From The Park Gates To Jasper

Pic 1: The mountain scenery unfolds after passing through the park gates.

Pic 2: Seeing the amazing aquamarine-coloured glacial river in person was stunning. Though it was probably too cold for a dip! :P

Pic 3: A peaceful lake just off an interpretative centre off the highway. The reliefs were about forest fires and how they benefit the forest ecology. Interesting, educational!

Pic 4: It's a mountain goat! Baaaaa....

Pic 5: More goats pretending we don't exist. How rude...

Pic 6: 365 km to Edmonton from here. Yup, I was out of the house all day Saturday!

The Long Haul To Jasper

Pic 5 (from the top): The town of Edson, as the Yellowhead passes right through the centre of town. Not a bad spot from the looks of it, but it should have a bypass for thru-traffic. Reminds me of Lower South River in Nova Scotia...

Pic 4: The pulp and paper mill across the street from the Esso gas station in Hinton, where I got gas.

Pic 6: A Husky 24 truck stop in Hinton. I took this picture because I ate at one that morning, only it was in Acheson, just outside Edmonton. Nothing like a greasy truck stop breakfast to jump start a road trip!

Pics 1-3, 7-8: The approach to Jasper National Park, after passing through Hinton. The road narrowed to 2- way traffic, which meant I couldn't cruise along at 125 kn/h anymore. Oh well, it was easier to see the sights this way! :P

Man, Am I Bored ... Hey I Know, Let's Go To A Town In The Middle Of The Woods With No Attractions In Particular!

This Blogger post has got everything backwards, so all references to pics start from the bottom up!

Pic 1: Whitemud Freeway on a rainy Sunday morning. The original plan was to grab a greasy truck stop breakfast after a hard night drinking, but at brunch, thoughts quickly turned to driving somewhere outside Edmonton, as I didn't want to be cooped up in the house on this particular day...

Pic 2: I decided to head up to Whitecourt, a fast growing town, due to the oil and gas industry. I decided to head there because Chris Herbert, a college friend of mine lived there. It was a snap decision to head there, so I didn't want to drop in unexpectedly, so I didn't try to make a call to arrange a visit (maybe sometime later this August). This picture is of the rolling foothills that begin just east of Whitecourt.

Pic 3: Downtown Mayerthorpe, where I got gas. This town marks the northern start of the Cowboy Trail, which stretches along the foothills of the Rockies from this point south to Pincher Creek, west of Lethbridge. Gonna have to drive that soon!

Pic 4: Descending into Whitecourt. My ears popped on the way down, first time that's happened since I was in the Rockies.

Pic 5: On a forest trail in Whitecourt. It was a cool and misty day, but it felt GREAT, considering the hot waether we had in the weeks previous to this!

Pic 6-9: Pictures from the Whitecourt visitors museum. There were outdoor and indoor displays on pioneer-age buildings, local wildlife, the forestry industry, forest fires, and so on!