Jasper National Park, Alberta Canada

We said goodbye to the Burkard relatives and left Camrose on Tuesday, 8/25 and headed for Hinton KOA, about 42 miles from the town of Jasper.   The campground is only a few miles from the gate to the National Park.   On Wednesday we had breakfast in the Tim Horton's in Jasper, and then drove to the Columbia Ice fields for our Glacier Adventure.   We got to the Ice Fields Center at 11:30 and the first available tour was at 2:15.   At 2:00 the tour started boarding the shuttle bus to take us to the Ice Field, a short 4 minute drive.   From this commuter bus we boarded an Ice Explorer, a massive vehicle specially designed for glacial travel that took us out onto the Athabasca Glacier.   I don't like heights, but this machine took us down one of the steepest gravel roads in North America.   We traveled to the glacier by ice road and spent 20 minutes walking on the glacier, which is a river of ice about 30 stories deep!   The atmosphere was very smoky due to the forest fires in the state of Washington.   It made it impossible to get clear pictures of the mountains, and was so thick that many

travelers experienced breathing issues or sore eyes.   The temperature was 64 degrees when we were on the glacier, but it seemed much colder on the glacier with a strong wind.   

Thursday 8/27 our goal for the day was to see the two famous waterfalls in the park.   As we drove past the city of Jasper, we saw a doe with two fawns walking along the hiking trail at the edge of the road.   No camera in sight!   Our first stop was the Sunwapta Falls, 35 miles from Jasper.   The falls were forced through a narrow chute, and were very loud.   On our way back toward Jasper we stopped at Honeymoon lake and met a therapist from Florida who was on a biking tour with 18 other people.   We had lunch near Mt. Kerkeslin.   After lunch we were getting ready to leave when we saw some mountain goats grazing near the road.  We got pictures this time!   Our last stp was the very crowded Athabasca Falls.   

Friday the KOA hosts suggested a drive to Maligne Lake which Readers Digest named one of the top 10 scenic routes in Canada.    It was cloudy and only 62 degrees.   We had planned to take a boat trip on the lake, but nixed that idea as it started raining and got quite windy.   We had lunch in the lodge and then drove into Jasper and enjoyed the town museum.   

Saturday was designated as the day to shop and explore the town of Jasper.   We couldn't leave the area without at least seeing the Skytram!   We saw it, but didn't ride it.   Sunday we left Hinton and the Jasper National Park on Highway 93 through Banff to Canmore.   A rainy, foggy day!