The road between Banff and Jasper is called the Icefields Parkway, and it boasts that it is the most beautiful road in the world. I'm not sure I have the experience to verify that, but I can say that the drive certainly is amazingly beautiful - we stopped at nearly every overlook!
The nicest part of camping in Jasper was getting to see our good friends Christine and Antti. Christine is the head teacher of the school in Japan where I taught art; Antti was a researcher with whom we became friends while living in Tsukuba. It was so great (and a little strange) to all be reunited in the middle of Canada.Christine brought us some treats from Japan, including a Doraemon candy dispenser.
Antti brought us these beautiful traditional camping cups from Finland, called kuksa(s). The cups are made out of wood and have our names and the date carved into them. There's also a ritual the first time you use it - you are supposed to swirl your liquid clockwise touching all parts of the inside of the cup, but not spilling any. Then, you do the same thing counter-clockwise. This is not easy - here's Christine demonstrating.
Antti also showed us how the real Finns chop wood (necessary for all those saunas!).
The next day we went on a beautiful hike, but first we passed this lake:
Pictures from the hike:
The next day it rained, so we explored the town of Jasper - dangerous!
But rain brings rainbows . . . .
One interesting thing about our campground was that it was over-run with elk
On the way home we stopped at Mount Robson, the highest mountain in British Columbia.
We also learned that Mike is not as big as a moose.
2 comments:
Fabulous pictures! Thanks!
Ditto - great pix and stories. Thanks for sharing with those of us who wish we were along for the fun!
MD
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