Hey everyone, it is the third day of spring(spring over here starts on the 20th of March for some reason) and it is snowing heaps. We have had 10cm in town in the last day or so and everything looks pretty and white again. El and I had a day off together yesterday and spent the day bumming around town, having lunch, shopping etc. There is a bug going around here at the moment. Jen had it for a couple of days now I think I am getting it. We all feel a bit Bla! but are otherwise fine. We are counting the days until the end of the season when we will start travelling again. We have booked a campervan to drive up into the yukon and it should be a really good trip. El and I went skiing together the other day which was really fun, we are getting better each time and skiing for free really helps.
Today I am staying home cause I am a bit sick and don't want to ski. Last week Jen and I went up for a walk on Pyramid Bench, which is a small range overlooking Jasper(there are a few photos on smugmug if you want to seeg them). We saw bighorn sheep(with little horns) and a squirrel eating some food. Those squirrels can move fast when they want to. We trapsed through mud and ice but the view was worth it. Unfortunately on the day we went up it was cloudy and the park guys were using chain saws so the serenity in a few places was less than ideal. The walk was still good though.
Besides that , we have been enjoying fresh snow and relaxing. We both hope everyone is well. Bye for now
Geoff and El
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
El's birthday week
Hey everyone, it has been a busy week. To start with, El's mum came over to stay with us for a week and has left today to go to Prince George. And then El had her 25th birthday. We went out on Saturday night to do a walk through Maligne canyon, which has spectacular frozen water-falls and frozen water. We had to put ice-cleats on over gumboots which we got from a place in town. It was really quite different walking through this canyon at night with little headlamps on. One of the guys in the group fell into the river and got his feet wet, but all was really good after that.d
On Monday and tuesday we hired a car so we could go on a few drives around the place. On Monday we drove out to several lakes near Jasper. We went out to Pyramid and Patricia lakes and had a nice walk along the shores. The lakes were frozen but you could see the potential for summer fun with all the kayaks, canoes and sailing boats waiting for the ice to melt so that they could get out there. One observation we made is that it is much easier to skim a rock across a frozen lake than an unfrozen one:). We also drove to old fort point and climbed to the top. From up there you get views of Jasper, the mountains and valleys for miles and miles. Up there we were also lucky enough to see some bighorn sheep, though they were a bit far away to get any decent photos.
On monday we also drove out to Maligne lake via Medicine Lake(medicine lake empties in winter because of sink holes in its bottom). The drive was spectacular passing through avalanche country, towering cliffs and lakes. At maligne lake, El and her mum had a snowball fight in the carpark. I tackled El into a snowbank and my el cheapo pants ripped. It was a bit cool for the rest of the afternoon.
On the way back from maligne lake, we saw a car had nosed itself(with help from the people inside-doing fishies I think) into a snowdrift at the side of the road. I helped them get unbogged by putting rocks under their wheels and pushing with the help of another guy that pulled over to help. A tour bus didn't stop to see if anyone was ok. So that was monday.
On tuesday we went for a longer drive down into British Columbia to visit a few places down there.The drive through the rockies down into British Columbia is great, mountains and lakes jump at you everywhere you look. First stop was Mt Robson provincial park, which is home to Mt Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. We couldn't see the mountain though cause it was snowing heavily. In the carpark for the Mt Robson info centre we smashed frozen puddles and played in metre deep powdery snow. It was really nice for El's mum cause she had never really seen snow falling before. We then went to the non-existent town Tete Jaune Cache, which is famous historically for Canadians, but there is not much else to see there. After Tete Jaune we headed down to Valemount, a town in BC which is famous for snowmobiling - not much snow there though. We had lunch at the "Loose Moose Pub and Bistro" before starting back for Jasper. On the way back we stopped at Rearguard falls-that was pretty. Looked like bear country to me- but still haven't seen any. We got back to Jasper eventually and went out to Jasper Park Lodge(where the richer people stay) and had hot chocolates to round off the day. We eventually got back to our house, sore and tired but glad we had been out and about.
El had to work today so I dropped her mum off at the train station. El was sad to see her mum go and sad she had to go back to work.
We both hope everyone is well.
Geoff and El
On Monday and tuesday we hired a car so we could go on a few drives around the place. On Monday we drove out to several lakes near Jasper. We went out to Pyramid and Patricia lakes and had a nice walk along the shores. The lakes were frozen but you could see the potential for summer fun with all the kayaks, canoes and sailing boats waiting for the ice to melt so that they could get out there. One observation we made is that it is much easier to skim a rock across a frozen lake than an unfrozen one:). We also drove to old fort point and climbed to the top. From up there you get views of Jasper, the mountains and valleys for miles and miles. Up there we were also lucky enough to see some bighorn sheep, though they were a bit far away to get any decent photos.
On monday we also drove out to Maligne lake via Medicine Lake(medicine lake empties in winter because of sink holes in its bottom). The drive was spectacular passing through avalanche country, towering cliffs and lakes. At maligne lake, El and her mum had a snowball fight in the carpark. I tackled El into a snowbank and my el cheapo pants ripped. It was a bit cool for the rest of the afternoon.
On the way back from maligne lake, we saw a car had nosed itself(with help from the people inside-doing fishies I think) into a snowdrift at the side of the road. I helped them get unbogged by putting rocks under their wheels and pushing with the help of another guy that pulled over to help. A tour bus didn't stop to see if anyone was ok. So that was monday.
On tuesday we went for a longer drive down into British Columbia to visit a few places down there.The drive through the rockies down into British Columbia is great, mountains and lakes jump at you everywhere you look. First stop was Mt Robson provincial park, which is home to Mt Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. We couldn't see the mountain though cause it was snowing heavily. In the carpark for the Mt Robson info centre we smashed frozen puddles and played in metre deep powdery snow. It was really nice for El's mum cause she had never really seen snow falling before. We then went to the non-existent town Tete Jaune Cache, which is famous historically for Canadians, but there is not much else to see there. After Tete Jaune we headed down to Valemount, a town in BC which is famous for snowmobiling - not much snow there though. We had lunch at the "Loose Moose Pub and Bistro" before starting back for Jasper. On the way back we stopped at Rearguard falls-that was pretty. Looked like bear country to me- but still haven't seen any. We got back to Jasper eventually and went out to Jasper Park Lodge(where the richer people stay) and had hot chocolates to round off the day. We eventually got back to our house, sore and tired but glad we had been out and about.
El had to work today so I dropped her mum off at the train station. El was sad to see her mum go and sad she had to go back to work.
We both hope everyone is well.
Geoff and El
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