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Marty & Maxwell

Kay and her kayak

Maxwell

Zoe

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Alberta, Canada, Jasper July 16-19

Jasper National Park, Alberta Canada.  We stayed at Whistler's campground within the park just outside of the town of Jasper.   Lots of trees and no satellite TV, but many mosquitoes.  Jasper is the farthest north our adventure will take us.  Some day Kay and I will come back to this part of Canada we truly do love this country and the Canadian Rockies.  Once again everyone should put it on their bucket list. 

 Jasper, Alberta, Canada


On the road to Jasper was very cloudy.  It made for some very different pictures.
Bonnie took this picture from her motor home.  That is us in the camper in front of them.
We found this guy along the road.  There was no place for us to stop, but Bonnie and Dick did stop to take this picture.
One of the many waterfalls along the road.
The mosquitoes were very bad at the Whistlers campground we had to set up a screen tent to be able to sit outside.  Inside the screen room it was not too bad.
Maxwell digging for a ground squirrel.  He was so determined to get it, he was trying to bit off part of the tree to get deeper.  He did get his whole head under the tree before he gave up.
Zoe checking out Maxwell's hole.
Jasper Lutheran Church
Jasper's historic raven totem pole in front of the visitor center and train station.
We took a side trip  up to the top of Mt. Edith Cavell, 3365 meters.
Kay being the tour guide and trying to figure out which glacier is which.

The bird on the corner of the sign showing the right way
Stream coming from the glacier on the mountain
Kay has to have at least one flower picture.   Although Alberta is considered the wild rose province and we saw a lot of them this is one of the few pictures we have of a wild rose.
Just enjoying the sunshine with a wonderful person.  Which one said that??
The Athabasca River headed to the falls.
Athabasca Falls, the river pours into a narrow canyon cut in a very hard Quartz-rich rock.  A thundering spectacle with a bridge and platforms at the better vantage points.
I tried to stop the water as it came over the rocks.
Kay and Bonnie standing at the base of the Jasper tramway.  In 1968 I took this very tram to the top.  I have been waiting for 44 years to do it again.
The base platform.  The tramway goes up Whistler Mountain which is 2464 meters high.
It has one transfer tower about 1/3 the way up
One of the gondolas on its way to the top
Kay and Bonnie enjoying the ride up.
For the price of the ticket and another $4.00 we got to enjoy a breakfast at the top of the mountain.  What a wonderful way to have a good meal.
A view of the town of Jasper from the top of the mountain.
Looking to the north from the top
Actually the top of the mountain is another hike up.  We passed on that one.  Guess we were high enough.
One of the many local residents.
Now this is what I call a happy couple.  What a great time we're having in the National Parks of Alberta.
Kay liked this weather station.
Some of the boardwalks around the top of the tram
Another view of the town of Jasper and the valley.

That is the top of the tramway you see at the top of the mountain.  The picture was taken looking up from about half way up to the base parking lot.

Medicine Lake is a most peculiar lake, the Maligne River flows in but there is no surface outlet.  Instead, the water flows underground for many kilometers, emerging in such places as Maligne Canyon and Lac Breauvert.
Maligne Lake is the largest lake in Jasper National Park (22km long) and the deepest (97 m).
It has a very nice deck outside the visitor center at Maligne Lake.
Need to take a boat ride.
The biggest stuffed bear I have ever seen.
Another view of Maligne Lake.
We saw this deer on our way out of the parking lot.
This bear was just off the road about 20 feet, chowing down on berries.
All the rules about bears is to stay back at least 100 meters,  Guess no one in this group read the rule book, including Bonnie and Kay.
That is about as close to a bear as we got.
The bear acted as if on one was around.  He just kept munching on the berry bush.  On the drive back to the campground from Maligne Lake we also had a beautiful wolf cross the road in front of us but unfortunately we couldn't get the cameras out fast enough.
When Dick and Bonnie went to have the fan belt fixed on their motor home, Kay and I and the dogs drove up to Pyramid Lake.  This bridge leads to an island to walk around.  Later we heard that there is a pack of wolves living near here but we were there at the wrong time of day to see them.
Pyramid Lake
Looking at the water from the bridge.  It was very clear.
Some of the flowers on the island
This mother elk was in the campground with her baby.
The baby elk still had a lot of its spots.
Another elk thought it would be a good place to bed down for the night alongside Dick's motor home.  Kay had to go check it out.
This raven sat for a long time on our wood pile.  There were a lot of ravens in the park.
Dick getting ready to cook our supper.  He's the master griller of our group.
After packing up the screen tent.  We got it all back into the zipper bag.
The winning team.