Friday, August 29, 2008

Jasper (2)

Playlist
Uriah Heep – Sweet Freedom
Yes – The Yes Album
Various – Holiday Hits Vols 9 & 8
David Reilly – Anthology Vols 6 & 7
Allan Holdsworth – Secrets

Our second and final full day in Jasper and we experienced sun, clouds, heat, wind and heavy rain...

Up at 6:30 and out again for breakfast and lunch provisions...

We left the house at 9 and headed South, this time to Marmot Basin, driving up the steep winding hill to the ski-resort – only to find the road closed around halfway up due to it not being the ski-ing season...

So back down we drove and further on found the turning for Edith Cavell Mountain and took this road which was even steeper and more winding...

A good drive with some wonderful scenery – we stopped at one point to see a rainbow over the valley...

At the top, we encountered a cheeky Nutcracker bird which was trying to get food by luring people away from their sandwiches by looking cute then flying past them to grab the food – ingenious...

Ground squirrels were also in attendance...

At the top of the mountain we walked to Angel Glacier and the Cavell Glacier – and, like the glacier encountered on the way up from Banff, some of the sights suggested to me what tourism on a faraway planet might look like...

We drove back down the mountain and continued in a southerly direction to the Athabasca Falls, a popular area for white water rafting – we didn’t partake though being too cowardly...

Back home for some coffee, then out to see more nearby lakes, Edith and Annette – many places in the area seem to be named after Queen Victoria’s family members...

We returned to the town and took a look around the (predominantly souvenir) shops before heading into the Downstream Bar...

Here, we enjoyed a couple of excellent burgers and beers before a power cut signalled the onset of a rainstorm – apparently such situations are quite common – the darkness lasted around 45 minutes or so but candles were on hand...



We made our way home through the rain and watched some baseball – Blue Jays Vs Yankees – trying to work out just how it was different to rounders...

To bed and slept till 6:15 without interruption...

Highlight of the Day : Mountains. Lakes and glaciers...

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