Greetings from Canada

Greetings from the Canadian Rockies!

Our internet has been a little sparse, so a few days have gone by since checking in last. It is currently Sunday, Sept 8, so I have some catching up to do.

Cold Sulphur Spring

Miette Hot Springs is about an hour from our campground, so on Thursday, Sept 5th we followed the Athabaska River to the Hot Springs. Along the road was a small little spring flowing out of the mountain called Cold Sulphur Spring. It is so fun to see water simply flowing from the ground with no visible source. The underground channels trace all over these mountains!

Another stop on our way to the Hot Springs was a pathway leading to the top of an overlooking grassy knoll. What a view up and down the canyons with the river flowing along the middle. On the far side we see several very long trains  loaded with shipping containers chugging both up and down the valley.

Grassy knoll overlooking Athabasca River

We stopped to explore an old coal mine. I poked my head in as far as Kathy would let me go. Nothing to see! Another stop was at the Punchbowl Falls. A little anti-climatic since we were directly on top but could not get a good view. Again, Kathy’s tight grip kept me from scaling the walls for a better view. 

Original Hot Springs

At the very end of the road we arrive at the Miette Hot Springs. This vacation destination has captured the natural hot waters and provided resort swimming for many years. We walked beyond the current day development to the source of that wonderful hot water. We could still see the remnants of the original pool and buildings that have been abandoned for quite some time.

We returned to our little traveling house by way of the local library where we sent out the last post.

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Maligne Canyon Trail

Friday arrives following another good nights rest and we are ready to head out again. Our goal today is to hike the Maligne Canyon Trail. We get out early to get ahead of any crowds and choose to start at the bottom of the canyon and work up. From bridge number six at the bottom to bridge five it is simply a level trail through the woods and wanders beside the powerful Maligne River. As we pass the fifth bridge, the river begins to narrow a little and the water speeds up. By the fourth bridge the canyon really narrows and the river falls and cascades through narrow deep channels. Breathtaking! We complete our assent and enjoy a hot drink and pastry at the small mountain resort. The return decent went much faster!

We continued our drive up the canyon to have a look at Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake. As expected, we enjoyed amazing beauty in these high mountain bodies of water. We hiked out to Moose Lake was was also very beautiful, but now moose to be found. On this day Kathy reports sightings of a Bald Eagle, American Robin, Junco, Golden-Crowned Kinglet and a Common Loon.

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Saturday  the 7th is a travel day. We were up very early to receive a phone call from Moses in Liberia. Connection was very poor, but we could see the children in the school during a presentation of their school supplies and the gift of a year in school. 

Athabasca Falls

By 9:00 am we were on the road with beautiful stop at the Athabasca Falls. The force of the water through the canyon of rocks was amazing. As you can tell, we are seeing a lot of water falls, channels, and hydraulic cuts through rock made by years of glaciers and water flow. We arrive at the Wilcox Campground by 11:00 am and find an open spot in this first come, first served camp. This was a terraced area in the trees, so trailer maneuvering was challenging and the spaces small, but everything worked out very well. Both Wilcox and our next one are without services, so we are dry camping for the next five days. 

After setting up camp, we met long time friends, Scott and Melissa Griffith, at the Icefields Center for lunch and a brief chance to catch up. They just happened to be heading to Jasper as we were headed the opposite direction. The Ice Fields Center was a perfect meeting place.

We headed back toward Jasper after lunch to explore several of the sites we bypassed. Sunwapta Falls provided another thunderous waterfall. We were having so much fun and our legs were not shaky yet, so we walked another 4 kilometers round trip to the lower falls. Did I mention that this is absolutely beautiful country? We returned to our little chalet hung on the terraced hillside ready to rest our legs.

Forefield Trail

Sunday morning we enjoyed a leisurely start before heading to a glacier. We hike the Forefield trail which is a rocky trail crossing moraine and glacial debris. The path leads us to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. 

We really needed more glacier views, so after lunch we headed to the Parker Ridge Trail. This trail is a continual uphill battle with gravity that escorts us through an area of dense trees but quickly begins to open up as it makes it way to the tree line. What we see from the ridge top is spectacular with panoramic views of the Saskatchewan Glacier and its valleys below. There are waterfalls cascading down massive rock mountains pouring into the aqua blue glacial lakes. Joining us on the ridgeline was a very contented herd of mountain goats that munched on the grasses and did not seem to care that humans were there. What a place for them to call home.

Parker Ridge Trail

Well, That's my parting shot!

Tim and Kathy