10 September 2005

09:23:52
As you may remember I am very concerned about the weather at this point in time. The satellite images from the Weather Channel show a very large mass of cold and wet slowly moving toward the South. We, too, shall also move toward the South, and from the satellite images it looked like we're just going to be at the tail end of all that wet stuff and I am hoping we'll stay in the clear as the weather moves Southward ahead of us.

Looking out of the window first thing in the morning it seems like I may be right about that. To the South (left side) the skies become increasingly more grey and dreary, but to the North (right side) there are some promising patches of blue and increasing clearness.

09:31:02
And so we head to our rental car to begin our day of travel. This little Toyota Matrix is what passes for a "compact" car. It's kind of a cool car in some ways, but is also a but weird in other ways.... for example how it doesn't have a boot, I mean "trunk", and suitcases slide around in the back on the slippery plastic floor.

Today is going to consist of mostly driving. In fact, it may be the most driving intensive day of the entire trip because from Edmonton we first go toward the East to make a stop at Elk Island National Park, after which we retrace our steps Westward again and head toward our final destination of Jasper, located in the same Rocky Mountains that we flew completely over last night on our way from Vancouver.

10:19:23
Getting to Elk Island Park requires crossing right through the city of Edmonton. A funny story about the skyline of Edmonton.... Back in the 90s the American Automobile Association released a series of 30 maps of American cities. For this series of maps they used a photograph of the skyline of the city of Edmonton for the cover photo. On all 30 maps, I mean, the same photo of a city that wasn't the one that the map was of.

True story.

11:21:04
And so we arrive in Elk Island Park. But these are not Elk. These are Bison, which are by far the most numerous of the various animals inhabiting the park. In fact, in Elk Island Park there really aren't that many Elk at all. Plenty of Bison though. And Mooses, which are why we are here today. We hope to catch a glimpse of a Moose in the wild.

11:22:20

11:27:20
The North American prairies used to be littered with absolutely millions of these charming fellows.

11:27:52
These bulls are right on the side of the road, and as we slowly pass by this fellow apparently felt a bit threatened and got up to his feet. For a second it looks like he'll charge the car... I hope I have collision insurance against buffalo.

11:27:59
Pulling up ahead safely out of buffalo head-butting range I look back to see the big bull eyeing us suspiciously.

11:28:10
As you can see, the females and younger Bison aren't as uptight as the bull is. Obviously you aren't supposed to harass or otherwise approach the animals, but unless I go 4x4 off-road I can hardly avoid these guys.

11:28:31

11:29:00
Remember Jurassic Park?

11:30:28
Oh man! More Bison?!??? Where are the Mooses? All these lazy buffalo lying around but no Mooses!

11:33:09
More buffalo in the distance...

11:40:28
There are apparently Beavers here as well, as you can see.

11:50:39
Come on! Give me a break! Where are the Mooses?!?? Get off the road you buffalo!

11:50:54
I didn't quite centre this one, sorry.

11:51:05

12:00:27
Another Beaver house, but no Beavers in sight either. Just buffalo.

12:12:15
All this space and not a single Moose in sight.

12:16:37
It would be nice if the road was full of Mooses.

12:33:14
Another Beaver lodge...

13:08:09
On this site, many years back, the pope came for a visit and he sat and reflected on the beauty of nature sitting on that bench just up ahead. If you look closely at the plaque in the foreground (it’s not clear, sorry) you can see a picture from his visit. Not much has changed since then.

13:13:51
There are really a lot of Bison around here. But we have failed in our quest to see a moose and unfortunately with so much driving still ahead of us we need to get on our way.

14:25:32
And so we leave Elk Island Park behind us and highway #16 to Jasper stretches LONG out ahead of us. But being on this flat straight-away gives us an opportunity to appreciate the fact that despite the overcast skies we have not had any rain today. As I'd hoped the giant wet zone has pushed South ahead of us, leaving our part of the world overcast, but dry. We'll see how that holds up as we get closer to the Western edge of the giant wet zone and higher in elevation into the mountains.

14:50:18
I love this picture with the CN Rail bridge over the highway. (CN = Canadian National)

17:14:10
Autumn comes a bit early this year, it seems. I love the contrast between the green pine trees and the yellows and orange.

17:50:57
And so we once again find ourselves in the Rocky Mountains.

17:53:12
It is a bit unfortunate that there is so much cloud today because we can't really see the majestic mountains that surround us. But on the other hand it does make for a different kind of beauty, the mysterious kind with the mountains half shrouded in cloud and mist.

My fingers are still crossed that this weather pushes further South over night. Tomorrow we're driving through the Rockies and if it's raining and cloudy it sort of defeats the purpose of making the trip.

17:57:17
Oh oh... we're getting a little bit of rain now. Just a very tiny little bit though. Fingers still crossed.

18:17:34
It is ironic that we see an Elk now, rather than earlier today in Elk Island Park.

18:19:13
Actually, it is to be expected that we'll see a lot of Elk around here. This time of year they come down from wherever they were and hang out here a lot.

18:19:55
Somewhere behind those clouds are some majestic mountain scenes.

18:32:21

18:33:03

18:48:57
Now we're back out in the sun again, and there are blue skies above. This is a very good sign for tomorrow, but the clouds still cling to the mountains without more sun to burn them off.

18:59:17
And so we arrive in Jasper and check into our home for the night, a little cabin by the river.

19:03:18
A short walk down from the cabin brings us to the Athabasca River.

19:07:14

19:12:02
The front door of our little cabin with the river in the distance.

19:13:29
Hmmmmm. What shall we do for dinner? Maybe we should pop into town and get something to make back here at the cabin?

19:19:29
We encounter some more Elk on the way into the Jasper town site.

19:20:26
Again, the weather looks like it might clear for tomorrow!