Day 6: The Descent

The remainder of the trail is a toe-scrunching descent down an old fire road, dropping over 800 meters in elevation over 8 kilometers. There are still a few narrow views along the way but, for the most part, it's trees and elk poop. This was the fastest part of the hike, taking only about 2 hours to complete. The constant descent means your toes get scrunched into the toebox of your boots, making your feet practically ignite into flames. What a relief to reach the trailhead and shed the boots for the comfort and openness of sandals.

Our next task is to make our way back to the Jasper townsite for the night. We walked down the highway to the Maligne Canyon Chalet & Gift Shop hoping to catch the last shuttle bus back to town. Unfortunately, the shuttle company cancelled the last trip of the day due to low demand. Our remaining options were to walk the 10 kilometers, or so, back to town or try hitching. It was decided to attempt the latter. It took only about 10 minutes to get a lift from a very friendly and generous couple for L.A., of all places. They drove us right to the door of the place we were intending to stay for the night.

The first thing I attended to after unloading my pack was to take a much-needed shower. Since it was 19C at the townsite, I shed the hiking outfit and donned a pair of shorts and t-shirt.

We went firstly to a laundromat to run through a load of laundry while we ran some errands and I checked up on business back home (they had internet access terminals at the laundromat.)

Since the fare on the trail was basically vegetarian (with the unexpected exception of the chili, which contained beef "cubes"), we went to the Villa Caruso Steakhouse to partake of cow. I started with an appy of the best calamari I've yet had and Sonia had a baked onion soup to mixed review. For an entree, I had a buffalo striploin and Sonia had a hunk of cow, rare. We both had New York cheesecake with strawberry coulis. Since the place seemed semi-formal and we came in carrying plastic shopping bags with laundry and Sonia was wearing tye-dye, we think the staff suspected we would attempt a D&D. When we went up to pay there were three employees standing at the door. I hope they felt lousy after collecting the 20% tip we left (our waiter was fairly pleasant, after all.)

With overstuffed bellies, we spent time and money shopping in the tourist shops. I spent more money than I should have but business is good right now so I can afford it. Plus, it's not everyday that I get to play tourist in a place as beautiful and inspiring as the Rockies.

We headed back to our room with our booty and went to bed shortly thereafter (I got dibs on the double bed). It was difficult to get to sleep due to the lingering excitement of the trail and the fact that it was so warm compared to the temperature on the trail. Tomorrow we get on the bus for the 12-hour trip back to Vancouver and the end of a memorable experience.

Photos:

• Top right: One of our guest gray jays.
• Middle left: Sonia with the Colin Range in the distance.
• Bottom right: At the end of the trail (northern trailhead).