I respectfully acknowledge that the land in and around Jasper National Park is located within the Treaty 6 Territory, the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mountain Métis, Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis, Stoney, Tsuu T’ina, Michif Piyii (Métis), Secwepemcúl’ecw (Secwépemc), Aseniwuche Winewak (Rocky Mountain) people.
Source: native-land.ca
It seems as the theme of this year was adventures that had not quite gone as planned. (Having a Bad Time In The Badlands and So I Didn’t End Up Backpacking The Wildside Trail were two that I posted about earlier) This one was the start of one of those adventures, but I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying it.
I had initially planned to arrive in Jasper at about 10 AM, but I slept through my alarm and woke up just shortly before 10 AM due to a horrible sleep that night. Seeing the weather forecast look less than desirable (rain), I debated about going for nearly an hour before hopping in the shower to get ready for the day. Thankfully we are always semi-prepared for a hiking adventure, so we just have to toss a 10 Essentials Bag, our snack bag, and weather appropriate layers into each of our backpacks, make sandwiches, grab some water and road snacks and away we go.
Four and a half hours, and a very windy narrow road later we arrive at the trailhead. Thankfully it isn’t raining, but it is on the verge. We both don’t even feel like hiking… (Originally we wanted to do the Edith Cavell Meadows hike) We sit in the Jeep for a few minutes and eat a snack and decide that we didn’t come all this way for nothing. Let’s just do the Path of the Angel Glacier hike and see what we want to do from there. (Keeping in mind we still need to get home at a decent time that night) We get out of the Jeep and put on our hiking boots, pull out the camera and head down the trail. (Or should I say paved walking path…)
We arrive to the viewpoint overlooking the icy Cavell Pond and admire the pond and Angel Glacier. I wanted to hike down to the pond, but it has been closed off for safety as the lower trail has been destroyed from a falling glacier chunk a few years back) We enjoy the viewpoint (or what we can of it, as its quite busy) for a bit, heard part of the glacier crack which sounded really neat (didn’t see anything calve off) and then decide to head back as it started to rain.
As soon as we arrived back at the trailhead it started to pour. We pull out our sandwiches, eat supper and head back home. Thankfully driving back home seems to somehow go faster than the drive there. But all in all, a totally different day than expected (I should realize to just throw expectations of anything out the window by now) but still enjoyable to be breathing in the crisp, mountain air.
Until next time, chase the stoke!
– Tracey
INFORMATION
- You will need a Parks Canada Pass or daily admission to enter into Jasper National Park.
- More information on the Path of the Glacier Trail can be found on AllTrails.
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