Jasper

Rita at a glacial lake full of icebergs.

Our first full day in Jasper didn't disappoint. The sun finally made an appearance so we headed out for a couple of light-duty hikes in the mountains. The first was up to a feature call Mt. Edith Cavell. The scenery was really spectacular - I mean jaw-dropping spectacular even by Yellowstone standards. The trail took us past this little lake formed by glacial ice-melt. You can see the face of the glacier behind Rita, along with the icebergs floating in the lake as the glacier continues to "calve". It was really an amazing sight, especially with the sun on the glacier later in the morning. Even heard the groaning and cracking as pieces of the thing separated and fell into the lake. Amazing.



Looking the other way - down the valley from the glacier.



Another look




And another. Could have shot up a whole flash drive it was so pretty.

The hike took us up to a high mountain meadow full of wildflowers. Saw a big fat Hoary Marmot grazing in the grass right next to us on the trail, along with several Pikas - little beasties about the size of chipmunks that I guess are related to rabbits. They make a little chirping sound as you pass.



Athabasca Falls. A nice photo stop just down the road from the glacier that also had some pretty riverside walks.


Your "Factoid of the Day" is that the Athabasca River that you see in the photo above continues north until it eventually empties into the Arctic Ocean, which means that we aren't just at the continental divide but apparently at the only place on earth where there's a "triple" divide...where rivers separate to flow west to the Pacific, east to the Atlantic, and north to the Arctic. Bet you won't see that on Jeopardy any time soon.


Here's a video to give you an idea of the panorama at the glacier.