Canadian rock

Canadian Rockies: The detour via Jasper. Day 3
ladybug146 (54) in travel • yesterday
Hey Steemies!!

On this final day of our weekend getaway, it was time to pack up the suite, load the truck and get on the long road ahead to return home. Typically , Canmore to Edmonton is really only a four and half hour drive, @silvergingerman suggested we take the scenic route home via jasper. In other words, drive further into the mountain pass in the opposite direction of where we need to go until we get out the other side and can catch the highway north again. Sounds counter productive , YAY I like it! Lets do it!

When we go in the Banff area, we always stay in Canmore because it's just as beautiful and it's quiet, more of a local resort town than an international hotspot therefore accommodations are cheaper. We never give it's surrounding beauty the attention and exploring it deserves being busy exploring everywhere else( I swear it's huge, you can't run out of hikes or lakes to visit). Before we left we had to do a quick drive around and appreciate it's charm.

canmore.jpg
Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 40mm, ISO 100

Frankly, I could live here, If I won the loto, became somebody on steemit or any situation where I didn't have to work in my trade to pay the bills...perhaps retirement! one can dream I suppose. Even the pooches have it good here, we came across the most beautiful dog park we had to stop( hang tight...it has a lot to do with the story)

canmore2.jpg
Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 26mm, ISO 100

We found a road that goes up the mountain in the picture and it was still open and maintained. You guessed it, we had to keep going . We looked at the precautions and vehicle requirements and safety alerts and such. Turns out it's an avalanche area and poor road conditions only stop in designated areas. Fair enough, the beginning of the drive up was a bit sketchy but ok, then the road turned into one you would see on an Indiana Jones movie. The narrow road was carved out of avalanche debris left behind. We had yet to see any other vehicles at this point, cracked a few jokes about the avalanche area and the rocks and debris in the road, Finally the first vehicle we encountered was the avalanche clearing plow on it's way off the mountain...meaning it had just cleaned the road and there was already new debris!! Laughed about it for a while longer and cracked a few more jokes as the unsettling thoughts about the road's safety started to flow ( we had a road collapse from under the tire almost plunging us down a cliff in a previous excursion few years back). As reality was setting in as to what we were driving on, we came across a clearing in the trees that revealed just how high we really were on this narrow winding mountainside sketchy road, my heart stopped beating for a moment, @silvergingerman too!! he might deny it but I saw the look of slight panic for a split second, I'm sure it was the same expression I had. To the left of us was the spectacular view of the town of Canmore from probably around 6000 ft in elevation.