Whispering Willows

Jasper Again

Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:01 PM

I love Jasper. There is no where better other than Kananaskis and the BC coast that I've ever been before. I can just relax there, it's just such a wonderful atmosphere. My mom and dad decided this year to take their vacation in Jasper instead of spending all the gas money to drive somewhere further. They rented a very cute little cabin at Jasper House just a few kilometers out of the town site. The cabin was right on the Athabasca River bank and you could see it rushing by between the trees. There were a lot of cabins around and it was like being in a tiny secluded town. You felt very safe from animals or 'freaky people' as my mother and I say, because it was well lit at night and there were lots of cabins close by but you still felt very alone. It was perfect for a relaxing holiday.

So they went out on a Tuesday and I worked and stayed alone at the house until Sunday. Shawn and I were finally both done work on the Friday and we had to stay Saturday because it was Chad and Stephanie's wedding (which was extremely beautiful). So we left Sunday morning for Jasper and stayed until Wednesday. Shawn stayed in his tent in a campground that was very close, only about 1 km from the cabins and I stayed in the cabin with my parents. It was so wonderful to spend some good quality time with Shawn and get to relax.

We spent a lot of time with and without my parents just hanging out hiking different trails and wandering the town and then on Tuesday we decided that was the day were going to do our big hike. We had planned for about 4 months that we were going to hike to the summit of Sulfur Skyline Summit in Jasper (one of the mountains behind Miette Hot springs). So, Tuesday morning we left on our hike and made it to the summit huffing and puffing. It was extremely steep and grueling but we did it and it was very worth it. The 360 degree view of mountains was like nothing I could have ever imagined. It was incredible. We ate lunch with some very friendly and not-so-afraid ground squirrels who were crawling up our legs to get a crumb of bread. Took some amazing pictures and headed down. At the bottom Shawn and I went and soaked in the hot springs (couldn't imagine passing that up after a hike like that) and mom and dad had a coffee.

The trip all in all was wonderful and we got to really have a relaxing, recuperating time.