No internet at the campground and the library wifi is closed, so this is coming from Lou Lou's Black Sheep Pub in sleepy Jasper. Drove off early from Banff for probably the most scenic highway in the world --- anybody arguing that one?? To make the point, a glossy black wolf meandered across our path.Then our 4th walk up the falls at Johnson Canyon, awed by the force and beauty of waterpower. Add a black bear munching grasses in the morning sun. Arrived at majestic Lake Louise by noon, Victoria Glacier so well-known its a cliche. Did you know Lake Louise is the highest (5180 feet) community in Canada?
On our walk to the Continental Divide there was a hubcap from an early 1950's Chevrolet! Is that like a lucky penny? It's now in the van as my souvenir of this trip. Followed by bouquets of wildflowers on the roadside, and spectacular views made by nature or by visionary men from another era.
The infuriating and heartbreakingly sad image in the Rockies is the drastic decline of the ancient glaciers. I have been coming to see them for decades and every time the ice has receded, to the point you now have to hike a mile to reach the tongue. Can there still be any man-made climate change deniers out there?
Athabasca Falls feels like a soothing balm after the sting of the disappearing glaciers. Recent rains have made the flows pound like diamond drill bits on soft rock. And finally we reach Jasper, a quiet opposite of glitzy Banff. We're at Whistlers Campground tonight, weary from jumping in and out of the van all day --- worth it to feel a jaw-dropping soul-stirring Rocky Mountain high.
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