Jasper

Playlist
Roy Harper – Bullinamingvase
Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets
Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain
Brian Eno – Another Green World
Various – Holiday Hits Vols 12, 11 & 10

Another collage today – sitting around for Blogger to deign to upload the pics is a real pain...

Click to see more detail...



Up at 6:01 dressed and out, leaving Anne sleeping...

As I walked along the street, two elk strolled along towards me – I sidestepped onto the road allowing them to pass on the pavement and, just as last night, they hopped into the municipal flowerbeds for a feed...

Quite normal for Jasper apparently but a strange yet enjoyable experience for me...

To the internet café and caught up with my e-mails before going round the corner to the delightful Bear’s Paw Bakery for breakfast and lunch provisions...

Wrote up the diary whilst enjoying some excellent coffee...

Then walked back home for breakfast around 8...

Out at 9 and off to nearby Maligne Canyon which we walked around in about 30 minutes...

As we left the car park we were flagged down by a Hispanic couple from Los Angeles who advised their tour bus had left without them and could we take them back to Jasper – we took pity and agreed, putting ourselves a good 45 minutes behind schedule...

They gave us five American Dollars for our trouble – pretty useless in Canada but appreciated nonetheless...

So we retraced our route to the canyon and headed on to Medicine Lake, so called because the Indians (or rather, First Nations, as the Canadians like to refer to them) couldn’t understand why the water level all but disappeared in winter...

The lake has underground drainage which more than compensates for input from the surrounding glaciers in winter but which can’t cope as well with the overflow in summer as the glaciers melt...

On to Maligne Lake where we forewent the offer of a boat trip for $47 each and, instead, walked around the lake and found a seat on a jetty – where a squirrel gave me a bit of shock by jumping onto my thigh without warning, as I sat enjoying the view...

We lunched in the car on the tasty sandwiches from the Bear’s Paw Bakery, before heading back to Jasper where we rested before driving to yet another Lake, Beauvert, which we walked round in its entirety, past the lush golf course and holiday resort on its shores...

An early dinner of fish’n’chips was enjoyed at the Whistler Inn before driving up to Pyramid Lake in the mountains above the town...

We saw more elk here and visited the island in the middle of the lake before heading back to town again, where we saw the two elk from last night again – feeding on Jasper’s Community Flower Displays...

Our wildlife spotting was completed by the sight of two large deer grazing in a front garden in the centre of town while the owner looked on nonchalantly, sipping from a mug of tea...

Home and watched Larry King on TV re Obama’s acceptance speech...

To bed around 11 and slept till an unprecedented 6:10 am – jet lag wearing off at last?

Highlight of the Day : Lakes and wildlife...