DATELINE: Jasper, Alberta, Canada 8/1 - 8/8

Grizzly in Jasper

We spent the vast majority of our time in Alberta driving mile after mile thinking that around each corner was going to be the ultimate wildlife find.  Now, I will say we saw grizzlies in the wild much closer than ever before.  Right outside the town of Jasper we were involved in no less than 3, count ‘em 3 bear jams (a phenomena caused when tourists stop their vehicles and get out in order to get even closer to these apex predators).  It was quite interesting to watch the NP rangers come charging in with the guns and rubber bullets and tromp into the woods in pursuit of the offending bears yelling,  “Hey Bear! Hey Bear!”  It was of equal interest to watch the bears hang out doing whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted right until they spied the ranger’s trucks arrive.  Boy did they high tail it out of town at that point! 

View from the deck at Jasper NP Lodge

We lunched up at the Jasper Lodge with absolutely gorgeous views.  We 
traveled through Indian territory and saw their ceremonial grounds.  We explored the coal-mining town of Cardamon and visited their pioneer cemetery.  We braved swarms of insects to look at the Mobley cabin – site of one the very first settlers in the area.  We traveled gravel and dirt and grass-covered wagon track and in all, had a wonderful, wonderful time – but, not too many animals to speak of.  

Here we are at the Mobley Cabin.  We were off road, and I mean waaaay off road when we drove into a clearing and came across this cabin.  There was a self-guided walk through the meadow with interpretative signs and everything but no other evidence on the map or at the trailhead that this was anything at all the Canadians even knew existed.

This cemetery was at the top of the mountain outside of the town of Cardamon, Alberta.  The graves were tenderly looked after and the markers a carved in stone history of the historic coal-mining history of this area. The graveyard is still in use today but it was heartbreaking to read all the inscriptions on the tiny graves of the many babies lost to families in the mid-1920's in this area.  There is still a large coal-mining operation in this area - open seam mining - it isn't pretty.

Indigineous Peoples Ceremonial Grounds
The Canadians refer to them as Aboriginal People..

We traveled hours and hours studiously following a map (Yes, made by the Canadians.  No, not a good idea to follow the Canadian map makers)... There was much consultation and discussion about how far the walk would be if we weren't on an actual road to somewhere.  At one point we actually ran into a pair of University of Alberta research assistants who were monitoring the diminishing population of grizzly bears in the area...Well, that, at least explaining part of our problem.  We weren't seeing another living soul and the following is the view out our windshield:

We continued just a like a jeep full of intrepid mailmen through rain and deprivation - really - we didn't have any snacks worth mentioning with us and finally came to an obstacle we didn't think we would conquer.

So we put Wick out of the car with a big stick to test the depth of the water.  I abandoned the vehicle to make my way around the “lake” on foot – Gwen maintained her seat, Barry set his jaw and away he went!

This was all well and good and we were pretty proud of the fact that we had circumnavigated the Canadian wilderness right up until our road dead-ended at this sign: