Visiting Jasper National Park in Canada

The Canadian Rockies are a hyperbole of beauty and an exaggeration of nature. Home to sparkling lakes, towering mountains, and jaw-dropping vistas, they contain some of the most photographed and revered alpine scenery on Earth. It goes without saying that I had high expectations for the area. But despite these expectations, my four days in Jasper and Banff were everything I had dreamed of. They gave me a break from by hectic summer flying schedule and allowed me to trade my rollaboard for a backpack, my hotel room for a tent, and Google images for real-life, breathtaking scenery.

The first two days of our whirlwind trip were spent primarily in Banff National Park. We visited the park’s iconic lakes, photographed its jagged peaks and hiked its scenic trails. Then, after exploring many of the park’s beloved highlights, Dan and I found ourselves waving adieu to the crown jewel of Canada and setting foot into Jasper National Park–the less visited but equally beautiful park that shares its southern border with Banff.

 

JASPER NATIONAL PARK IN ALBERTA

Jasper is like Banff’s little brother. The park is younger, less talked about and less visited. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from Jasper when I first began researching the area. After all, when I asked Google images to show me pictures of the park, half of the results were photographs of Banff. I began to believe that Jasper National Park would fail to live up to the majesty and grandeur of its southerly neighbor.

But from the moment we entered Jasper, the national park impressed us with its mountains, canyons, lakes and waterfalls.

 

THE COLUMBIA ICEFIELD

Merely seconds after crossing into the national park, we found ourselves face to face with the Columbia Icefield. The Colombia Icefield lies at the southern confines of Jasper National Park, along the Icefield’s Parkway—a spectacular road that travels from Banff to Jasper and showcases some of the park’s most breathtaking scenery.

The Colombia Icefield is the largest of its kind in the Canadian Rockies. It measures an area of 325 square kilometers and has a depth of up to 365 meters. From the Icefield Discovery Center, one can purchase tickets for excursions onto the glacier. Tours last about an hour and cost upward of $50 per person. We considered joining a tour so that we could walk on top of the icefield, but then ultimately decided against it due to time and budget constraints.

Though I’m sure walking atop a blue ice sheet would have been a memorable experience, I was perfectly content enjoying the splendor of the icefield from the lookout below. From the parking lot where we stood, we were close enough to see the blue undertones of the glacier as well as the cracks and crevices in the icefield’s surface.

After taking in the sights of the Columbia Icefield, Dan and I continued on toward the town of Jasper, where we planned to set up camp before exploring other areas of the park. The park ranger at the Discovery Center had warned us that many campsites could be full due to Jasper’s modest number of camping options. He suggested we drive toward town and reserve a site, before doubling back to visit Mount Edith Cavell.

So we heeded his advice and headed Northward, toward town. Along the way, we stopped to see waterfalls, mountain goats and the picturesque Johnston’s Canyon.

 

ATHABASCA FALLS AND CANYON

The Athabasca day-use area lies about twenty miles south of Jasper town and makes for an excellent road trip stop. The area’s  short, well-maintained interpretive trail leads to views of a beautiful waterfall that tumbles into the Athabasca Canyon–a narrow gorge that has been chiseled by the tumultuous river.

MOUNT EDITH CAVELL

After setting up camp, Dan and I drove toward the Mount Edith Cavell lookout. Mount Edith Cavell is amongst Alberta’s tallest peaks. It lies at the end of a road that deviates from the park’s main artery. The area boasts spectacular surroundings. From the parking lot, Dan and I hiked to a ridge that granted us views of Angel Glacier.

Shaped like an angel with outstretched wings, the delicate Angel Glacier flows down the northern face of Edith Cavell and overlooks a lake of turquoise meltwater. The ice surrounding the turquoise pond is striped with brown sediment, revealing the stratification that took place within the glacier’s lifespan. We admired the pond’s turquoise color and the floating chunks of ice that litter the lake’s placid waters.

Road-tripping through Jasper and Banff reaps many rewards and, once again, Dan and I were awestruck by the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.

From Edith Cavell, Dan and I returned to our campsite for the night, hoping to wake up early the next morning for another full day of sightseeing and animal viewing.

 

LAKE MALIGNE IN JASPER

At about 6am the following morning, we headed toward Lake Maligne. Along the way, we scoured our surroundings for signs of wildlife. Our quest to find animals was met with mild success, for we did not see bears, moose or the elusive caribou. Perhaps we were too anxious to spot big game. Or perhaps our eyes were glued too firmly to the towering mountain peaks. Yet, while we walked away without seeing any of the park’s most prized sightings, we enjoyed keeping our eyes peeled for glimpses of elk, mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

When we first reached the shores of Lake Maligne, low-laying clouds hindered our view of the surrounding mountains and covered the area in a dense layer of fog. We walked around the shoreline and waited futilely for the clouds to lift. Finally, Dan and I ducked into the lake’s lodge for a cup of hot cocoa.

And just as we were about to leave the lake and begin driving toward the Miette Hot Springs, the sun burned through the clouds and rewarded us with views of the surrounding mountain peaks.

We sat at Maligne Lake for a while, waiting for the clouds to break up and watching their reflections dart about the lake’s glassy waters. Then, we hopped back into the car and headed toward the Miette Hot Springs.

As the sun peeked through the clouds and colored the mountains in various shades of green and purple, it created a palette of color that made me feel as though I were looking at a painting.

 

THE MIETTE HOT SPRINGS

The Miette Hot Springs were the final stop on our Canadian road trip. The well-developed hot springs are the warmest in the Canadian Rockies. The water that feeds the springs flows down a narrow canyon along Sulfur Creek and is collected, cooled and filtered into a series of soaking pools that have become popular with tourists. 

The entire complex contains two large heated pools and two smaller, colder ones. After three shower-less days of camping, hiking and sleeping in our clothes, soaking in the Miette Hot Springs was not only rejuvenating and cleansing, but also wholly necessary. I could practically feel the sweat and dirt from three days of travel wash off my skin.

We darted between the hot pools and the cold ones for about two hours, enjoying the soothing water and cleaning layers of grime off our bodies in preparation for our return flight home. It was a perfect way to cap off three days of hiking and camping.

 

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Our visit to Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies may have been short, but it was exactly the break that Dan and I needed from our busy schedules.

And so as we drove back to Calgary for the night, I tried to savor our last few hours in the Canadian wilderness. For I knew that a return to reality would involve me trading my tent for a hotel room, my backpack for a roll-aboard and the incredible views of the Canadian Rockies for computer-screen images of destinations I longed to visit.

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