Ahh Jasper. Did I mention it's one of my favourite places? Brent even named and submitted to
a photo contest in Jasper's honour.
Four days is an awfully short time to be in your favourite place, especially when it's five hours away. Our Thursday and Sunday were largely spent in transit. Nevertheless, we got some great visits in with the beautiful area.
A fellow-blogger, Briton and acquaintance (Hi A!) asked if we went to the Bear's Paw Bakery?
Heck yes we went to the Bear's Paw Bakery. Twice, as a matter of fact. I had a steamer once, and a latte the second time. And a raspberry white chocolate scone (one of my all-time favourite treats). And a cinnamon bun (also good, but not my favourite). We also had spicy sausage rolls on our way home that were purchased at the aforementioned bakery.
I love how many varied people go there. The locals go early in the morning before the tourists are up and around. The mainland Europeans go there for their daily bread (although they don't have rye bread--they should). The big street-wandering crowds stop in the afternoon for a dessert. And we went there whenever we felt like tasty pastries and yummy hot drinks.
I've had several ask, "Did you frolick with the elk, as per several pre-trip comments you made?"
Nope. Brent ruled that one out. And actually, I've had a run-in with elk in the past by getting between a mama and her baby (accidentally!) and would rather not repeat that. All frolicking was done from a distance. Well, except for one incident. We went biking on Friday and I almost ran into a Mama just chilaxing on the trail. She wasn't too thrilled by my slightly-out-of-breath trundling-along cycling presence, but she also didn't really move at all as I maneuvered past her. This is a good thing. Elk are large. [But Brent thinks I could have out-pedalled her if I had needed to].
In keeping with our Danish family's favourite mountain past-time, there's also the standard "Did you see any bears?!?"
As a matter of fact, yes we did. I saw a baby bear waddle across the road on the way up to Maligne Lake. (It was hard to miss with all the tourists out trying to cuddle with it). We even resisted the urge to honk loudly and scold the silly people out running after the cub. Seemed like none of them stopped to wonder where the Mum was and what she would think about them getting human germs all over her baby. Brent also saw another bear cooling off in a stream, but I missed it.
We also saw a lot of other wildlife...more than we usually see. In addition to elk and bears, we saw deer, several chubby attention-seeking marmots, all-too-tame chipmunks, gray jays [Brent says they're actually called something else], crows, two coyotes, and squirrels . Some of these anyone familiar with the mountain parks will say EVERYONE sees. But not so of marmots and coyotes. I've never actually seen a coyote in the park before. Oh yes, and we also saw PLENTY of the species of ordinary everyday tourist.
Lots more to come on our trip to Jasper. But I thought I would start there.
I've had several ask, "Did you frolick with the elk, as per several pre-trip comments you made?"
Nope. Brent ruled that one out. And actually, I've had a run-in with elk in the past by getting between a mama and her baby (accidentally!) and would rather not repeat that. All frolicking was done from a distance. Well, except for one incident. We went biking on Friday and I almost ran into a Mama just chilaxing on the trail. She wasn't too thrilled by my slightly-out-of-breath trundling-along cycling presence, but she also didn't really move at all as I maneuvered past her. This is a good thing. Elk are large. [But Brent thinks I could have out-pedalled her if I had needed to].
In keeping with our Danish family's favourite mountain past-time, there's also the standard "Did you see any bears?!?"
As a matter of fact, yes we did. I saw a baby bear waddle across the road on the way up to Maligne Lake. (It was hard to miss with all the tourists out trying to cuddle with it). We even resisted the urge to honk loudly and scold the silly people out running after the cub. Seemed like none of them stopped to wonder where the Mum was and what she would think about them getting human germs all over her baby. Brent also saw another bear cooling off in a stream, but I missed it.
We also saw a lot of other wildlife...more than we usually see. In addition to elk and bears, we saw deer, several chubby attention-seeking marmots, all-too-tame chipmunks, gray jays [Brent says they're actually called something else], crows, two coyotes, and squirrels . Some of these anyone familiar with the mountain parks will say EVERYONE sees. But not so of marmots and coyotes. I've never actually seen a coyote in the park before. Oh yes, and we also saw PLENTY of the species of ordinary everyday tourist.
Lots more to come on our trip to Jasper. But I thought I would start there.
1 comment:
Love the last line..."species of ordinary tourists"...it made me laugh. I agree, 4 days is too short of a time in your favorite place :).
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