Road Home

Mt. Edith Cavell peeks out through the smoke

We had our first sunny morning as we were leaving Jasper, but by now the smoke had blown in (supposedly from Siberia).

We were glad to leave the crazy Jasper traffic behind, but not before some tourist made a left turn in front of us from the right lane when we were in the turning lane.

We camped overnight at North Thompson Provincial Park just south of Clearwater.  This campsite had just been reopened after recently being occupied by the Tiny House Warriors (really, it's a thing, they have a website) as a protest against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

There was no sign of discord other than some red paint on the highway at the entrance and 2 small trees felled over a trail.  It's a nice campsite with trails along the North Thompson River and up to a viewpoint overlooking the confluence of the Clearwater River and the North Thompson.

I may have had a slight meltdown that evening when I was being eaten alive by mosquitos and noseeums despite using bug spray and it was too hot to wear long sleeves or pants or to hang out inside the trailer.  To add fuel to the fire, the camp attendant told us it was our last chance to have a fire because the fireban started in the morning, so Leo dutifully lit a fire with our remaining firewood.

It did eventually cool down, and the next morning we had a short and uneventful drive home.

Also, I finally figured out how to add a box so you get notified if there's a new post on my blog.  Click on the box on the top of the website and add your email address.

Finally We go up a Rocky Mountain

Despite today's forecast for a sunny day we woke up to the mountains shrouded in fog.  So we walked around Edith and Annette Lakes and along the Athabaska River till noon. 

This çhipmunk posed for Leo:

While walking along the shore of Edith Lake, two western sandpipers walked right up to us.

Not the bird of the day, but pretty cool anyway.

By noon the mountains were coming out of the clouds, so we shelled out the big bucks ($46.95 each) to take the sky tram up Whistler Mountain.

You can hike up if you like but it takes 5 hours (and by then it could be raining).

Once you get off the tram it's another half hour hike to the summit.

Where you are rewarded with the money shot!

Due to the crowds, the vegetation was pretty worn down, but we did see lots of yellow paintbrush

We kept going past the sign that said, "only properly equipped experienced mountaineers should go beyond this point," to follow a path that went further along a ridge.  At the edge of the precipice we saw this guy perched (obviously an experienced mountaineer).

Returning to the inexperienced masses, we ran into this ground squirrel with a taste for orange food,

and we also saw 4 willow ptarmigan, the Bird of the Day.

They were running around biting the blossoms off the mountain avens.

This next shot shows how well their plumage blends in with their surroundings.

It took us 2-1/2 hours more hours to hike down to the bottom of the mountain, but it was worth it because we got to see my favourite mountain rodent, the pika.  Sorry, no photo, too fast for the camera.

Valley of 5 Lakes, Lake Beauvert and Ewen Moberly Homestead

Selfie with one of the 5 Lakes

It was raining when we woke up the next morning so we just slept in till the unheard of hour of 10 am Alberta time!

Today we drove a few miles out on the Icefield Parkway to the Valley of 5 Lakes trailhead.  When we saw a lineup for the outhouse, we knew it was going to be a busy hike, that's what you get for sleeping in!

But it soon became apparent that most everyone was heading for the short loop to the lakes and if we headed off on the longer loop we'd avoid the crowds.  We climbed up to ridge full of big old Douglas firs.  Unfortunately, many of them had fir beetle.  (Between this and the 50% of pine attacked by pine beetle, it's a bit of a bushman's holiday for Leo.)

When we reached the lakes the trail got crowded and returned  in time to have lunch in the truck in the rain.


In the afternoon the sun came out and we circumnavigated Beauvert Lake, home of the Jasper Park Lodge and it's go f course

Bing Crosby golfed here when he and the pines were still alive

The trails were pretty fancy here, complete with adirondack chairs lete with cushions you could sit on and enjoy the view of the lodge and the surrounding scenery.

Beauvert Lake, Japer Park Lodge and Rockies

After having supper at the campsite we went for a wildlife drive at 9 pm further down the Snaring River Road.  To our surprise we came upon the unadvertised  Ewen Moberly homestead, one of 5 former Metis homesteads along the Athabaska River.  They were all expropriated when the park was formed.

Moberly homestead

The graveside of Mr. Moberly's mother looks to be still maintained by the family

You can imagine how painful it must have been to leave their home in this beautiful setting.

Cottonwood Slough, Medicine and Maligne Lakes, Old Fort Point

We got up at the early hour of 6:45 am to take part in the free guided bird tour we'd signed up for.  It was not till we reached the parking lot at Cottonwood Slough and saw several cars but no people that I realized we were still operating on BC time and were an hour late!  Fortunately we caught up with the group for the second hour.  

Birds seen:  Siskins, dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, ring necked duck and Barrows goldeneye w/young, mallard, buffleheads with young, phalaropes (red necked or Wilsons), western pewee, cedar waxwing, lincolns, song sparrow. But the bird of the day was white-winged crossbill.

Our local guide Gord recommended Medicine Lake on the Maligne Lake Road as a good spot to find woodpeckers in the burnt forest so we headed there next.  On the way we passed a large group of tourists double parked on the road for a black bear eating sopallallie berries.

Medicine Lake and its spectacular setting

There were no woodpeckers to be found, but there were lots of Siskins and waxwings, and also an osprey and a bald eagle nest, spotted sandpiper, common loon, surf scoters, and Canada Geese.  

Fruitlessly searching burnt timber for woodpeckers.

And a big patch of these anemones, which I can't find in my guidebooks.

Cedar waxwing, not the bird of the day, but still lovely

Then we headed up the road to the famed Maligne Lake, much more overrun with tourists, did a quick hike around the Moose Lakes Loop with everyone else and then stopped for a photo of Maligne Lake before escaping the crowds.

