(View of the city of Jasper, taken from the top of Mt. Whistler)
I'm having a cookie and a hot chocolate here at the Bear's Paw bakery in Jasper. It is a warm, beautiful, sunny day.
Dean and I started our day with a "short" bike ride to the tram stop in Jasper, where you can ride to the top of Mt. Whistler. It is located just 4 K (about 3 miles) from our campground, so we figured 20 minutes would be plenty of time to get there. We left at 8:40, hoping to catch the 9:00 tram ride.
But nobody warned us that the road to the tram is STRAIGHT UP HILL! I sweated more in that stupid 45 minute ride than the entire 100 miles yesterday. Jason (Bud's helper on the trip)
hiked and it took him less time to get there than us.
The tram ride was pricey, but I sure didn't want to hike up the mountain.
Once at the top, we hiked for about 45 minutes, snapping photos of the 360 degree views.
It was a clear, gorgeous day and we got a good shot of Mt. Robson (highest peak in the Canadian Rockies).
Jason chose to hike even further along the mountain top, so Dean and I took the tram down without him.
The ride back down the hill was much faster than the ride up! But on the way, I noticed cars stopped along the road, with people leaning out the windows with their cameras. We stopped, and were treated to a view of a mama bear and 2 cubs.
The photo sucks, but it is good enough to document the sighting.
Jasper reminds me a lot of Jackson Hole, WY--tons of tourists everywhere. So after lunch and some time shopping in town, I decided to take a little bike ride around the area.
I meant to go to something called "the old fort", but somehow I missed it and ended up on a path
that took me across the Athabasca River to the Jasper Park Lodge golf course. It was really beautiful.
Our entire group met for dinner at Earl's, a popular Canadian chain restaurant.
Everybody had fun snapping photos at the table.
Standing, from left: Lynda, Barb, Pat. Seated: Paul and JaneMost people had taken taxis to town, even though its only about 2 miles from the campground to downtown Jasper. I was biking back to camp when I heard a noise on the side of the road. I looked over to see a black bear, right next to the road. I stopped and fumbled for my camera. But just then, Karl pulled up behind me and the bear took off into the woods. Drat! Woulda been a great photo! But I was happy to have a second bear sighting, anyways.
Then, just at the turn into the campgrounds, we spotted a female elk. She is next to the sign showing the road up to the tram that we took earlier today.
It was a great ending to a wonderful day in Jasper. Back to the campsite, where we will be asleep before it finally gets dark around 11:15 pm.
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