Idle Vacation

We visited Jasper a while ago, and I meant to post pictures but I forgot. Anyway, I shouldn't say we specifically went to Jasper because beyond driving through it, we didn't stop or do anything there at all. It was far too busy for us. The whole point to being out in the mountains is to put some distance between yourself and the city crowds, isn't it?

The drive was sort of the whole point. The scenery is gorgeous! We passed this lake (I don't know if it was a lake, per se, it wasn't identified as anything) and there were about 20 cars parked along it and everyone was out wading through it. It was super shallow and people were going all the way out to the middle. The next morning, we stopped here since there wasn't anyone around at that time and tested the water for ourselves. It was super cold plus it was cold and windy that morning. I couldn't tolerate it at all, but IH had a lot of fun wading out.

Just another marshy mountain scene

(sorry for the poor picture)

We got tickets for the Jasper sky tram. It's basically this box that goes up a mountain on a cable line. This was another attraction that would have been more tolerable had we waited another hour or so to see. We were stuffed in that box like sardines. It was much better for people going up later in the day.

Since it was around dinner time, we stayed at the top and had a hamburger. This is the view from our table. It was a little too foggy that day to see anything specific, but it was still incredible.

We then travelled to Athabasca Falls. So beautiful! Plus there's an excellent walking area around it that gives really great views of the falls at every angle. The sound of rushing water is so lovely, and I love the look of the rock surrounding it -- aged and weathered and smoothed from the constant flow of water.

The next day we spent driving around a little. We stopped for a bit at Pyramid Lake;

Contemplated boating;

But ended up finding the happiest of snail shells in the sand.

I think this would be a fantastic time to travel out this way. It would be crisp and extra pretty with all the fall colours (most likely covered in snow now), and there would be fewer tourists than what we experienced. It would be like having the wilderness to yourself which is how you're supposed to experience it!