Not quite.  On the drive back down the Rangers were crowd managing the animal traffic jams, but their instructions were not very clear, leading to a lot of frustration on our part.

Our next mini-hike was up Old Fort Point, right near town and Jasper lodge.  A short hike up to the top with fabulous views all around and even the mountains came out of the clouds.  Then we completed the loop through aspen parkland with lots of flowers blooming.  As you can see, too much happier campers.

Portrait in plaid, Old Fort Point.  That's Lake Beauvert and Jasper Park Lodge in the background.

If you're going to visit a tourist trap, you might as well take advantage so we dined in town, delicious Indian food.

On the way home for the night we spotted a grizzly in the bushes, snacking on soopalallie.  And back to the trailer just in time for a big rainstorm.

Maligne Canyon and Athabaska River

It was raining the next morning, so no point in hiking up a mountain.  Instead we walked along the Maligne River canyon. You can't tell from these pictures but it was very busy especially at the top end of the canyon where all the tour busses stop.  Also very muddy with the wet weather.

When we got back to our truck we ate lunch then headed down a short loop trail in the other direction along the Athabaska River.  This was a fabulous trail, mecifully unpopular, with lots of bird activity and lovely wildflowers, including the large and lovely wood lily:

Most wood lilies have one big blossom, this one sported two.

Other flowers were nodding onions, rein orchid, death camus and harebells.

Bird of the day :  pine grosbeak.

Jasper Calling

Last week we headed off for a weeks vacation in Jasper National Park.  It got clouded and rainier the further we drove.  We planned to check out the Ancient Forest east of Prince George, but drove by in the rain instead.  Some other time I guess. We camped that night at Mt. Robson Provincial Park, hoping if we got to Jasper early next morning there might be a campsite available.

We lucked out.  The sun came out after dinner and so did the the mountain.

Mt. Robson is the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies

Overnight there was a long and violent thundershower with hail bouncing off the trailer.  But this visit was much better than the last time we camped here 30 years ago.  It poured rain the whole evening and the wood was so damp Leo could not get a fire going.  We wound up spending the evening reading our books in the brand new, spacious handicapped shower.

We left camp at 9 the next morning and arrived at the park entrance at 10, but they already informed us that the only camping available was in the Snaring River overflow parking.

Soon after we passed a traffic jam with people crowding to photograph a bull elk with a truly magnificent rack.  Not wanting to contribute to traffic congestion we kept driving.  People were defiately not observing the park rule of keeping 30 meters away from wildlife.

Snaring River overflow like a big gravel pit, but you get to pay $15.70 per night.  Admittedly it's a gravel pit with a great view.  And some vans and tenters had nice spots camped right on the river.  There were outhouses and a few picnic tables but no fires allowed.

Scenic gravel pit camping

After finding a spot we drove back into town, parking spots were scarce so we parked quite a few blocks from the info centre.  Just then another violent thundershower started.  We waited patiently for 10 minutes then decided to brave the torrent.  Despite wearing raincoats and hats we were drenched by the time we reached our destination.

As the weather was sketchy, we settled for a short hike around the perimeter of the town.  When we returned to our campsite we stopped for water and saw a notice that a grizzly had just been seen near the campsite.  Later we walked along the Snaring River.  Saw some lovely wildflowers, but no sign of a grizzly.

Mountain Death Camus, new to me and flower of the day!

And the bird of the day was a merlin calling in the forest on the edge of town.

Side Trip to Fort St. James

On our way to visit Smithers we took a one day side trip to Fort St. James since neither of us had ever been there, despite its only being 40 minutes off Highway 16.

In doing so we checked a few items of our bucket list:  Fort St. James National Historic Park and we camped at a new Provincial Park:  Paarens Bay.  We also walked through nearby Sowchea Bay Provincial Park and made a short hike up Mount Pope Provincial Park;  Fort St. James has no shortage of provincial parks.

Sowchea and Paarens Bay are both lakeside campsites, we lucked out and chose a site at Paarens Bay with the campsite road between us and the beach vs. sites right on the beach at Sowchea.  But the sites at Sowchea were crammed right next to each other and our sites were the usual spacious provincial park sites with trees in between us.  We just had to carry our chairs across the road to enjoy the sunset with only a few other couples on the beach.

Our campsite at Paarens Bay

Beach at Paarens Bay in sunnier conditions

There's no shortage of beaches on Stuart Lake; there's also a beachfront campsite in town (no trees though), and the main hotel in town also looks over the water.

And the historic fort is of course also right on the lake.  We spent several hours checking it out.  You enter by walking down to the lake, then you walk up from the dock as the fur traders would have done.

 They say it's Canada’s largest collection of wooden buildings faithfully restored to the fur trade era.  We don't know though, we've been to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River, and it has over 40 original buildings.

We had fun checking out the fur warehouse (full of real skins), 

the trading store, 

and Walker House, the administrator's home.

But the highlight was the chicken races where we got to lay bets on the winner.  

Some have suggested that this may constitute animal cruelty, but they didn't look any worse for wear to me.

Chickens get their reward

They basically get released from the chicken coop through the chutes and then run to the feed station.

Leo's chicken won and he got a 25 cent coupon reimbursed at the gift shop!

It happened to be our 28th wedding anniversary, so we celebrated by having lunch in their lakefront cafe.  I had the traditional beef stew, but Leo's Thai basil chicken, equally tasty, seemed less than authentic.

In the afternoon, we walked a short way up the Mount Pope trail to the first lookout through nice forest.

Heading back down the trail

All in all, thumbs up for Fort St. James!