Wayward Johnsons, Springs That Are Hot, and Two Dollar Goats: Updated w/ New Pictures!

Well, Katie and Nate left yesterday and arrive home safe. We are now back in the land of Wifi at Lake Louise Hostel for one more day/night and then it is off to Kootenai National Park, and then sadly we leave Canada. Time to catch up on some posts.

As Marsha said in a past entry, we took the Jasper Skytram up Whistlers Mountain, and then hiked up the ridgeline into the alpine. It was breathtaking in both senses of the word in that it provided spectacular views, and at 7750 feet it was a chore. For me it was 50 yards, stop, let the breathing and heart rate come down, and then 50 more yards. We did the trail with about a hundred of our newest and closest friends.

However, the views are spectacular. To the east you can see the Colin and Maligne (home of the Skyline Trail) Ranges. To the south was the beautiful Mt . Edith Cavell. To the north and west mountain ranges layered on top of each other and peaking out between the clouds was Mt. Robson at just under 4000M (13,000 feet). Below us was the town of Jasper with its rail lines running east and west.

Best of all especially for Katie and Nate, as they got to the top of the ridge a herd of 15 mountain goats appeared. They hung out for quite some time doing there thing. The youngsters had been snookered in the large mountain mammal department so it was great for them. It also triggered a tidal wave of animal sightings later in the day. They saw elk on the way to and again on the way back from Miette Hot Springs. In the parking lot at the hot springs they got to see Rocky Mountain Sheep. Of course it was worth mentioning that the Skytram cost about $30 US making he cost of goat sighting $2.00 per goat.

Next on the trip was lunch. Now the Wayward Johnsons had found on Trip Advisor the number one rated restaurant in Jasper was The Deli on Patricia St. We had pretty much covered Patricia Street the night before but if the Internet tells you it is number one, ya' gots to go. Except we could not find it. Up and down Patricia Street we traveled. No, luck. When we finally went into the Visitor's Center to get directions, they said it was right next to the Pharmacy (which Nate had checked out the night before as part of his investigations of all things Canadian drug related.) Now in his defense, the Deli was tucked inside a mini mall of shops off the main street. When we got to the Deli, there was a note on the door explaining that the owner had decided that she wanted to take advantage of the great Jasper weather, and decided to close for the day.

No worries, next on the Wayward Johnson's Trip Advisor top ten was the nearby Evil Dave's, just down the block. whoops, closed until dinner at 5PM, which was not much use if you are hungry at 1 PM.

We were saved from hunger by looking for visual clues like the OPEN sign in the Greek restaurant just across the street. They gave us a great meal that was huge in portions and cheap in price. And best of all free wifi with great band width.

We ended the day with a trip to Jasper's Miette Hot Springs which is a 45 minute drive out of town (and back) but it did offer sheep and elk along the trip.

The Wayward Johnsons  redeemed themselves by choosing a great bistro for dinner!