TOURIST APPROVED
The French word of the day is ”bain”, which translates to “swim” in English. As in, “you’d have to be crazy to bain in a lake in the Canadian Rockies.”
Since Christy wasn’t able to
go biking in Jasper, I told her we would do anything she wanted on Sunday. Her plan?
Sleep in. After that was
accomplished, we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast again. Mom, are you still reading this? It’s like having candy for breakfast!
After loading up on sugar,
we ran errands in Jasper. We did
laundry for the third and final time on the trip. Then we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Jasper. Christy thought it was ok. I thought it was terrible. I would give a full review, but I don’t even
remember the name of the place. Wait, I
think it was called “That’s Not Chicken”.
No, maybe not.
We spent that afternoon
lounging in the sun at Pyramid Lake.
There is a small beach there, and it was a pleasant place to relax and
read. While we were lounging, a couple
of locals were actually out wading in the water. Now, the outdoor swimming season in Canada lasts for about a
week. This was early August, so I guess
we were there at the right time. Of
course, Christy couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
If you happen to be
brain-damaged enough to actually go swimming in the Canadian Rockies, Pyramid
Lake is a good choice. Being near town,
it’s not at a particularly high elevation.
Also, the peaks near the mountain don’t have glaciers, so the water is a
bit warmer than many lakes in the region.
The fact that Christy was going swimming was a given. How I got talked into going in with her I’ll
never know.
The lakeshore drops off very
gently, making for a long walk on a rocky lake bottom. I waded out to where the water was waist
deep. At that point, it seemed better
to just jump in rather than easing in any farther. I dared Christy to go.
She dared me to go. We counted
to three. We counted to five. We counted from three, backwards. Finally, I took the plunge.
It was cold. Not brutally cold, but cold. It wasn’t as cold as the Shoshone River in
Wyoming in September, nor as cold as the Colorado River in the Grand
Canyon. It was a close third though. I splashed around a bit, before making a
quick U-turn and heading back to the beach.
Christy wasn’t far behind me.
Eventually we got bored at
the beach and headed back to town. It
was only 4:30, and I asked Christy if she wanted to be a tourist and visit
Cavell Meadows. Cavell Meadows sit at
the base of the Angel Glacier and Mount Edith Cavell. Edith Cavell is the highest peak in the area, and it adorns many
of the post cards in the shops in town.
I promised her that we wouldn’t do anything that qualifies as a hike,
and she agreed.
We drove out of town and up
the winding road to the Cavell Meadows trailhead. There are trails providing hikes of up to 5 miles through the
meadows, but we were going to limit ourselves to a short walk to the base of
the Angel Glacier. The late hour cut
down on the crowds a bit, but we still passed dozens of people on the way. After a few minutes, we arrived at a small
pond decorated with small icebergs.
Above us, the Angel Glacier spilled down the face of Mount Edith Cavell. It was quite a sight, and a worthwhile way
to spend an hour despite the crowds.
We returned to camp, and
organized our gear for our next backpacking trip. We’d be heading to Mount Robeson Provincial Park in British
Columbia the next morning. We’d start a
3-day backpacking trip to Berg Lake there.
The hike in is 12 miles, with more than 2000’ of elevation gain. We’d need a lot of energy, so we
carbo-loaded with a dinner of chicken parmesan. Cooking that meal was quite an undertaking in the campground, but
it was worth it. It was probably the
best meal of the trip.
Continue reading about our adventures in the Canadian Rockies as we backpack to Berg Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!