
arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether
you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything
in particular…..”
Kenneth Grahame “The Wind in the Willows”
Blue River
Setting out early
Sunday morning, we travelled North from Vernon, through Kamloops, criss-crossing
the North Thompson River as we made our way towards Blue River. We stretched
our legs wandering around a nearby lake; a lone fisherman was trying his
luck, there were certainly plenty of mosquitoes to entice the fish to the
surface for him. A light drizzle of rain dampened the forest floor and
the air became pungent with cedar and spruce. The lake was flanked on one
shore by a lodge; sand had been pumped onto one section to create a "beach",
with a 1m, 2m, and 5m diving boards. Empty and wet, it reminded us how
quickly the summer passes here, the scorching summer days are just a fleeting
memory...
Wapiti Campground
We awoke to a light
sprinkling of rain that cleared as we approached towering Mt. Robson. The
summit, at 3954m, was shrouded in mist; its the tallest peak in the Canadian
Rockies. As we passed Moose Lake, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds...we
were watching expectantly for moose (because of the lake......and consequently
saw none) but spied a rather large black bear very close to the shoulder
of the road, foraging for berries in the tall grass. We were soon at the
Alberta border and purchased a week pass to the National Parks as we intended
visiting Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Glacier and Revelstoke National Parks....We
registered at our campground Wapiti (which means "Elk" in Cree) which is
on the shores of the Athabasca River.
We spent the afternoon
getting our bearings, visiting nearby lakes and browsing through the shops
and info. centres in the town of Jasper. The boys treated me to dinner
for my thirty-something birthday...what a blessing not to cook in camp
for a night...
Whitewater-rafting on the Athabasca R.
Okay, there's not
too much white-water on this one, and just as well because the boys would
have bailed out at anything higher than a class 2. We didn't have to wear
wetsuits or helmets, so that should give you an indication of just how
rough it was (or wasn't!!) But the water was around 3C according to our
guide, and he did take us over a few white-caps, and we did manage to get
soaked to the skin anyway....however, the trip was a lazy hour and a half
and the mid-morning sunshine caressed our bare arms and faces as we drifted
along, watched by a family of Osprey and an inquisitive elk. We chatted
(or was that chattered!!) with our amiable companions and our friendly
guide, and let the river take us through gentle eddies, spinning us in
the turbulent whirlpools and crashing through standing waves, (to the delighted
squeals of the junior rafters).
Maligne Canyon
We spent the rest
of the afternoon exploring Maligne Canyon with its waterfalls plunging
into narrow gorges, scouring the rock walls until they form huge "bowls"
or "potholes", where the relentless water churns and hurries to widen its
path....and further along to Medicine and Maligne Lakes with their remarkable
pigmented water. 
We
were stopped by curious Bighorn Sheep that had wandered onto the middle
of the road; not only were the sheep holding us up...... don't you just
love those nuisance tourists that like to park in the middle of a single
lane road for a snap-shot and a possible feature-length video?
On a brighter note,
we were also fortunate to see plenty of elk and some mule deer along that
road.
Jasper Park Lodge
As evening approached,
we strolled around the grounds and lake of the Jasper Park Lodge. Having
seen both the Chateau Lake Louise and the Banff Springs Hotel, in my opinion
the Jasper Lodge has far more appeal with its beautiful golf course, individual
"log cabins" and elegant, world class restaurants....the views are spectacular
at all four compass points... (its so easy to hand out criticism when your
camping in a tent!!)
Angel Glacier
A short drive along
Whistler's Mountain road found us at the Terminal for the Tramway. Even
at this elevation, you have a wonderful view of the Rockies...the tram
climbs another 1000 meters in elevation and just looking at it.....well,
lets just say we didn't get around to it, the lines were a mile long, we
had another appointment...blah,blah,blah....(the kids, however, were very
disappointed..Mum's just a big acrophobic-scaredycat)
Instead we drive
to Mt. Edith Cavell, 
with
her distinctive sedimentary layers capped with snow, giving you the impression
someone's taken a huge rake through the ice-cap. We hiked about half a
mile to the base of the wide gorge that the Angel Glacier feeds into. Named
for her out-stretched "wings" of ice, the "toe" of the Angel Glacier melts
each summer, gallons of water cascading down into the melt-water pool below.
The limestone suspended in the water gives it a curious milky green colour,
and surrounding edges are banked with huge chunks of ice. The boys jumped
on a few "icebergs" as five-year olds are apt to do at such occasions,
oblivious to the fact, that the cascade above them contained water that
had been trapped in ice for thousands of years......
As we trekked out
again, a sudden noise, like the cracking of a tree limb splintering, reverberated
around the walls of the gorge, as we looked back to watch blocks of ice
crumbling from the glacier wall, disintegrating into a shower of sparkling
"snow". Our rafting guide had said that it takes about twenty-four hours
for the melted ice to reach the point in the river where we had been rafting....which
would explain the 3C of course, not to mention that peculiar colour!!
