Author Archives: JimG

May 17th, 2024

We headed out to our next destination, Lake Louise,  we had a few stops along the way including Athabasca Falls, National Glacier Park and the Glacier Skywalk.   Lake Louise is at a much higher elevation, as we headed towards it, the weather changed from spring back to a winter wonderland.

Our fist stop was Athabasca Falls, unfortunately, it was a rainy morning which doesn’t make for the best pictures. Like Maligne Canyon, there were plenty of deep gorges but what was different about these falls was the amount of water that was running trough it. Continue reading →

May 16th 2024

Our final stop of the tour was pyramid Lake.  On the way we spotted a bear with her cub.  During our trip, we have seen a lot of wildlife including Moose, elk, long horn sheep, Mule deer, and eagles, but the minute someone says bear, everyone jumps and rushes to that side of the bus/train to get a picture.

Throughout the trip, we have seen sign after sign that tells you to remain in your vehicle when you see wildlife.  We have been told over and over again that if we are on foot, to stay at least 100 feet from the animal.  Cars pulled up behind the bus and immediately, people started to get out of their cars to see the bear and cubs.   Our tour guide opened the door and said to one person, “You do realize that what you are doing is illegal”, he responded yes and kept taking pictures.  Sadly, if there was an incident, it would be the animal who would pay the price.

Pyramid lake was beautiful, the sun was shining, the lake was a beautiful turquois from the glacier water, there was a bright green field in front of Pyramid mountain.  My picture looked as if it was a postcard. Continue reading →

May 16, 2024

Maligne Canyon is one spot that I would go back to and spend more time. There are a total of six bridges crossing deep gorges with views of various waterfalls, we got to see two of the bridges.  I think I could have probably spent the better part of the day.   I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

On a side note, as I stood above one of the canyons, I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture.   I wondered, how many cell phone could be found at the bottom down below.   I quickly switched to my camera knowing that it had a camera strap.

On the way out of park we stopped at a lookout that had views of Jasper. Continue reading →

Thursday, May 16^th, 2024

As we got coffee, I noticed they sold beer.  One of them was called “Jasper, the Bear Ale”, I found it funny.

We boarded our tour bus “333” to explore the sites around Jasper.   It was a small group on a large bus, plenty or room to spread out.  Our first stop was Medicine lake which is a mysterious lake due to the fluctuating water levels with no visible drainage channels.

Even the Indians wondered, “where do the waters go?”, and thought it was due to the spirits.  In more recent times, they discovered sinkholes and underground cave systems, like a bathtub with a drain, the water is drained out through the bottom.

We spotted a lot of wildlife around the like including an eagle, a couple of Moose and a Mule Deer.

Continue reading →

May 15th, 2024

We checked into the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge which sit on Lac Beauvert, a lake surrounded by pine trees with snowcapped mountains in the background. As we entered the park, we spotted Mule Deer and Elk and were once again reminded to keep our distance.

The setting reminded me of summer camp with a main lodge surrounded by cabins but obviously, a bit more upscale with spas and find dining.   There were plenty of outdoor activities from hiking to kayaking on the lake.

At one point, I joked about how this felt like Crystal Lake from “Friday the 13th” and that the main lodge felt a little bit like “The Shinning”.  The place also reminded me of the lodge’s in the Catskill Mountains where they filmed “Dirty Dancing” as well as a few episodes of “Mrs. Maisel”

After we checked in, we walked around the property for a bit, took some pictures.  There were plenty of ground hogs everywhere, I had no idea groundhogs looked so much like squirrels .   We also noticed that the trash receptacles were bear proof.  I would not want to run into a bear! Continue reading →