Our Jasper Weekend Getaway
ROADTRIP!!!
Icefields Parkway, Sunwapta Falls, Maligne Canyon, Nordegg and Abraham Lake
Since our one year anniversary is coming up, and I have to fly that weekend, Luke and I celebrated this past weekend. We planned the whole thing out and it (mostly) went according to plan. The whole thing went like this:
DAY 1 - Driving and Winter Camping
I had class in the morning, so we packed everything on Thursday night and tried to get as much as we could ready. We took Basquiat (my cat) to my sister's house so he could have a trial period with his cousin (my sister's cat, Monkey). There was a fair amount of hissing from Monkey at the beginning, but it they were pretty good by the end of the weekend! Hopefully it will be okay for Baz to stay there while I'm in Belize for a month.
Got a little sidetracked there - so, Friday morning I had to go to my German class for an hour before rushing home, finishing the last of the food prep and loading the car, and heading out! We stopped to get gas and then headed out of the city, listening to a ton of music and a couple podcasts on the beautiful, scenic route to Jasper National Park. If you know the Iceland Parkway, you know how absolutely majestic it is, so we had to stop at the Icefields Parkway to stretch our legs, pee, and snap a couple quick photos.
Icefields Parkway
This was the day we hadn't really planned. We knew we wanted to camp somewhere but weren't sure where, so around 5:30/6:00 we decided to pull over near Sunwapta Falls. If nothing else, we wanted to check out the falls, which did not disappoint.
Sunwapta Falls
We ended up sleeping just off the path about a kilometre or two in (shh, don't tell the park ranger). We brought a shovel and dug a spot in the snow for our tent and set it up on a tarp. We used our little Jetboil to heat some water for our rehydrated dehydrated dinner (Korean Bibimbap from Good-To-Go) and got in the tent nice and early. I stayed really warm but Luke was (supposedly) cold. All in all, very okay!
DAY 2 - Maligne Canyon and Nordegg
We got up and packed up our stuff, and made some breakfast (A Veggie Burrito Bowl from Alpine Aire). Can we just talk really quick about how amazing the selection of gluten-free, vegetarian dehydrated food packs is at MEC? Luke and I have been trying to dehydrate our own food for our trips, but we were both really busy this week and didn't have the time, and in a pinch the bought ones are fantastic! Plus, Luke gets a discount from working there, so it doesn't break the bank.
After our little breakfast, we hit the road again to get to Maligne Canyon. We tried to get there fairly early as it was a Saturday, and there are tours that go up there, and we hate people. Just kidding! It wasn't too, too busy, though, which was nice! We brought microspikes for our shoes, as the blogs I read before going recommended them. (I got mine from Costco a while back). We were happy to have them for walking on the ice!
Maligne Canyon
Lukewarm about the falls
Look at the frost on the walls!! How cool is that?!? Talk about GORGE-ous! (haha, get it?)
How is this even real??
There was a really lovely older couple that we walked just in front of/behind for a little bit from Edson. They took our photo and we took theirs, and at the end of the canyon when we had to climb over ice to get back up onto the trail, they offered their hiking poles to help us. It's always nice to meet other adventurers when you're out hiking in Canada!
The story behind Maligne Lake is pretty cool, too. It was known by the indigenous groups in the area as Chaba Imne (Beaver Lake). The first non-indigenous person to explore the area was Mary Schäffer in 1824, who fell in love with the beauty of the place. The name Maligne came about because Father Pierre-Jean de Smet used the French word malin (wicked/turbulent) to describe the Maligne river. There is a really great history of the lake at The Canadian Rockies site. We hopped back in the car and ate our lunch on the road.
Our plan was to stop at Miette Hot Springs on our way to our Airbnb, but I somehow missed the fact that it's closed in the winter? We drove most of the way up the road before we got to the "Road Closed" sign. You win some, you lose some! So we headed straight to the log cabin that we had booked in the tiny hamlet of Nordegg, Alberta. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. There are supposedly 200 residents (we only saw four), but it really is a ghost town. We went to the public library - which was closed - and stood outside to steal their wifi and download some more podcasts. It was the size of two sheds pushed together. But we loved it! I thought it was so cool, and as you can see, our cabin, which was across the highway from the town itself, was picturesque. If you would like to stay there, you can see the Airbnb here!
Nordegg
We took all our stuff in and then snowshoed on the Coliseum Trail for about an hour. Luke didn't want to, but I lost two bets to him that day and he felt bad for me. When we got back, we had fondu for dinner and made cookies from the cookie dough that we brought with us. Yum!!
DAY 3 - Abraham Lake
On our way home, we planned to stop at Abraham Lake, since we had seen the amazing photos of the methane bubbles frozen in the ice. We ended up stopping at an unofficial spot, where some people had driven down. There were about three other cars there. We had brought our skates hoping to do some turns but the lake, of course, was covered in snow. There were a couple spots where people had cleared the snow to see the ice. Those weren't good enough for us so Luke and I, being the stubborn people we are, dug out a spot, boiled water, and spread it over the ice to try to clarify it. We're so ridiculous.
Abraham Lake
It was very cool to see an explosive lake. We stayed there for about an hour before coming home. It was such a lovely little getaway with my boo. I was, however, very happy to see my kitty when I got back.
What do you think? Did we see all the sights? Where would you recommend visiting in the Jasper area? I would love to get suggestions for next time! If you've made it this far in my rambling, I'm amazed. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week. Sayonara, folks.
