Today, after the snow of yesterday, I was determined to wear my shorts. Peeking out of the window first thing this morning it looked like blue skies, so the shorts went on. You have to remember we are at about 4,000 feet here, going up to over 6,000 feet in some places... it gets quite fresh around the ankles.
We started the day off at the Athabasca Falls. This is a place where the Athabasca River, flowing from the glacier we visited yesterday, drops down 23 metres in a startling show of turbulence and power. From here the river continues on an amazing journey, up through the north west of Alberta (where it is used in the tar sands, two barrels of water being needed in the manufacture one barrel of oil), before finally spilling out into the Arctic Ocean.
From the falls we then travelled to Mount Edith Cavell (named for a World War 1 nurse who was executed by the Germans for helping allied soldiers escape). The foot of the mountain is reached along a narrow and twisty road, possibly the worst maintained road we've travelled so far in Alberta. But then, the roads hereabouts receive such punishment, baking hot sun in one season, sub-zero temperatures in the next. The road to the mountain is stunning, with amazing (yes, r-sum) views available on all sides. Sometimes I could feel my vertigo kicking in when faced with the enormity of some of the mountains, the sheer, dreadfull drops so intimidating.
We ate lunch at the foot of the mountain, me all the while scanning the trees for signs of bears. The only scavenger we saw, however, was a large crow. It looked pretty vicious though.
Our next stop was Maligne Lake, on the other side of Jasper, about 40 miles to the north. Maligne Lake is the largest lake in the Canadian Rockies. On our way there we rounded a corner and beheld the amazing Medicine Lake. Canada - well, Alberta - keeps doing this to us, throwing up surprises that we hadn't expected. The view over Medicine Lake is nothing short of stunning. And it has a wonderful story to tell. Every year, the waters of Medicine Lake just dry up. The First Nations people thought that evil spirits were taking the water away, and thought there was "bad medicine" at work. It turns out that beneath the lake are a series of microscopic drainage holes, and the whole lake just drains away like water in a sink when you pull the plug out. Over the winter snow falls in the mountains, it melts and fills the lake up again. During the summer, it drains away.
Between Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake we encountered another of the gaggles of cars. Bear? Elk? Moose?
This time it was three bears, a mother and her two cubs. Yes the cubs were cute, but my gosh these are WILD ANIMALS, so I was appalled to see a number of people out of their cars, photographing and videoing the trio, from as little as twenty feet away. I was even more appalled when my wife of 11 years, who has been listening to me recount tales of horror from my "Bear Attacks" book, left the safety of H and joined the ranks of congenital idiots to take a photograph of the mother bear no better than the one I took through the open window of our vehicle. When she returned we had a short discussion of the "these aren't little people in bear costumes" nature.
It was amazing and special to see this mother bear and her two cubs. But the more "habituated" those bears become around humans, the more likely they are to enter areas where humans congregate. And a bear like that is dangerous, and may have to be killed. So approaching bears in order to take photographs is dangerous not only for the person taking the photographs, but also dangerous for the bear. Here endeth the lesson.
Sandra did get a pretty good photo though.
Maligne Lake itself was decent looking from the shore, but we also took one of the (overpriced?) boat tours. It was an interesting and informative tour, with plenty of photo opportunities, and also a chance to stop off at an island (with a $200,000 eco-friendly toilet, yowzer) and look out at one of the most amazing views we've seen so far. Maybe it wasn't an overpriced boat tour after all.
Today was a day that went mostly according to the script, and regular followers of this blog might think it was a little... well... ordinary. Be assured it wasn't. A day when you see an amazing waterfall, a stunning mountain or three, at least two amazing lake views, plus sheep, deer, and a bear and her cubs, is not ordinary.
Tomorrow is a day I've long looked forward to. We're travelling almost 400 miles further north to the town of Peace River. To get things in perspective, Peace River is about as far north as Fort William in Scotland. It has a population of about 6,400 (Jasper has a population of about 4,000). It has its own airport, its own museum, and its own hero - Henry "12 foot" Davis. And when we get there it will be entering its second day of its annual Peacefest music festival, plus World Championship Jet Boat racing.
Should be pretty interesting.
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2 comments:
Bears? Elk? Bighorn sheeps? Pah!
I saw a queue of people outside the O2 shop hoping to buy an iPhone.
Stunning. I warned Geraldine not to get too close.
Hahaha you should have borrowed 'The Grizzy Bear Man' and got Sandra to watch it, that would have kept her in the car.
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