Saying Good bye to Jasper

This was our first stop on this frosty morning in Jasper.   It is called Athabasca Falls.   The Athabasca River is the biggest river flowing through the national park.   It begins at the Athabasca glacier high in the Columbia Ice Fields and actually flows all the way to the Arctic Ocean.   The falls are so powerful, they have carved interesting potholes and other formations in the rock.   As you can see, a deep canyon has also developed.   We climbed down to the bottom of the falls and the river was wide and peaceful.   Pretty neat.

Our next stop was a wonderful hike back into a pretty area called the Valley of the Five Lakes.   Of course, we got confused and took the 5 mile route instead of the 2 mile route, but it was worth every minute and every sore calf muscle!  We hiked up and over a ridge and then down into the valley where these aqua blue lakes greeted us.   We ate our lunch sitting on a log in the warm sunshine looking out over the water that was like blue-green glass.   Sort of had to pinch ourselves.

This last picture is taken from Whistler's Mountain where the Jasper tramway runs.   Is shows Jasper townsite in the distance and beyond that some of the beautiful mountains that we see all around us.   You can't look any direction without having a view that takes your breath away. Jasper itself is just a wonderful little town.   Right now it is so peaceful and unhurried.   Then there is the surrounding countryside.   It's hard to describe all the natural wonders we have seen since we arrived in Jasper last Sunday.   It certainly has to be one of our favorite spots and Bob says it should be put on everyone's bucket list!  We must sadly must say good bye to everything tomorrow as we board the train at 2:30 in the afternoon heading for Victoria and Vancouver.   Everyone has told us that the train ride from here west is one of the best train rides in the world.

After tomorrow morning we will be "out of touch" until we arrive in Vancouver on Saturday.   Then we are crossing our fingers to get checked in to our hotel and be able to watch the Badgers beat Nebraska and then on Sunday watch the Packers beat the Broncos.

Hugs to everyone.

Bob and Deb