Words can hardly express the magnitude of this day. Monica and I are in a dream world.
We started the day with breakfast and a shopping walk about Jasper. It rained softly but with umbrella in hand, we explored the many gift shops and historic sites the downtown has to offer. This town is not as commercialized as Banff and so has a more laid back feel. The tour highlight was seeing Monica walk into the Jasper Train Station where she would have almost exactly the same date 36 years ago to return home to New Brunswick. I could tell she had many memories rushing around her head making her a little verklempt. Before we left for our day’s drive, we decided on the place for supper…at the Sayuri Sushi Restaurant – I am pumped!
At noon, the sun began peeking through the clouds we headed north toward Maligne Canyon. What a spectacular place. This ancient canyon was formed by glaciers millions of years ago. Some of the sheer drops are 50 meters. It’s almost nauseating to look over the bridge handrail and peer straight down to the rushing mountain torrent below…but exhilerating also.
After the canyon, we continued north to the Melita Hot Springs. The drive up the mountain is unforgettable. We stopped briefly to get a shot of some Mountain Sheep and although I didn’t get a shot of it, a wolf ran right acress the road in front of us. It was huge… definitely a wolf. At the hot springs, we soaked our travel weary bones (no sympathy) in the 40 degree water. Sooo wonderful. What a fantastic national park area. I highly recommend it.
Back to the lodge to change for supper and then into town for sushi. The Sayuri restaurant is amazing. Authentic atmosphere, cheerful service and incredible food. This has been my favorite meal so far. After supper, a stroll to the Post Office to mail some postcards, and then home to the lodge. We had to stop along the way to allow the grazing elk to cross. They were thankful and posed for a snapshot or two.
This was a wonderful day. I tried to keep the photos to a minimum just to show the highlights, but even at the mnimum there is so much to share. So here goes.
nellyglass studio 