Jasper National Park: Wildlife bonanza, Day 1&2 30+ photos

Hey Steemies!

After much procrastination and life getting in the way, I finally sit to write about our recent camping trip to Jasper National Park. Well what can I say, we book pretty last minute and you can't do that to get a spot in the park, just FYI, we stay in the near by town of Hinton, it's much cheaper and just a 20 minute drive from the park and it's easy to get a spot in Switzer Provincial Park with less than a week advanced booking. We looked at the forecast before booking and it was supposed to be nice and sunny for the days we booked until mother nature changed her mind and decided to offer us a soggy week full of rain instead...How convenient! Our humble accommodations (a tent) can't really handle that much rain, it was time to add a tarp so we at least have somewhere dry-ish to sleep and something to sit under while trying to have a camp fire.

Shot 1/60 sec. f/4 18 mm, ISO 400

I don't have much to say about day one really, we arrived after dinner, set up camp at Gregg Lake and did a quick drive to Jasper since there seem to be a small break in the clouds and we came across a couple of elk resting by the river. We spent a bit of time admiring them while planning tomorrow's adventure. We tried to get a sunset somewhere but It wasn't going to happen so returned to camp and had a campfire until the rain put it out 😩 😩 😩. There it is, day one, pretty depressing start of our adventure, I'm going to just go ahead and roll right into the more optimistic day 2.

Shot 1/30 sec. f/5.6 270 mm, ISO 1600

Since our night was cut short and went to bed pretty early, we were up pretty ealy too. Part of it is because there was so much moisture in the air that all our bedding was damp and cold. We warmed up in the truck and drove to town to get a warm coffee and allow the rain to stop and fog to clear. This afternoon was promising but that wasn't for a few more hours. We didn't even bother to get dressed just to get all wet again, we bummed it around until it cleared up. In the meantime we watched the fog lift in front of a farmers field, hopefully today would be more photogenic then yesterday. The ugly cloud you see in the picture below was hanging over where we were camping just to give you an idea.

Shot 1/640 sec. f/6.3 65 mm, ISO 200

Now it looked like it was starting to clear enough to head to Jasper National Park stopping here and there visiting short trails along the road until it warmed up too much and came time to finally get changed into something a little lighter and suitable for the warmer temperature!! The first view that really caught our attention was the nice crisp clear water that we just had to get our feet in! Unfortunately it was also a very sad view. What I mean by that, Jasper's landscape has been changing really fast since it has succumbed to an infection of pine beetles in the recent years.

The orange you see on the mountain is a large infected section of the forest. With rising temperatures yearly , we no longer get the necessary 2 weeks of -40 or below to kill the colonies and they have been spreading thru Jasper like wild fire. It may look interesting from a distance but it is a very grim reality. Park Officials estimate that about 50% of the 200 year old forest is now infected and dead or dying. The colonies carve a nest inside the trees that eventually renders it to weak to be able to transport the proper water and nutrients thru-out the tree and branches and they eventually die and cause the pine needles to turn orange and eventually fall off. Even last year it wasn't nearly this bad but there is no way to stop it aside from setting the whole forest ablaze or the above mentioned of 2 weeks of extreme cold. I will touch on the subject on a later post.

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 110

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 140

We generally travel to Jasper in the fall or winter, we missed this interesting little feature above because it is dried up or covered in snow, It doesn't look like much but it is a cold sulfur spring at around 22.9 km passed Jasper National Park's east gate coming in from Hinton (across the street from the river from the picture above the spring). The water was once hot but finds it's way to a crevice in the mountain and comes out cold in this area. At this point after traveling down and being exposed to air, bacteria eats the oxygen and it becomes filled with the poisonous gas Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and turning the water it's cloudy color. As you get near, it's pungent rotten egg smell does rise up but not to worry, it is in very low concentration not a health concern for those without breathing difficulty. The bacteria continues to separate the sulfur from the water leaving a yellow edge to the the spring. This rare geological feature doesn't require sun for energy and is also a great meet up point for Big horn sheep that require a diet rich in sulfur to help grow the fur they shed every summer.

Shot 1/1000 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 450

Shot 1/1000 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 400

The females often confused for mountain goats because they do not grow the large horns like their male counterpart, the Ram. The ewes and their lambs hang out in a different herd than the Rams except for mating season. The young males stay with their mothers for up to two years before getting accepted with a herd of Ram. For the most part, the horned creatures are friendly but keep a good distance from where they are climbing as loose rocks come tumbling down the rocky cliffs.

