Rocky Mountain High: The Canadian Rockies from Jasper: October 11, 2018

The Canadian Rockies from Jasper

October 11, 2018

October 11, 2018

We have had a truly spectacular day today!  It was COLD when we ventured out this morning.  Peter had to scrape the ice off the windshield of our vehicle, and it was clear that there was new snow in the mountains.

Ice on the Windshield

Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies and covers above 4,250 square miles.  It is part of UNESCO's Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

Photo from Jasper National Park Website

October is Dark Sky Month, and Jasper National Park is a "dark sky preserve." A dark sky preserve is committed to protecting and preserving the night sky and strives to reduce or eliminate light pollution in all forms. Jasper hosts special programs throughout the fall and winter to highlight how important Dark Sky status is and to promote reduction of light pollution. 

Starry Nights is a great 2-3 minute video celebrating the stars.  I'm not sure that we'll be able to see any stars tonight as there is a fairly heavy cloud cover and snow is expected, but it surely would be an amazing place to view the stars.

We set out today to explore a little bit of the park.  Our first stop was at Maligne Canyon.  The canyon is more than 160 feet deep.  The Maligne River flows about 9.3 miles upstream from Medicine Lake as a full sized river, but it quickly disappears into seeps in the ground and totally vanishes from the surface not far from the lake for most of the year.  Smaller streams rebuild the river by the time it reaches the top of the canyon.  The river drops down the canyon and joins many other underground streams and works to erode the canyon walls.  The canyon (which is really a gorge) is 6.6 feet across and 160 feet deep (Wikipedia).

 

This was our first stop on our walk.  It was dizzying to look down into the gorge, but mesmerizing as well.  I was afraid I would lose my glasses and more afraid that I would drop my phone as I tried to take the pictu

Trail Map

Ice in the bottom of the gorge!

Video of falling wate

Betty Lou is dressed for the chilly temperatures and in awe of the beauty of the world around us!

Chilled and ready for a warming lunch, we headed to the Jasper Park Lodge.  Situated on the shores of Lac Beauvert, the JPL opened in 1922.  It had originally been established as a "Tent City" and was associated with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.  By the early 1920s it was being managed by Canadian National Hotels.  Today, the property is dotted with "bungalows" (log cabins, it seems to me).  The first eight bungalows were built in 1921.  Additional cabins and a main lodge were constructed two years later.  The main lodge was destroyed by fire in 1952 and was replaced the following year by the current lodge.  JPL was sold to Canadian Pacific Hotels in 1988, but operates today as the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

It was Peter who wanted to check out JPL, since he was enamored by the lodge in Glacier National Park and wanted to see whether there were similarities.  

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The above photo from Wikipedia show the front of the main lodge building.  The interior is elegant with rustic touches that reflects the history of the lodge.

 In front of the lodge is an antique Buick that was used to ferry visitors to the lodge from the railway station.  The car was all wrapped up, but the bellman was willing to uncover it for us so that the boys could have a look.

 View from the Emerald Restaurant

Emerald Restaurant

We had a delightful lunch - beef barley soup all around, and then Jeff and I split a chicken club sandwich.  Peter also had that sandwich and Betty Lou had a spinach salad.  I enjoyed a glass of Mission Hill Pinot Gris, which is a British Columbia wine.  Earlier in this visit, Peter had had a bottle of Mission Hill Reserve Syrah, which I tasted and found delicious.

Sated, warm, and refreshed, we set off for more exploring, visiting the fifth and sixth bridges over the Maligne River.

I was fascinated at the way the roots of this tree were hugging a large rock.  Nature never ceases to amaze and mystify me.

Our next stop was at Medicine Lake.  The lake is about 4.3 miles long and is relatively shallow.  Wikipedia calls it a "geologic anomaly" because it is not really a lake.  Instead, it is an area in which the Maligne River, which flows from Maligne Lake into the Athabasca River, backs up and suddenly disappears underground as a "losing stream."  In the summer, the lake fills from snow melt.  One of the things we noticed right off was that some sort of fire had devastated the area.  The photo below, left, describes the Excelsior Wildfire that occurred on July 1, 2015.  A lightning strike smoldered underground for nine days before surfacing and destroying 960 hectares (nearly 2375 acres) of pine forest.

You can see how shallow the lake is and that our day was kind of grey and cloudy.  Even so, the views were incredible!  As I have said before, photographs just cannot capture the majesty of these mountains.  Jeff keeps marveling at the geology that created these massive mountains.  Although we haven't seen much wildlife, we are told that grizzly bear, black bear, mule deer, caribou, wolves, moose, and mountain sheep frequent the area.  Bald eagles and osprey enjoy the rainbow and brook trout that flourish in the lake.

I've never tried to do a panoramic shot on my phone before this trip and am getting pretty good at it!

After a full day of sightseeing, we decided to head back to our apartment and call it a day.  As we drove back into Jasper, we noticed several cars pulled off to the side of the road where this little sweetheart was grazing.

I looked off into the woods and saw a male elk with a rack that must have measured 6 fee across!  He and at least five other females were deeper into the woods -- just barely visible with my little camera.  He and one of the females were eating lichen off a fallen tree.  He would jostle the tree with his antlers every now and then to reveal a new patch of lichen.  At one point we saw him lift the entire tree several feet and toss it into the air.  We must have sat and watched for 20 to 30 minutes before continuing on our way.

Back at the apartment we enjoyed the beef stew I had made the night before with a salad and some warm bread.  Although we only had just one full day in Jasper, we enjoyed our time there.

Tomorrow .... a long drive (about 4 1/2 hours) to Banff with a stop for lunch at the Chateau Lake Louise!