The Capper Nomads North America Adventure travel blog

Bull Elk

OK I'm going

Jasper down below

Mountain range in which Mount Robson sits

Tony enjoying the view

Athabasca mountain range to the south

Further view to the south

Mount Robson in the distance

Mountain goats

We walked up from there!

Along Maligne Valley Road

Medicine Lake

From the east shore of Maligne Lake

The historic boat house Maligne Lake

Silent boats

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Panoramic view from the top


In our visits to Jasper last year the weather had been a bit mixed and we had been on a tight schedule with guest. We had therefore never been up the Jasper Tramway on the Whistler Mountain. The weather forecast was excellent so we decided this was our adventure for the day.

We had been warned in checking in at the Whistler campground that the elk were in there rutting season and the bull elks were particularly aggressive. As we were getting ready to go out we noticed a bull elk about a hundred to two hundred yards from the coach. He was a fine specimen but certainly would not like to mess with him. Eventually we wandered away as some doe elk came into view and a ranger shooed him. He was not happy about that and made a terrific noise.

After our elk adventure we made our way to the Jasper Tramway and travelled up the Whistler Mountain. As well as admiring the views from the top of the tramway at 2,270 metres you can hike a 1.5km trail to the summit of Whistler at 2,470 metres. This was well worth the effort as you got panoramic views of the Meitte Valley and Athabasca Valley. We were also lucky in that Mount Robson was in view in the far distance.

As we walked we stopped and spoke to a number of English couples on holiday. This area is a popular holiday destination for us Brits. We were also lucky to spot mountain goats in the distance. They do stand out with their white coats.

We returned back to earth after a spectacular morning and after lunch headed out, with Jenny along the Maligne Valley Road. At Medicine Lake (at Jenny’s insistence!), we walked along the lake side. Medicine Lake is drained by one of the largest underground river systems in North America. So at different times of year the water can be very high or other times non existent. Today it was looking quite low compared to our previous visit last June.

We then continued along the road to Maligne Lake which is 22 kilometres long and has a picture post card quality. When we had visited a year ago it had been very busy with people taking boat trips on the lake, but today there were very few people. Again at Jenny’s insistence, (can you see us complaining!) we walked along the east shore of the lake. Just as we were leaving a coach load of Brits arrived!

We headed back to camp after an absolutely spectacular day. As our brother-in-law Kevin would say a 5 star wow day

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