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|---|---|
| Travel Dates | \nOct. 7 - Oct. 15, 2016 (9 Days) | \n
| Highlights | \nJasper, Banff | \n
| Format | \nLiving out of a car | \n
| Would do again? | \nYes | \n
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\nNo GPS tracker this time. I went from Edmonton → Jasper → Lake Louis → Banff → Calgary → Edmonton (I like loops)
\nThe complete photoset can be found on my flickr
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\nThis was an impromptu trip that started from finishing up a stressful project and almost immediately took some time off. I was playing around with the idea a month ahead but didn't buy the tickets until a week before flying.
\nI flew into Edmonton (normal people don't do this, they go into Calgary) because I was going to meet up with a friend who is based out in Cold Lake. The drive to Jasper is 4 hours, and I was hit a snowstorm on the way in, which made the drive longer. I couldn't see anything going in and the first few days had a low cloud ceiling so I didn't really get to see a mountain. It cleared up on my last day in Jasper, and damn, that was quite the sight.
\nThe original goal was to travel along the Skyline Trail, which is a 3-day backcountry hike, and is suppose to be the best tail in Jasper. Unfortunately, winter came early, and the snowstorm that hit me on my way in dumped enough snow to pretty much close the trail. However, my friend and I were determined, so we went to the Parks Canada office asking if it was really that bad, and they suggested we go up Bald Hills (ha, hills) to look at the situation and if it's good to continue onto the trail.
\nWe got destroyed at Bald Hills. We took the shorter 4km route up because we are idiots. The trail is 10.4km return, with 500m elevation gain. As we approached 2hrs in the hike, we were well into the clouds, and we could not see anything. We lost the trail once we got above the tree line and just kept walking up. We eventually summited (at least that's what we believe), and had to retrace our steps to get off the mountain. I decided to go against doing the Skyline Trail but my friend was convinced we were fine (he's a different level of insanity). We ended up going to the Miette Hot Springs, which was great after a day of hard hiking.
\nJasper is a Dark Night Preserve as well as a National Park. On my first night, I was lucky enough that I met a pair who gave up one of their reservation tickets to go up Whistlers Peak for a dark sky viewing. At the peak, I was above the low ceiling but unfortunately, there was a patchy higher ceiling. It wasn't perfect, but you could still see a lot and the organizers had a large telescope (I think they said 600mm) that they pointed to deep sky objects. I got to see the m13 globular cluster, the ISS, Andromeda Galaxy and some other deep space objects I forgot the names of.
\nThe Icefield Parkway, the road between Jasper and Banff, is gorgeous. It is proclaimed to be the most scenic road in the Rockies and I agree. You can drive the distance in about 4 hours, but my friend and I took 2 days. We camped at the Rampart Creek Campground. The site is beautiful by the river between mountains. We found a hatchet at the site and used it to cut some firewood to make a fire. The weather was really cold. It dropped to -13C at night. The condensation on the tent turned into a sheet of ice and pretty much everything that was outside of the sleeping bag was frozen (gloves, socks, shirt, etc. This actually includes your face. I couldn't open my eyes when I woke up because my eyelashes were frozen)
\nWe got to Lake Louis, but compared to everything we saw in Jasper and the Icefield Parkway, it felt very underwhelming. From there my buddy returned to Cold Lake and I continued to Banff. I tried to take it easy by sleeping in a hotel, but even then that was too lavish and I couldn't sleep; the bed was too soft, and the air was too dry I kept waking up to drink water. I had to switch to a hostel afterward (no campgrounds were open anymore).
\nI spent 2 days in Banff and did day hikes everywhere I could, but the mix of heavy snow and rain closed a lot of higher elevation trails; I ended up staying in canyons and drove to Kootenay National park. Kootenay felt completely shut down so I got out and went back to Banff. On my way out, I went to Kananaskis Country and did the Barrier Lake Lookout trail. That is a very nice trail with a gorgeous view at the top. A bit further from the original trail summit, you can go to the fire watch tower where you can get a full 360 view of the surrounding area. It was a nice stop over before entering Calgary.
\nCalgary was weird overall. The city shuts down pretty early. By the time I arrived (~6 pm) the city felt like a ghost town and gave me an uneasy feeling. In certain areas I would be the only person walking on the streets; even the popular shopping areas were deserted. I eventually found a place to eat that wouldn't turn me away because I wasn't dressed up; Tubby Dog. Tuby Dog is a hot dog restaurant with ridiculous toppings. I got a bacon-wrapped dog that was deep fried, topped with homemade chili cheese, bacon, onions, and hot peppers! Other than that, I went to the Calgary Zoo on my way out and that place was great! They have a new Penguin Splash area where you're close enough to penguins you could poke them! It's a well-organized place lots of events happening giving you the opportunity to see the animals.
\nThe rest of the trip was uneventful, other than I managed to bring the rental car back with a completely empty tank =)
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