Columbia Icefields
After spending
three relaxing days at Wapiti, we departed Jasper in a brief thunderstorm,
only to head south along the Icefields Parkway into wonderful sunshine...more
waterfalls, countless wayside stops with the usual jaw-dropping, eye-popping
views...even the kids were inspired to a few "wow"s. Not my most memorable
trek (with a boy on my back, and a steep incline) but definitely the most
beautiful lake of the journey, would have to be Peyto Lake.
Another little
arduous trek, which fortunately the boys made all on their own....was the
climb to touch the "toe" of the massive Athabasca Glacier...and watch some
very foolish people jumping over precipitous crevasses without any guide...it
was interesting to see the markers that signified the "retreat" of the
glacier, that experts say is caused by "global warming"...(yet, in Alaska,
there is a glacier that is "growing" steadily each year!!)
By mid-afternoon
we have reached Lake Louise and drive to the Chateau for a peek at the
lake that has finally melted and will soon freeze again. Lake Louise is
packed with tourists, but nevertheless we stay for a revitalizing hot chocolate
before heading off to our destination of Kicking Horse Creek Campground....we
are soon told that this popular camp is usually filled by 11 am!! as its
one of the few in the area that has showers...you'd think after six weeks
on the road we would know this by now!!!!!!!!!!
However we soon
reevaluate the situation and say, to hell with showers, who's gonna care?..the
bears??...well,....yes....probably.....
Its now raining
cats and dogs and getting darker, so we turn into Hoodoos Campground (not
the most inviting name, I admit).
We pitch the tent
in the rain which is now nothing more than a light drizzle, drive down
to pay our camp fees and run into the ranger on her way to do rounds, she
casually mentions that someone has seen one of the cubs on the west side
of camp. We had already seen the "memo" posted at the restrooms describing
"Hoodoo" a female black bear, who comes back to the area every year with
her cubs, and has been doing so for nine years, without incident...she
doesn't raid garbage bins, and has never bothered the campers. Hoodoos
Campground has only a hundred camp sites which are very spread out throughout
the forest right at the base of the mountains. Many of the pines had their
bark stripped to expose the sap, and fallen logs in the area had been torn
apart to feed on the ants. But signs of bears were all that we saw,
and true to her habit, Hoodoos didn't bother any campers. We have camped
in about twenty different grounds in the last month...some excellent, some
I wouldn't recommend......but this one was by far, my favourite. I wandered
along a track for a few minutes: there was no irritating smell of camp-fires,
no children chatter, no wood-chopping....just the sound of the forest and
a nearby stream...chipmunks scampered up nearby trees, puffing out their
cheeks with their noisy chattering, and I marvelled at those brave souls
armed with their bear-bells and their dehydrated vegies, going "val-de-re-val-de-raing"
off into the back country to get in touch with nature. (Incidentally, while
every second hiker had a set of those wretched bells, Parks and Wildlife
say don't waste your money, bears are more likely to be alerted if you
sing or clap...hey, I'll even do the Hokey-pokey if it helps)
Emerald Lake
Jasper is described
as the "jewel of the Rockies", and Emerald Lake would undeniably be the
jewel in Yoho Park. The rain had cleared during the night and we awoke
to the promise of a warm day. We waited for the sun to dry out our tent,...and
waited...and waited...and finally around 9 am it crept over the summit
of the mountain to our east!! We had a pleasant drive to Emerald Lake and
arrived amidst the hustle and bustle of a handful of tourist buses. Everyone
was headed to the coffee shop or a brisk walk around the lake...so we opted
to avoid them all and jumped in a rowboat and rowed to the middle of the
lake. We spent an hour just "messing about", snapping pics and candid video
and making sure the boys didn't tip us in the drink...it was a warm morning,
but the lakes are glacial-fed.
Revelstoke
Back on the road
and soon we were driving in peace and quiet (which is extremely rare these
days). We reached Revelstoke late afternoon and climbed the 26kms of winding
road to the summit and the "meadows in the sky". 
The
wildflowers were stunning, splashes of colour everywhere. Nathan and I
walked to one peak to snap a shot of Lake Revelstoke and the Columbia River
as Hayden was reluctant to be led on any wild goose chases that may involve
looking at another 'lake' or 'mountain' or 'flower'.
It was a busy week, but a wonderful finale to our camping adventure this summer...in all, we've travelled well over 8,000kms since we left Vernon on July 3rd...we've visited ten National Parks, and State parks too numerous to count, stepped in four different States of America and two Canadian Provinces, met some incredibly delightful and interesting people. We hope that the boys are old enough that they will remember much of what they have experienced, and through photographs and our written descriptions the memory of our travels will be real to them.
Tramway
at Whistler's Mtn Road
Accomodation/Activities
in Jasper
Jasper
Raft Tours
Bearly
Funny
Bearly
Funny II
Jasper
Tours
Jasper
National Park
Mount
Revelstoke National Park
Photos of the trip 
Photo
of the Jones' Raft (that's us on the back right)
