Jasper NP, Maligne Lake Road
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
27
41
Trip End
Nov 15, 2007
Jasper,
Alberta,
Canada
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
After Maligne Lake, I drove back towards Medicine Lake. On the roadside by the lake there were a group of mountain sheep hanging around some cars that have pulled over to watch hem. I pulled over to get some pictures, but got more than I bargained for as the sheep took it upon themselves to lick my car clean. It was particularly grubby from driving through the snow on the icefields parkway. They made their way around to the back of the car, and as soon as i heard the sound of plastic being nibbled on, I slowly moved off to the other end of the layby. I did feel slighlty guilty as they all stood there staring at the car for a few minutes. But then they made their way up the mountainside. I then stopped a few minutes up the road at the medicine lake viewpoint. The lake has a series of underground draining systems, so apparently the water level varies from day to day. The lake was very low today, but was still pretty.
Last stop was the Maligne Canyon, which had some pretty water falls and rock formations.
Bighorn Sheep Scuffle, Jasper NP
I was surprised when I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye while taking photos, and a little red squirrel decided I was his entertainment while he had a quick snack! As soon as he had finished he scarpered back up a tree and left me to it. I then headed back to Jasper and went for a wander around. I took a stroll along the railway tracks to see if the Elk were about, and eventually found them at the other end of town. A large group were chased out of town by a park ranger, but the Bull elk and a few others were still around. I was taking photo's of the bull, when he decided to plonk himself down in front of me. It was definitley my lucky day! I took photos for a good few minutes but didn't want to harass them too much, so went for a wander around the town before venturing back to see if they were still around. They were, as was a gathering crowd of people. The herd of Elk soon converged along the railway tracks before jumping back over the chains and moving to a piece of parkland in the town. The bull elk stopped to graze in the central reservation and several cars pulled right next to him, opened the window, took a picture with the flash and drove off. These people seemed to think that they were safe from him in their cars, but on a couple of occasions he showed them his antlers and was ready to charge the car. It made me feel really sorry for them, and the obvious intrusions that they suffer from tourists. I really dread to think what it's like here in peak season!!
