Day 39 – July 9th – Wandering Retirees

Today was a leisurely, fun day. We slept in a bit then headed into Jasper Nat’l Park to the south on Alberta Rt 93, ostensibly to find a trail that leads to “Edge of the World.” We had a lovely ride to get to the vicinity of the trail located, we were told, on the road to the Marmot Basin ski resort. Found the road, check. Rode 7.6 km to where the trailhead is located, check. Could we find it? That would be no. We walked and hunted and asked passers-by, but no luck. Oh, well. Fun ride, fun walk, but the world’s edge was an elusive quarry.

Alberta Rt 93 is called the “Icefields Parkway” runs 232 kilometers (144 miles) along the Continental Divide from Jasper to Lake Louise, Alberta at its south end. In addition to Jasper Nat’l Park in the north, Banff Nat’l Park encompasses the southern half. The parks are famous for their majestic mountains, glaciers and rivers. There are lots of campsites and fabulous hikes mapped out of all lengths and levels of difficulty.

We took a couple of short hikes at our next stop, Mt. Edith Cavell. Turning on a side road off Rt 93, we climbed quite a ways into the forest above on Cavell Road. The ride was 14 km (8.5 miles) and took us a half hour. Lots of twists and switchbacks;and trailers are prohibited (yea!). The posted speed for most sharp bends is 15 or 20 kph. That’s 8 to 12 mph, and the road warranted those speeds. So long as you’re not in a big hurry, it’s lots of fun.

There are several turnouts for great views of the Astoria Valley with glaciers at its head, the obligatory bridge over the rushing stream, and finally the parking area for Mt. Edith Cavell. The mountain is named for a famous Canadian nurse who cared for many hundreds of Allied soldiers during WWI. A short hike up a good path took us to an overlook of the mountain and two glaciers: the Cavell Glacier with clearly layered ice, and Angel Glacier that looked like it had wings. Cavell Pond lays below the sheer north face of the mountain, and right under the Cavell Glacier. There are bergs floating in the pond that calved recently, and there are warnings to stay clear of the pond: frequent falling ice bergs the size of houses cause flash flooding that can sweep an unwary hiker away. Recent warming trends have melted a large Glacier that covered the entire area until recently, and fragile sub-Alpine flowers and plants are slowly taking hold now. Cavell Glacier and Angel Glacier are all that remain in this spot.

We had a little picnic at our overlook and took a ton of pictures. Hope you enjoy them. About mid-afternoon we packed up and returned to our bike. A nice ride back to Jasper, a stop at the grocery store, then to the room for a nap. That’s right. We took a nap, the epitome of decadence, before supper with our friend, Mike. Tomorrow, he heads out toward Alaska while we head back into Jasper Park for more mountains. And glaciers. And the obligatory bridges over rushing water. Rough life.

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Beauty at every turn.