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From: GodsOnSafari on 25 Feb 2010 21:52
This second part of the TR is OT for the coaster folk, but I'm doing
it anyways.

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Outside of West Edmonton Mall, we quickly headed to the local
supermarket to purchase some food for the long drive ahead of us; 4
hours west would be our next stop. It was the first trip to the
Rockies together, and our first trip to one of Canada's national parks
for both of us. Jasper National Park is part of a chain of such parks
really starting all the way down south in Montana at Glacier National
Park and moving along the mountains. Bordering the much more developed
and heavily touristed Banff National Park, Jasper is the furthest
north of the chain. In the center of the park lies the town of Jasper,
a quaint village of a couple thousand that is restricted from further
significant development by the government. It is to the great benefit
of visitors that this is so.

But first, one must get to Jasper. Its a long drive on the Yellowhead
Highway, a road designed to take travellers from Winnipeg to
Vancouver, often across terrain berift of people, services, or
interesting sights. About 100KM away from the park's entrance,
mountains become visible, and its all worthwhile from that point on.
The roads were very clear, in large part due to warmer than usual
temperatures that rose to highs of 46 degrees F on our trip. Even with
the warm temperatures, there was a lot of snow on the ground and in
the trees, giving the area a very "christmasy" look.

Once in the park and having paid the fee (roughly $50 for our stay
there for two nights), we enjoyed a wonderful drive through the
mountains on our way to the town where we had accommodations. Our pick
was the Park Place Inn, a recently opened Inn in the dead center of
the town, located above several stores and restaurants. Our room was
spacious, featured hardwood floors, another jacuzzi tub, a great view
of the city, a gas fireplace, and a fine bathroom. While without many
of the comforts associated with higher ranked hotels (like the nearby
and exorbitantly priced Fairmont Lodge), the location in the center of
town, along with the free underground parking, meant that any food
options you might want were readily available.

This is especially good in Jasper, as food there is fantastic. Our
meals at Evil Dave's Grill and Something Else steakhouse were
excellent, with Evil Dave's bringing to the table some really
interesting fusions of flavor and great presentation. Nearby, Coco's
Cafe provided us with hearty breakfast every morning while in Jasper
at a more than reasonable price, along with great tasting coffee. Cafe
Mondo had some excellent food as well. The added bonus was that every
restaurant had at least several vegetarian choices, and most were
actual inventive dishes rather than soy substitute meat styled
products. For me, I was overjoyed eating freshly prepared hunks of
Alberta beef. I would be remiss to mention that I had the unofficial
specialty of Alberta while in town at a restaurant owned by our hotel;
the L&W. Apparently my donaire there was more of a Jasper style than
Edmonton (which has a sweeter sauce), but I enjoyed it much the same.
It was also packaged in a style similar to that of a gyro more than
the pizza like concoction I admit I was expecting. The beef almost
seemed to be shaved versus ground, hamburger style. Perhaps its
different elsewhere in the province? Guess I'll have to find out on a
different trip.

There's more than just eating when staying in the center of a national
park, of course. While fans of simply watching people out the window
of the hotel, we also enjoyed taking the popular Maligne Canyon Ice
Walk. The guided nature is probably wise for people like ourselves who
don't own ice cleats, and especially reassuring when, as was the case
in several areas, the illusion of breaking through the ice took place.
Really incredible views too of an area that for much of the year is
covered by 20-30 feet of rushing water. The folks there were kind
enough to also let us keep the boots for the rest of the day,
something that came in handy when we drove north to Mount Robson
Provincial Park in British Columbia for a short hike there.

Scenic drives are a massive part of the appeal of the area, and in
winter time, there's virtually no one around. With the warm
temperatures, this also meant that road conditions were primo, and we
were able to fly around without the need for snow tires up in the
mountains. We came up just short of reaching the Columbia Icefield
when driving on the gorgeous Icelands Parkway, but still managed to
see Caribou and Wolves by the road at various points. Heading north,
we drove all the way to Valemount, BC; lousy town with nothing there,
but has a great sign and visitor center! Also near town was Marmot
Basin, a large ski area with an incredible drive to reach it. Beware
to those easily distracted; If you want tunes, bring an MP3 player or
CDs. No FM or AM signals out here, particularly up by Valemount.
Seriously though, the mountains, lakes, and rivers should be enough.

I suppose its difficult to properly put the time we had here into some
sort of narrative; lots of pictures were taken of some really
beautiful places, good food was eaten, and our accommodations were
excellent. There was a real spirit here regarding the Olympic Games;
lots of banners, lots of signs, lots of flags. Very nice to see
considering how jaded Americans are about the games in general. Made
us excited enough to watch the US/Canada men's hockey game, and we'll
probably end up watching the gold medal rematch tomorrow too.

Jasper was gorgeous enough, the people kind enough, and the food
delicious enough that we investigated real estate briefly while in
town. That's how good it was. Compared to Banff to the south
(apparently home to more Gap stores than the whole of Newfoundland, we
are told), its noncommercial nature, likely borne from its remote
location hours from any major international airport, make it a big
favorite of ours. Alone it was worth the trip in ways no roller
coaster in a shopping mall ever could have been. Its so worth it, I'd
actually consider paying for another airplane ticket out of pocket for
the softer season in summer (late May-first two weeks of June, oh, and
apparently avoid September now too) for white water rafting, hiking,
boating, and so on. Its as good as its gonna get right now, so get
there before it ceases to be.
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