Shot 1/1000 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 400

From this point, there is a small trail that takes you alongside the highway to a magnificent emerald colored pond, where you can see schools of fish swimming close to the edge and loaded with large dragonflies taking part in their mating rituals and laying their eggs in the water. Just a small attraction, no need to set a large amount of time to get the experience, half an hour is more then sufficient amount of time to view both the Cold Spring and pond area. Pay close attention when driving by, it's easy to miss the roadside turnoff, I had been looking for a safe access to take photo's of the pond for a while now! I guess I must not have been paying attention until today, could be why I have missed the cold spring for a decade😆 .

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 140

Shot 1/250 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1600

Of course this wasn't our main goal of the day, we were on our way to Maligne Lake, I have only seen it as a deserted wintery landscape that belongs on a Christmas card. I have been anticipating visiting it in it's glory for a few years now but never got around to it. Most of this trip will be centered around this area of Jasper. The Maligne Lake tourism industry was initially established in 1927 by the area's famous business man Fred Brewster where the largest lodge for the time to accommodate luxurious fishing tours for the wealthy was built. In 1928, the boat house was added, adding to the success of the tourist attraction, the buildings are still standing to this day preserving the local history of the area. In The 1970's Park officials decided to add to the fishing experience by introducing rainbow trout to the picturesque lake, where the largest in Alberta has been caught at over 20lbs. Fishing is still available with proper licenses and includes a boat launch for non-combustion boats(electric motor is allowed).

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 200

To Access The largest lake in Jasper National Park, from the town of Jasper, head out Towards Edmonton until you reach Maligne Lake Road (the only intersection in that direction visibly marked) take the road all the way up. You will pass Maligne Canyon and Medicine Lake, which I will cover in a later post. The rest of the road goes along the Maligne River for most of the way up. The Maligne region gets it's name after the heavy or wicked flow of the river (Maligne is french for wicked) Given it's popularity, the lake area is well defined, Allow at least 1 hour from the town of Jasper to get there, it's quite a ways up sitting at 1670 meters or 5480 feet in elevation. Maligne Lake Road is also the access point for the most popular trail in North-America, the Skyline Trail. The parking lot gets pretty crowded so there is also a shuttle available from the town of Jasper.

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 125

We were hoping to get on the boat tours to the famous Spirit Island but turns out spots fill very quickly and they were sold out for the day. I suggest booking at least a day ahead of time to get a spot. Instead we decided to hike around part of the lake for the day and book a boat tour for another day. It isn't possible to hike around the entire lake or to Spirit Island. The weather was nice but for some reason everything seemed so hazy, it was hard to get good landscape photos and capture the lake rich colors it is known for. We later found out it was the smoke from the British-Columbia wildfires that was starting to make it's way into Alberta. We are happy we went when we did because now the conditions and air quality is much worse, we got the best of it!

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 31 mm, ISO 110

The trail is fairly easy and well maintained at the beginning, of course we continued on the well maintained trail that caused us to get deeper into the woods and miss the turn off to continue around the lake. We continued for a while, not really sure where we were going, we eventually turned around as it isn't as popular and we were alone without any of our Bear gear (bell, spray , etc... ) and no cell reception or maps. We later found out why our instincts took us down this way. As we turned around one of the bends, I saw something scurry across the trail. It vanished so quickly I didn't have time to see what it was. After following the noise in the bushes, I came across a small family of Spruce Grouse, A mother hen with her 3 chicks.

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1100

Of course being a sort of wildlife whisperer, I was able to follow them for a short while and found a spot in the bushes to take my pictures from. They quickly got used to my presence and went back to their routine of eating and playing while moma hen watched her youngs and let me observe them even coming over to check me out for a brief moment. One more thing I got to teach my city slicker @silvergingerman being his first sighting ever of the wild chickens. He doesn't have nearly the nature experience I have since I grew up with nature for most of my childhood. Every time we head out, I get to teach him a few things about wild plants, mushrooms, berries and edibles as we come across them. It makes me realize how sacred these experiences and knowledge is and that many miss out on the beauty of the little things our world has to offer. As a child, we didn't have much $$ for food, therefore in the summer we would forage for much of our food to save costs, some of the best natural foods to mankind that I now have to pay top dollar for these delicacies at supermarkets since I live in an apartment in my concrete jungle and don't have the land to go forage, maybe someday I will be back in the mountains where I belong when I'm ready to slow down in my career. (By the way foraging in a national park is illegal, so don't pick any edibles you find)

