After driving over 200 miles, we arrived at the Hinton/Jasper KOA at 3pm on June 23, We have full hookups here and will stay 3 days – one of our longest stays on this caravan! Then we have 6 days in a row of one-nighters!
Friday morning was a fun day in Jasper with more scenic driving as we drove thru the mountains.
More elk along the way
We stopped to ride up Whistlers Mountain on the Jasper Sky Tram. You can watch their camera at the summit on this link!
We got a photo with Jasper the Bear – he stands guard at the lower tram station.
Some impressive machinery to take the trams up and down the mountain!
A bit of history to read while you wait your turn! The tram has been in operation since 1964
Some folks climbed way up from the upper tram station! They look small with the big rocks scattered about.
It was cold up at the summit!
Clouds rolled in obstructing our view for a while.
We caught sight of a rainbow on our way down!
Our next stop was lunch at Jasper Pizza Place.
On the wall, Linda saw this photo from circa 1950 and reminded her of the snowmobile her family rode on the Columbia Ice Fields back in 1968! We will visit the Ice Fields tomorrow!
After lunch, we had fun with the bear outside the pizza place!
More bears we saw around Jasper
A fun t-shirt!
Not a bear – but wow! — what a shaggy dog!!
The train station was beautiful inside and out – distorted a bit by the panoramic shot
We stopped in at a brewery with Lee and Kimberly – imagine that! Jasper Brewing
We had to check out the totem pole!
The Jasper Visitor Center was a lovely building
Other miscellaneous sights around Jasper
desert rose cluster – a calcite formation
We headed back to the campground and the mountains were gorgeous!
We stopped by Folding Mountain Brewing on the way home.
Saturday started with a pancake and sausage breakfast!
Hungry masses waiting!
Morris can even grill a waffle!
Twas a bit nippy that morning!
After we filled our bellies, we took off for more adventures!
More elk on the roadside grazing
Our first stop was a viewpoint to see Athabaska Pass
and Mount Hardisty
Another viewpoint for Mount Edith Cavell
And we stopped to see Athabaska Falls
Love seeing a rainbow in a waterfall!
We drove on to see the Columbia Ice Fields – it was snowing like crazy when we drove past them on Thursday – today is clear but still cool! More amazing scenery!
As we neared the Ice Fields, one mountain had a deep layer of snow spread like icing!
Finally! We arrived at the visitor center and saw the some of the Columbia Ice field across the street.
Outside the visitor Center, Linda spotted a snowmobile much like the one she rode in back in 1968! They no longer run the “snow cats” but use “Ice Explorers” (read this)
We are going to leave you hanging! The next few days we may not have internet service which is needed to do the blog! I will complete this post when we have service again.
The ice explorer looks like it is built to handle a larger crowd, more comfy but there is just something more ‘adventurous looking’ about the old snow cats! You are traveling through some epic country! Thanks for posting.
Looking forward to Part 2.
Stay safe!
Bob