Oh Canada! Jasper National Park, Wolf Pup Adventures

We crossed the border from Montana into Canada at Roosville. No wait. Quick and easy because of the app where you upload passport and COVID vaccination documentation ahead of time. We were nervous since we were smuggling contraband — the hard stuff — a few eggs, grapefruit, pear 🙂 We were all good. The border agent was only concerned with guns, tobacco, and booze.

It felt good to be back in Canada. Our first time since COVID. We spent the next couple days in a little town called Skookumchuck. It is close to Fairmont Hot Springs — the natural springs look like Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone, but these are safe to soak in and you are allowed to. Somewhat crowded but still really nice and relaxing. The mineral water was lukewarm which turned out to be refreshing because it was a hot day. The next day we kayaked on Premier Lake — glacier-fed blue, super clear water. A nice dock and beach area too. We spent most of the day there to beat the near 100 degree heat. Before heading to Jasper the next morning, we stocked up on supplies. Never been to a Tim Horton’s. For a chain, the donuts and coffee are really good.

The route to Jasper goes through Kootenay National Park, the Lake Louise area of Banff National Park, and along the Icefields Parkway. The most incredible scenic drive!! It was a bit difficult towing the trailer only because of the multiple mountain passes but the 4Runner made it without blowing up so I’ll take it as a win 🙂 We pulled into Whistlers Campground, our home for the next week, and enjoyed the mountain views for a bit before heading into the town of Jasper to hit up Jasper Brewing Company for food and brews. The campground is only a few miles from town — easy bike ride — score! The small mountain town is lovely and has a serene vibe that is not overly touristy.

For my weekly solo bike ride, I decided to ride from camp to Maligne Lake and back, a 105 km route. Since I didn’t know how much traffic would be on the road, I started early. Turns out the road was not very busy all day, but better to be cautious. The early start meant it was cold — 48 degrees which felt pretty cold since we have been in very warm weather the past couple weeks. And some light showers. Not enough to get completely wet, but enough to be annoying 🙂 I considered turning back a couple of times, but decided to tough it out. I’m glad I did because the ride was so beautiful. Saw an elk, a couple of whitetail deer, and some nesting bald eagles. Great views of several mountain ranges, Medicine Lake, and Maligne Lake at the turnaround point. Maligne Lake is spectacular. Surrounded on 3 sides by 3 different mountain ranges and a cool little historic boat house at one end. A great spot to relax and take in the view. On the return trip, it was still cold and some more light showers. Finally with about 15 miles left, the skies cleared and it warmed up. Ahh that is more like it 🙂 Great day for a bike ride 🙂

Fall/winter comes early this far north. Cooler temps especially at night and thunderstorms are more common. We had a couple days where the weather forecast looked pretty nasty. But we felt like the worst of the rain wouldn’t come until later in the day. So we hiked Pyramid Lake in the morning. Because of the ominous-looking skies, we had the whole trail to ourselves — sweet! We got hit with a few light showers but it was fine and turned out to be a pleasant hike. The small, wooden bridge to Pyramid Island and views of Pyramid Mountain makes for a nice finale to the trek. We drove back to town to stop at Bear’s Paw Bakery. So many tasty treats it is hard to decide on just one. This was our 2nd visit to the bakery 🙂 The sticky buns are to die for 🙂

Another day of rain but like yesterday, we decided to hit the trail anyways and hope for the best. Today, we hiked Maligne Canyon. A popular spot in Jasper National Park. The parking lot was nearly full when we arrived. The trail follows a narrow, deep canyon with baby blue glacier water, 4 bridges over the canyon and 2 more bridges downriver. The way the river has carved it’s way into the solid rock canyon is impressive — like a work of art. Some parts of the canyon are very deep, about 150 feet yet still very narrow, maybe 10 feet across. It was fairly crowded for the first 4 bridges but few people hike beyond that so the trail to bridges 5 and 6 was much more quiet and peaceful. The rain did come but luckily only for the last half a mile or so and then it rained hard the rest of the day and night but at least we were dry and warm inside our little trailer. We lucked out once again on the weather.

The next day we decided to do errands in the morning, laundry, grocery shopping and wait for it to warm up before hitting Pyramid Lake for a kayak excursion. While waiting for the laundry, we went back to Bear’s Paw Bakery yet again for another sticky bun. Also hit up the Jasper Public Library which also hosts the Jasper Art Gallery. Very nice building, architecture, and gallery. The rest of the day we spent at Pyramid Lake, paddling and floating around the lake enjoying the spectacular mountain views. Our kayak is struggling with air leaks in the bottom chamber but it stays afloat and we stay dry so it is something we can tolerate. After some analysis and failed attempts to patch the leaks, I think what happened is we were over-inflating the bottom chamber. There are at least 2 leaks and both of them are on seams which is usually an indication of over-inflation. I believe the same thing was the downfall of our seats that we replaced with pads and standard, non-inflating seats. Well, now we know or at least I think we know, and knowing is half the battle 🙂

Finally the forecast for the next few days looks perfect. Warm but not too hot and no rain. We hiked Valley of the Five Lakes Trail. More baby-blue glacier lakes — I can’t get enough 🙂 The water looks like the Caribbean Sea, so amazing. Lake One, which we happened to hit the lakes in reverse order so One was the final lake for us, was the largest and brightest blue. We sat on a log on the shore for several minutes just taking it all in. We climbed out of the valley and stopped for lunch at an overlook with views of Edith Cavell, the most iconic mountain peak in Jasper. Another zen-like day in Canada, such a beautiful country.

On our last full day in Jasper, we hiked the Edith Cavell Meadow Trail. The meadow trail has stunning views of the mountain, glaciers, and the aquamarine glacier pond. Alot of climbing on this one which Emi hates 🙂 But she survived. We saw a marmot munching on grass and flowers. We even heard multiple cracks of the glacier ice. Sounded like thunder claps. Even though it is melting rapidly like all glaciers around the world, it is still really thick so it has that deep blue color. At the lower section is a glacier pond of milky blue-green water full of icebergs. And the weather couldn’t have been more perfect — clear skies, nice temps, and not too much wind considering the terrain is high elevation and exposed. Jasper is definitely my favorite out of all the places we have visited on this year-long journey. If Portugal doesn’t work out, Jasper may become our summer home.

The morning we were to head out of Jasper, I tested the water pump since we would not have a water hookup at our next campground. No water. Uh oh. The pump motor was running but it was not pulling any water out of the fresh tank. I figured either the pump was dead or it needed to be re-primed. There is an extra valve and hose coming from the pump intake — figured it must be for re-priming. Opened the valve and put some water in the hose, turned on the pump and let it run for a bit and still nothing. This time I tried cycling the pump on and off at half second intervals. Success!! It finally started to suck water and eventually re-primed. Re-opened the fresh tank intake valve and let it run for a bit as it built up pressure and water started flowing out of the kitchen sink fixture like normal. Whew. I’m glad we figured that one out, especially since this area is pretty remote and the nearest RV repair is several hours out of our way. The joys of RV life 🙂

Time to hit the road again…next up…Lake Louise which is part of Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park…stay tuned 🙂