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1000

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 800

As entertaining and curious as the little critters were eating circles around me, we needed to get a move on and find the trail that goes around the lake and see what else is hiding in these bushes. Didn't take too long we found the trail, no wonder we missed it, the trail is really unkempt and downed trees block much of the trail, takes a little extra effort getting thru. Once again the landscape was too hazy for photography but we still found some interesting things along the way like this nice Black Morel mushroom, too bad I can't pick it! would of been some good eatings if we weren't in a national park.

Shot 1/200 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1600

If you ever go Morel picking, make sure to get information because there is such thing as a false Morel and They will make you feel not too good. Here is a few things to look for to properly identify. The (edible) morel mushroom top is fully attached to the stem as one complete piece and has a rounded point, cutting them in half will display a hollow center. False Morel (non edible)have similar shape but more yellow in color with a very rounded top (I really don't see how somebody can get confused,they look very different yet it happens). The cap is attached to the stem from the inside and is free floating as in a two piece mushroom, cutting it in half reveals a fibrous center.

As we made our way back , we found a strange bee looking critter that is not a bee, I haven't identified it yet along with other birds.

1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 800

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1000

Shot 1/200 sec. f/7.1 18 mm, ISO 200

As we made our way off the trail I spotted a deer near the entrance, As foreign tourists were walking by, most of them were too busy on their phone or taking pictures of flowers to notice the doe in the grass, I started to point her out since I figured for most of them it likely was their first sighting ever of a deer. The children got so excited as they walked by and pointed it out, most didn't speak English but they understood very quickly what I was doing even with the language barriers. I'm glad I helped them with their special encounter, a story for them to tell on the return to their homeland. Nobody was attempting to get to close so she stayed for quite some time then eventually joined her friend and bounced away. I then saw her 2 other times within an hour.

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1250

Shot 1/200 sec. f/5.6 135 mm, ISO 800

The last time I spotted her, @silvergingerman wasn't around and we were completely alone. She was resting peacefully in the bushes. After seeing me for the third time, she must have recognized me and felt safe. She got up right away and slowly made her way to me to come check me out. I had a good picture session with her as she got closer to me. @silvergingerman eventually came back and witnessed a good deal of the close encounter and was amazed at how close to me she was getting and was able to get a picture of the both of us to show you how close she came. She was a couple of feet away, then tourists spotted her and chased her away back to her safe spot...go figure. It was a sweet moment as long as it lasted, I'm sure without getting chased away, she surely would have made her way to smell my hand. Still is the closest I have been to the normally skiddish creature.

Shot 1/250 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1600

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1600

You would think that is already a lot of excitement for one day and the end is near, not quite! We still had to make our way back down the mountain, who knows what the drive back would bring. We saw a nice little spot with picnic tables to have a nice bbq and relax for the rest of the evening. We always keep a table top bbq and food when we travel so we can eat wherever when ever, we do make a few visitors jealous of our innovative idea! While @silvergingerman made us a couple of bacon cheese burgers, I went on a little walk to see what I could find. Well I got me a couple of selfie on a flower!! haha.

Shot 1/1000 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 800

Shot 1/1000 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 450

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1400

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm, ISO 200

When we finished our meal, we walked around the small park, see what else we could find, by this time a few campers had pulled in with the same idea we had. It may not have been a good day to capture landscape but it surely didn't disappoint for wildlife! Perhaps the mountain gods where shining upon us once again after all, just not in the way I originally wanted to. Before our departure, we saw two Marmots eating wild berries and they allowed us another wild photo-op! What a day, it sure made up for yesterday's disappointment and the rain that was awaiting us back at camp. We didn't even bother having a campfire and went strait to bed, at least we enjoyed sunshine for most of the day. If the rest of the trip could be like this it wouldn't be too bad after all. I will leave you with the rest of the pictures of the day, don't forget to check back for day 3 coming soon. Play safe my friends!

Shot 1/250 sec. f/5.6 300 mm, ISO 450

Shot 1/400 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1600

Shot 1/500 sec. f/6.3 200 mm, ISO 1100

All Images taken with Nikon D7000, with sigma 18-200mm lens with Tiffen polarizing filter or Nikkor 300mm lens

Cheers! X🐞X