Playing in the snow
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2007
1
19
97
Trip End
Aug 24, 2008
Jasper,
Alberta,
Canada
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Nearing Jasper, the snow started to fall like it really meant it and the trees were soon showing that "ready to drop this load of snow on the next unsuspecting passer-by" look. We had to wait for the Vancouver-bound passenger train for about 30 minutes (it made a change from waiting for freight trains), during which time the tracks were covered in fresh snow. The right kind of snow it seems, for progress then continued relatively unabated.
We arrived in Jasper and having learnt of the existence of the free shuttle service, we rang to arrange transport to our hotel. A worthless venture as it turned out: we had to call again after about half an hour, then the shuttle turned up and drove us the 5 minute walk to the hotel. Oh well.
We checked in to the hotel and after some confusion (we had booked a room with a single large double bed, we were given one with two small double beds which seemed a bit unnecessary) we settled into our room. We did some washing by putting out dirty clothes in the bath, filling it with soapy water and walking around on them for a while. Very effective. We then headed out and tried to get food at a place called "Andy's Bistro" which unfortunately had stopped serving for the evening, so we went to a place called "Earl's" instead.
We spent a luxurious evening watching our TV whilst lying on our spare bed, before getting into the bed that we had designated as 'bed' for the night.
The following day, we wandered in to town and visited the tourist information office. We were slightly miffed to discover that we were just too early to go and have a skiing lesson - the ski basin opened on the Friday and we were due to leave on the Thursday. Instead, we decided to go for a walk and took one of the trails out around Old Fort Point, which was snowy, beautiful and ended with great views over Jasper and of the surrounding peaks. That evening, we went to the liquor store and finally, on the advice of the surprisingly English accented owner, bought a 'Wild Rose' sample box. We had discovered an ice machine in the hotel, so dedicated our sink to the cause and filled it with ice and beer bottles to make an instant fridge. Whilst the beers were cooling, we went out to Andy's Bistro again (having booked this time) and had a pleasant enough meal, although we were last to leave and definitely felt that the staff had made this clear to us.
We went back to the hotel for some of the beers (the raspberry beer being neither as bad as we had expected nor as good as we had hoped - a mediocre offering really) and then bed.
The following day, we went for another walk around Jasper in the snow. Again, very beautiful, especially when we came across a woodpecker which was hanging around just above Jacob's head. As soon as we noticed it, it started pecking/ramming it's head into the trunk of the tree. Shortly afterwards, a white rump deer stepped out on to the path just in front of us. Having learnt our lesson, we kept our distance and it carried on into the forest without worrying about us at all. We stopped to take a photo of it, which made us realise that we could easily have been within a few steps of all manner of wildlife for the whole walk - despite being practically on top of this deer, the only reason we noticed it through the trees was that it had walked out in front of us. Camouflage is a wondrous thing.
Within a few minutes, we were both on our backsides. We were crossing a forestry trail which was quite compacted and slippery and Kirsty hit the floor before she even knew she was falling. Jacob whirled around to see what was happening and despite having previously been perfectly balanced, also took a ground-ward plummet. Fortunately, a foresty worker had just driven past us and had seen us both disappear from view in his rear view mirror in quick succession, so came to check that we were alright and offer us a lift back into town, which we gratefully accepted.
A soak in the bath later, it was apparent that Kirsty's leg was going to turn purple. There being nothing else for it, we went for a medicinal drink and a bite to eat at the Jasper Brewing Company, where we had a small sample glass of each of their 6 brews. We headed back to our room, drank the remains of our Wild Rose samples and (wincingly in Kirsty's case) went to bed.
The following morning, we unsuccessfully tried to go for the 'all you can eat' breakfast buffet, with the intention of also making take away butties for the train journey. Unsuccessful as none of the hotels in the chain were serving the buffet that morning. Grrr. Eventually, we got coffee and doughnuts in a shop and went back to the hotel to do some internet bits and pieces. We got the shuttle to the station, then crossed the road to the Whistlers Inn pub for food and games of pool before our train arrived, ready to whisk us away to sunny Kamloops.
