Carolyn's adventures : Exploring Jasper National Park

Today I was collected by Brewster Transportation for a trip around Jasper National Park. I later discovered that most of the group were on a Rocky Mountaineer trip but were staying at different hotels. They came under the category of Saga holidaymakers for me, enjoying being organised and not at all likely to go off piste! Some are going onto a cruise tomorrow afterwards and a number were regular cruise goers as they were comparing notes on holiday experiences. When I looked at my map I saw an advert for small group adventure tours and wondered why my tour company hadn't booked me on one of those. I'll have to put that in the feedback, as I guess they've categorised me by my chronological age. I would quite like to have gone on a bit of a hike but that wasn't part of this itinerary, and besides I wouldn't be able to go alone given the wildlife.

The first observation of the day was about some fellow passengers we were collecting. Now I was ready at least 10 minutes before the pick up time I had been given. This couple were nowhere to be seen, then appeared clutching coffee to go, sauntered up to their rooms presumably to get ready then disappeared round the back of the hotel, I presume to collect something from a car. Eventually they sauntered into the bus with not a word. They were Japanese so maybe something had been lost in translation!

Our first journey was past Patricia Lake to Pyramid lake. Now I had been eyeing that up for a walk later, but that would have been a good distance mostly by road, but they had thrown it in as a bonus. There were stunning views and lovely reflections. But it was all a bit slow getting on and off as the saga group had various walking aids in the coach to get organised.

I told the guide, this would be a great place to sit and paint. However by the time I returned it was a bit late to make the journey even by taxi, and it was a bit chilly, much more so than in the town.

On the way to our next stop we had two wildlife encounters. The first was a mule deer,

The second was a group of bears, mum and babies, trotting through the trees, causing a huge queue of traffic to build up as everyone had stopped to watch, fortunately not stupid enough to get out.

What bears I hear you say? Well I promise you they were there, but I was on the wrong side of the bus and they were running through the trees. If you can see some bits of black, that was them!

Next we stopped at Maligne canyon where the rock was eroded in amazing forms by the force of the water and the chemicals in it. We had a bit of a walk here.

And it had a log cabin tea house, where I had a hot chocolate and made myself comfortable. The hot chocolate a a slightly bizarre flavour, it wasn't vanilla but possibly cinnamon. After that we went to Medicine Lake, where the water drains out slowly through some faultlines, then refills again over the winter.

I was fascinated by the areas of burnt trees. But burning of trees in part of forest management. We were told that areas had been cleared outside the town to prevent bad fires affecting the town. Although it is normally illegal to fell trees.

When I went to the summit yesterday I learnt about the beetle that is rapidly killing the pine trees, but fortunately last winter's -43° temperatures has largely brought it under control. But because of the long cycle of disease and death, many of the trees are likely to die and collapse. It is being left to natural processes except where a falling tree might be dangerous.

Our final trip of the day was to Maligne Lake, where there was chance to walk and explore and have a buffet lunch, a surprise I wasn't expecting.