Jasper National Park

 

Here the Rockies are more rugged and less visited. Jasper is the largest park in the Rocky Mountains at 10,875 square kilometres, and we started out this morning travelling up the Maligne Valley to Medicine Lake which is fed from sinkholes beneath its surface. We were told to keep our eyes peeled for elk, moose, coyotes and bears........but not a thing unfortunately today. But.....we did spot a bald eagle sitting in a tree and everyone was hugely excited. Not close enough to get a photo unfortunately, but I got a good look through my binoculars. I am beginning to think all this talk about bears is just a myth as we haven't had a sniff of one yet, yet all the local shops are selling 'bear deterrent'!!

Then onwards and upwards to Maligne Lake which is the largest glacial lake in the Rockies, encircled by pines and snow-covered peaks. I am so glad I opted to do the cruise on the lake as an extra as I found it quite magical.

This afternoon most of the group went off on a hike, but I decided to stay and have a good look around Jasper and spend some time by myself. It really is a lovely little town, very quaint and picturesque, with some nice shops to do a little retail therapy. I was walking the Discovery Trail around the edge of town when I saw this train approaching on the main Canadian Pacific Railway and decided to sit and watch it pass by. I could not believe that this train, with two engines at the front, was pulling 200 wagons behind it!! Think it was heading for Vancouver on the west coast.

Tomorrow we leave Alberta behind and travel on to Clearwater in British Columbia. At last we are able to have a bit of a 'lie-in' as we are not leaving too early (thank goodness). Not sure of wifi there as it is a bit off the beaten track but will try and do another episode for all my devoted readers!