Canada’s highest mountain - 4 October 2023

 

Mt Robson

We had a surprise when we opened the curtains of our motel room to find that we were looking out at a pretty lake through the trees.  We stretched our legs by walking to a nearby hotel for breakfast after which there was a little exploration of the area around the lake.

View from motel window

Dutch Lake Clearwater

 

We continued up the valley which I think was probably called the Thompson Valley as that was the river that ran through most of the valley we traversed.  We stopped at a ski village called Valemount which was about 200 kilometres from Clearwater.  It was a rather disjointed place.  We found a café to have a coffee.  The question was “would they be able to provide a decaf flat white?”.  They had an expresso machine so perhaps they could. The conversation went so:

 

“Do you have decaf?”

“Yes we have decaf, do you want a large mug?”

“Is that a drip coffee or one made made by your espresso machine?”

“We do both, drip coffee or do you want an espresso”?

“mmmm, what I would like is an espresso with hot foamed milk if you can do that.” I replied.

“We only do a cappuccino - would that do?”, she said irritably. 

 

At that point I gave up and said yes that would do as it was close enough to what I wanted.  After all that, the coffee was not particularly good however it was nice to have a break. 

 

A few kilometres on we turned south toward Jasper and almost immediately came to some falls that beckoned a look.  The falls were called  Rearguard Falls and were the point beyond which only the strongest salmon would come to spawn.  They were rather beautiful.  What we found out was that this was the Fraser River which we had left three or four hundred kilometres away.  Canada’s highest mountain, Mt Robson, was the ultimate source of the water in the river. 

 

Rearguard Falls

 

Shortly after this a massive appeared as we crested a rise and realised that this was Mt Robson.  We then came to a pull off area which was the headquarters of the provincial park although the visitor centre was closed for the season.  We spent a few minutes taking photos and walking a small loop track,  looking at the signage information providing a history of the displaced First Nations people who had originally inhabited  the area. 

Mt Robson and visitors area

 

We continued on, wending our way through the mountains and suddenly we were in Alberta.  The only change being that the nominal speed limit reduced from 100 km/h to 90 km/h. 

 

Jasper was as pretty as it was the last time I visited fifteen years ago but it was much warmer and there was less snow on the surrounding mountains. 

 

Bev needed some recovery time from my driving so we decamped from our motel to Evil Dave’s where a much needed glass of wine was enjoyed by Bev and for me,  a beer. 

 

We walked to a pub down the road for dinner passing a herd of elk who were munching on the grass nearby.  Bev was really excited by this unexpected sight, although there were no antlers on their heads.  

Elk browsing in Jasper

Rearguard Falls