With a sunny morning on Wednesday, we drove about 2 hours up to Jasper from our Rampart campsite. The small town is a lot more quaint than the more-touristy Banff. From the top of The Whistlers (the mountain named after the Hoary Marmot, which makes a whistling sound), we could see some of the tallest peaks in the Canadian Rockies, several rivers & lakes of differing colors, and the village itself. The 25-passenger tram took us about a kilometer up to a point on the mountain (about 2300 meters elev), and we then hiked about 1.5 km further up on a meandering rocky trail. Above the tree line, when not enjoying the wider view, you start to notice the details of the mosses and small alpine flowers. Snow drifts still existed on the shaded north/east sides and it was about 20 degrees cooler than at the base. Good thing this boy scout brought an extra jacket for dad. After we made it to the broze monument on top, the downhill portion went pretty quickly. A cold India Pale Ale awaited me at the upper Alpine Cafe, where we had a snack before taking the 7 min ride back down to the valley (I think mom finished her Bacardi Breeze first though :). Our first pitstop was Petro Canada, where we updated the blog (after 3 days) and checked email, courtesy of someone's generous open internet. We rested our tired feet at a nice dinner in a crowded upstairs joint in Jasper, then made the twilight trip back to camp. South of town, we came across a small herd of elk, then saw a few shaggy white mountain goats wandering near the roadside about an hour later. And as we turned into our primitive campground, a medium-sized black bear greeted us about 5 meters away from the car (it was not nearly as photogenic as the one we saw the other day). Another nice, full day.
Today, Thursday, has been a restful time in camp. Dad and I sawed a fallen Doug Fir tree which had been blocking the short trail from our site to the river, and somehow managed to drag the upper part over the bank and let it go into the swift, cold N. Saskatckewan. We all three took about an hour hike north along the river, enjoying the warm sunny day, skipping rocks, and looking at the many different flowers (mom picked one--don't tell anyone). Back to camp for hobos on the fire and some good ale. It will be my last evening in the Rockies with the folks. The week has passed amazingly fast and I wish I had another with them.
We leave for Lake Louise in the early morn, where I'll catch the 8 am Greyhound back to Calgary (where I stay until Monday). Talk to you later!
Jay
To all,
This morning we woke up at 0530 so that we could get Jay to the Greyhound bus at Lake Louise, about 75 miles south of the campsite. We arrived early enough to venture up to Lake Louise and take some early morning pictures of the Lake. It was smooth as glass and the reflection in the water of the mountain and the glacier was perfect. After taking Jay to the bus, Barbara and I took a short trip to Moraine Lake. It is another pretty spot with a glass smooth lake.
This will be our last night at Rampart Creek campground. We have for the last four nights had a great place to enjoy. We have used it as a base camp and traveled to these different places. In the evening we would just sit around the campfire, listen to music, and talk about the day's events. The Canadian Rockies will always be a special place to us. The week spent with our son, Jay, made it very nice. We remember when he was young and we would travel to Yellowstone. This time he was a guide for us, he did the navigating and much of the planning.
Tomorrow we travel to Jasper, Ab, and then to a highway junction just west of Hinton on highway 16 for the trip toward Alaska.
for Vickie and Lowell, we got your voice message and will try to give you a call.
John
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