Jasper

Muriel mentioned on the way to Jasper that she saw about 70% of all the animals in Jasper around 8 years ago. I just hoped that after the wildfires, not all the animals had fled. We then passed by the first wildfire, and about 2 kilometers from Jasper, Muriel had already exclaimed 'Ahaaaalte'. And at the edge of the road, we already saw the first wapitis grazing.

First, we went to the Visitor Center since we needed to know what was open and what was closed due to the wildfires. Additionally, there was a question about whether to find a campsite in the next village (about 35 minutes away) or a hotel in Jasper (the campsites in the village need to be rebuilt). I then parked like a regular person in Switzerland, but apparently did it wrong since we received our first warning on the windshield for parking illegally in Canada (on the opposite side of the road). I only had to pay $65, and I was just a bit annoyed :-D, but it was just a warning, so I thought that was nice... Before the incident, we were indeed at the Visitor Center, and everything has basically reopened since that week except for one canyon. They decided to cut down all the dangerous trees that could fall onto the road. The next campground would be in Hinton, 50 minutes away. We quickly decided that it was smarter to take a hotel. On one hand, we were already in the village supporting the locals, and on the other hand, we didn’t always want to drive far.

Picture notice

We searched for a hotel, and Muriel was on it and managed to get us a super room, the keyword honeymoon :-D. The weather had undeniably improved since we left Lake Louise, and that’s why we didn’t move far away. We checked in and then went to eat something nice.

Picture food

The next morning, we looked out our window, and it was still cloudy, but there were scattered blue patches in the sky where the sun was shining through. We then made our way to Maligne Lake. Of course, we made a short stop at Starbucks because I wanted a..... red one..... Pumpkin Spiced Latte... I think that train is addicting.. The road to the lake was a 'One Way' road, meaning you drive up and then back down the same way. What we didn’t know while driving up was that we would practically see all the animals we wanted to see that day. In Jasper (around 1,100 m above sea level), we started at temperatures above zero and tackled the 40km hike to the lake. The higher we went, the colder it got, and then it started to snow and whiten. First, we saw a deer with a huge rack far away, but we couldn't take a picture because it was too far. Then we arrived at the first of two lakes, Medicine Lake. However, it almost had no water. There were many tracks in the ground, and we wondered which animals had made them.

Further ahead, we saw a few cars stopped, and behind them were a couple of animals... They were deer :) And they weren’t really stressed about quickly crossing the road..

We continued driving, and I told Muriel, 'Next, we’ll see a moose.' It wasn’t even 3 minutes later when we saw something brown on the road from afar.. What was it? A moooooooose. It was crazily licking salt from the road.

It was exciting to see a moose in the wild

After we observed and of course photographed the moose for a good 20 minutes, we continued towards Maligne Lake. We naturally drove even more carefully since there were apparently a lot of animals around. However, we didn’t have any more luck till the lake, and nothing else appeared. We parked, and I saw an older gentleman who looked a bit confused walking around his van and looking for something. I also noticed that he had a camera with a huge lens and camouflage pants.. Could this be a wildlife photographer? We named him Buddy for now. Muriel then approached him and asked if he had seen the moose on the road. He then said, 'Oh, the female? I don’t bother with the females, only the bull.' Then a conversation started with one gripping story after another, and it was truly interesting and amusing to listen to him. Muriel then asked if he knew what the bird was called:

He told her the name and asked if she wanted a good photo.. He quickly pulled out his phone and let the call run. They came a bit closer but not as close as desired. He looked at us and said, 'I’m doing something that’s not allowed at all now; feeding them could cost a fine of up to $2,000, and we shouldn’t even start on that.' He then took out a piece of toast, and about 5 seconds later, about 8 of those birds were around us, on the car roof and on Buddy’s head and hand - oh, they’re so cute. Even a huge raven came down to steal. Muriel then took a great photo of him with the bird on his hand and asked if he wanted to see the picture. He quickly and dryly replied, 'No, and I wouldn’t want that picture to be seen by anyone ever.' However, he didn’t seem to mind being photographed, and that didn’t seem to bother him - I just think he was a bit scared of the $2,000. Presumably, people know him in the area :-D (I will not upload the picture here). So we knew we had to find a bull around because that’s the king of moose for photography - Challenge Accepted.

We then walked around the snowy lake and just enjoyed.. It was getting colder, and Muriel's teeth were chattering louder, and it was starting to get quite chilly

Eventually, we made our way back hoping that we would still encounter a moose..

Luck was on our side - We even found a mama moose with baby moose..

Continuing towards Jasper, we saw the famous 'Mountain Sheeps'.. I don’t know why they are called sheep; for me, they look more like goats.

Eventually, we arrived back at the hotel and had to process the 'luck' we experienced. We saw a lot in one day, more than at the beginning in Banff and Lake Louise combined. We then had a super nice dinner and went to bed.

The next day at breakfast, we didn’t hesitate and asked the locals, 'WHERE ARE THE BEARS'? They explained a bit where we could find them and where the last sightings were. After one of them mentioned that her friend had been escorted by a bear the other day while biking, we didn’t feel great about it anymore. They kindly lent us bear spray, and we still tried it.

We then drove a bit to the edge of Jasper, where Halloween was already in full swing:

And then made a 1.5-hour hike. It probably was only an hour, but we kept stopping at every rustle because we were so scared that a bear would attack us. Yes, we were probably too scared, and the bear thought, 'No, I'm not going there.' So, unfortunately, we had no success - it was still beautiful:

We then decided to go to Maligne Lake again and maybe find a bear from the car - Papa moose was still on the bucket list. Long nothing happened and then suddenly - TADAAAA:

Papa moose in all his glory. He was just lying hidden in the forest and didn’t notice us, so it was first hard to get a good photo since too many branches and trees were in the way. Eventually, though, we bravely got a bit closer.. But since it was already getting late, we quickly turned back. On the way back, we saw acquaintances who I think were happily enjoying the salt stuck to their camper.

In Jasper itself, we watched as the young ones chased and played with each other:

Thank you, Jasper - As for wildlife, it is still the absolute highlight.

The next day, we did the laundry we had accumulated in the morning and then headed from Jasper to Vancouver.

Next, there will be a blog about the three locations we visited. That’s because we are now on the way to Vancouver, and stopping for naps in between. Often, there’s not much to tell, so we’ll do three at a time :-) You’ll see there will still be some cool stories.

Next stops: Clearwater, Kamloops and Hope