Travel with me through the Rocky Mountains - Jasper National Park

Intro & Background

Hello everyone, I'd like to share with you my experience traveling this past summer through the Rocky Mountains, stopping in Jasper National Park. As someone who just graduated university, I was ready for a little adventure, and when an opportunity presented itself to explore Canada I quickly seized on to it.

Travel and Day 1

My trip to Jasper began in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Accompanied by my girlfriend Stephanie, traveling more than 3500 km over the course of 3 days. The sights the journey offered were astounding. As the train began to move away from the grasslands of Saskatchewan and Alberta and into the Rocky Mountains, the views became breathtaking. With towering mountains, deep valleys, thundering rivers, and all forms of wildlife seen from all angles. A domed train-car with an upper level offered a 360-degree view of the area.

Captured a couple hours before arriving in Jasper

After arriving in the town of Jasper, we quickly dropped our bags off at our hostel. It was around 5:00 pm, and although we were tired, we were eager to use what daylight we had to explore the area. We followed an easy hiking trail, and after a few short minutes, we were greeted by a mule deer.

We continued on, making our way across a bridge over the Athabasca River before we finally arrived at Edith Lake. The Athabasca was quite wide and deceivingly fast. As a glacially fed river, it appeared as a beautiful pale blue. I worked my way down to the riverbed and dipped my fingers in. Unsurprisingly, it was quite frigid. Although I still wanted to jump in, I knew with the current that wasn't the brightest idea.
View of the Athabasca from the bridge crossing

Testing the water of the Athabasca

By the time we made it to Edith Lake, the sun was going down pretty quick and we had to turn around. The lake and surrounding area was absolutely gorgeous, and the setting sun was beautiful. Although there was not enough time to go for a swim, we took a few minutes to appreciate the view.

As the sun was going down, we turned around to make our way back to our hostel. However, on the way back, I managed to capture the sunset, as it dipped below the mountains.

Day 2

We woke up early the next morning, quickly got ready for the day and got out the door. We had a tour planned for the famed Maligne Lake. We hopped on the bus and made our way out of the town, keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife. Our first stop along the way was at Medicine Lake, a long skinny lake, whose surrounding area had recently been ravaged by wildfires. The forests in Alberta and British Columba have been becoming increasingly more susceptible to fires due to an increasing population of the Mountain Pine Beetles, killing large swaths of trees, turning them into excellent sources of firewood.

Our guide pointed out a distant eagle nest perched atop a burnt tree. The nest has been there for years, built before the fire. The mother eagle was forced to flee during the fire, leaving her baby behind. Luckily, the nest and baby survived, and the mother returned at a later date. The nest is still used, and I was lucky enough to capture the two sitting in it, with the burnt mountainside visible behind them.

We were then loaded back onto the bus and continued on our way. Before reaching our final destination, we stopped over at Maligne Canyon. Maligne Canyon offers an impressive display of rapids and waterfalls, leading into a canyon over 150 feet deep. The pathway followed the edge of the canyon and crossed over two times through the use of a rope bridge.

The rapids as the water begins to enter the canyon

A close up of a waterfall further into the canyon

After our short walk around the canyon, we got onto the bus to complete the last leg of the journey. We soon arrived at Maligne Lake. Although there was an option to take a ferry tour around the lake, we opted to take a short hike around the area and take in the scenery. The lake was beautiful and absolutely serene.

The view of the Maligne Lake from the shoreline - the iconic boathouse is visible on the left

As the rest of the tour group spent their time on the ferry, we hiked down a small trail, taking in the scenery and wildlife. Unfortunately, part of the trail was blocked off due to recent bear sightings (a mother and cubs), we still managed to appreciate a lot of what the area had to offer. In particular, I really liked seeing the wood lilies that scattered the forest floor.

Macro-shot of a wood lily

After about an hour, we got back onto the bus and were headed back to Jasper. Once again, our eyes were peeled, looking for bears and other wildlife. Although we failed to see any bears, our trip was interrupted by a group of bighorn sheep standing on the road. Although it resulted in a small and temporary traffic jam, no one was complaining. We got to see the sheep just a few feet away. In the photos, you will notice their patchy coats. This is simply a result of their shedding process and is of no concern to them.

By the time we arrived back into town, it was getting quite late in the day. We made our way back to our hostel, dropped off our bags and head back into town to get some food. We grabbed some groceries, made some dinner, and stopped over at Bear's Paw Bakery. This was a fantastic little coffee shop and bakery that we visited many times. They had a wide array of breads, pastries, cookies and more, and everything was delicious.

Inside the bakery - Photo courtesy of www.bearspawbakery.com

Without much time left in the day, as well as being very tired out, we spent the last bit of the evening walking throughout the town. We visited the various gift shops and purchased some souvenirs. As we returned to our hostel we met a group of other travelers in the lobby. There was a high chance of the northern lights appearing that night, and were waiting to get out to Pyramid Lake to try and catch a glimpse. After chatting for a bit, we decided to join them. the five of us hopped into a cap and road out about 20 minutes outside of town.

During the drive, we had a very interesting conversation with our cab driver. He told us a similar story to what we were experiencing; after graduating university, he decided to go on a cross-country trip via train. After arriving in Jasper, he fell in love with the area. He found work here and just never went back; this was an idea that sounded very appealing to me. I felt like I never wanted to leave this place.

After arriving at Pyramid Lake, we walked down a trail that followed the edge of the lake, hoping the lights would show themselves. We met a number of avid photographers patiently waiting as well. Unfortunately, the predictions were wrong and we failed to see anything. However, the midnight walk was still very enjoyable and I really am happy we went.

Day 3

Once again, we awoke early from our hostel, eager to face the day. Although we were a little tired from our late night, we were still ready to get some hiking in. We had heard that the nearby trail known as Old Fort Point was a must-see, particularly if you were without a vehicle. So with that knowledge in mind, we had a quick breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and coffee, packed our bags with food, water, and swimwear, and headed out the door.

The start of the Old Fort Point trail was only a few kilometers out of town. The trail was a large loop, with the start of the trail beginning at the base of a very large hill / small mountain. We made our way up the slope. At first, it was not very steep, but that soon quickly changed, with carved out chunks of rock being used as makeshift steps. The view from the top was fantastic. The Athabasca River could be seen far below, with the many mountain ranges visible from the distance. During this time in the year, the British Columbia wildfires were quite bad, and the smoke was definitely making its way into the Jasper area, and so the view was a little obstructed, although still very worth seeing.

After reaching the peak of the hike, the trail was mainly all downhill, as it snaked its way slowly back around to where we started. This decent still proved to offer beautiful views of the valleys below, as well as showing the relatively enormous size some of these mountains proved to be. Again, unfortunately, the smoke really lowers the quality of these images, certainly not doing the sight justice.

The walk down not only offered landscape views but also allowed us to take in the various animal and plant life. This little woodpecker was a great example.

Once we completed the hike back to our starting point, we were quite hot. We saw on our map that a lake was fairly close to us; Lac Beauvert. So, we set off in that direction. Soon after, we arrived at its shoreline, and it was beautiful. We were the only ones there, and so it as incredibly quiet. Across the lake, we could see a small resort, with the mountains stretching across the horizon.

Eagerly, I put on my swimsuit and started to wade into the water. It as absolutely crystal clear, and as it was glacial fed, incredibly cold. However, I didn't let that stop me, and after a couple minutes of working up the courage, I took the plunge in. It was incredibly refreshing. Interestingly, I also found it quite odd swimming in a lake that as so clear. Even when the water was over 10 feet deep, it always seemed like I could touch it with my foot. After around ten minutes I felt like I had enough and swam back to shore to warm up.

For some time after drying off, we laid by the lakeshore relaxing and enjoying the absolute serenity the location had to offer. The cries of a lonely loon were the only reason the silence was broken for some time.

As the sun began to fall, and the temperature started to drop, we decided it was time to get going. We walked back into Jasper and got our bags from the hostel. For the next two nights, we would be camping nearby. Although the walk to the campground wasn't too far (only about an hour), with our heavy backpacks on, we decided it would be easier to grab a cab there. A short ride later we arrived at Whistlers Campground. My tent is very easy to set up, using only two poles, and so we had our tent up, bags unpacked and a fire going all very quickly. After cooking some sausages on the fire, and making some pasta on my butane stove, we headed to bed. The next morning we planned on hiking up Whistlers Mountain and wanted to get a good sleep in for the long trail.

Day 4

Today was our last day in Jasper and we definitely did not want to waste it. Although we were exhausted (spending three full days and nights in a chair on the train before getting here definitely did not help) we were eager to get up Whistlers Mountain. Unfortunately, the weather did not seem to like that plan. The weather in the Rockies can change quickly, and it was calling for thunderstorms all day. Getting caught halfway up a mountain in a situation like that as certainly not something we wanted to get in to. So we decided to try to wait it out and see what would happen.

Although it didn't rain, the weather continued to report that a storm was imminent. We decided that it was best not to risk it, but we still wanted to get up to the peak. So, we took the other way - the Skytram. The tram was quite a ways away from our site, but we decided to walk anyway. After around an hour, we made it to the Skytram station and got our tickets. While we waited, we were visited by this neat little bird.

Soon enough, we were ready to get on the tram. Unfortunately, the wildfires had gotten incredibly bad over the last few days, and the smoke was very thick. Normally, while riding the tram, you can see the entire town and all of the surrounding scenery. However, the smoke was so thick you couldn't even see the ground, and the distant mountains were hardly visible, if at all.

After we arrived at the top tram station, it was a short hike to the summit, only around one km. Unsurprisingly, it was much colder at the summit, with some permanent snow scattered around. In these pictures. you can really see how smokey it was outside.

The view of the tram station from the summit - The trail on the lower right is the trail the hiking trail that leads to the base of the mountain

After a couple hours of exploring the summit, we were ready to head down. Because we had waited around for a lot of the morning hoping the weather would clear up (and of course it didn't even end up raining) it was already getting quite late in the day. We headed back down and started to head back to camp. By this time it was already nearing dinner, so we lit up a fire, cooked some food and just enjoyed the peace and quite while sitting around the campfire. We had to wake up in the morning early to make sure we could pack-up and get to town on time, as we were catching our train around noon.

Day 5 & Departure

We were up early, had some breakfast and quickly packed up our tent and gear. We wanted to make sure we were making our train on time and so we grabbed a cab back to town. Of course, after doing so, we found out the train was going to be delayed by a few hours. So we left our bags at the train station and used this time to both enjoy the area one last time, as well as enjoying some real food before heading back on the train for another day as we rode to Vancouver, BC.

We walked some short trails just around the outskirts of the town, taking in the scenery one last time. This time, we manage to get quite close to a local marmot.

After spending a couple hours walking around, we thought it best to head back to town. With around one more hour before we needed to head back to the train station we used this time to treat ourselves to a massive of serving of some of the best nachos we've ever had, served by the Jasper Brewing Company. Definetly check them out if you ever vist the area.

Jasper Brewing Company Nachos - Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

And with that, that sums up my experience in Jasper. Thanks everyone for reading and sharing this adventure with me! Please follow me if you enjoyed this content, as I am sure to post more in the future!

All photos posted are uniquely mine aside from those described otherwise