Skyline Trail, Jasper National Park, Sept 2004

Day 2: From Trailhead to Snow

We got a late start today, managing to sleep in until 8:30am after a fitful sleep. We'd both had two very short nights of sleep so sleeping in today was okay.

We did the typical tourist thing and got postcards from a tourist shop. A light breakfast was had at the "Jazz Cafe" on Patricia Street before catching a shuttle bus to Maligne lake and the trailhead.

The first leg of the trail, to Evelyn Creek, was a fairly gentle ascent for about 5km. A black bear had recently used the trail, evidenced by tracks left in the mud atop all other tracks. The only other animal we saw on this leg was an inquisitive red squirrel that came out to the end of a branch to investigate us.

We stoppped at the Evelyn Creek campground for a rest and a snack of Re-bars and gorp. By this point there is a bit of snow on the ground and we're beginning to get some views of the snow-covered Bald Hills. A temperature check reveals that it is 8C at the moment.

Our next stop, 3.5km along switchbacks, will be where we stay for the night. It's the Little Shovel campsite and it has some spectacular views of mountains ranges on three sides. It's beginning to get a little chilly now at 5C with a cold breeze. We set up kitchen on the one picnic table that wasn't fully covered with snow and ice and prepared a filling meal of curried rice and vegetables.

When we ran out of water we realized that, other than snow, there didn't seem to be a ready source nearby. We checked the map for any nearby stream but didn't spot any nearby. We found a trail that evetually lead to a hollow which sported a small stream about 8 inches wide and 3 inches deep; plenty enough to fill a few Nalgenes. Now the funny thing about this is that, after supper, I noticed a stream emanating from a spring right next to the trail, 20 feet from our kitchen! At least we found it before we had to do the dishes (the first stream was 500m away).

By the time we retired to the tent it was -2C although the cold breeze had gone away. The temperature in the tent itself was a balmy 4C.

11:45PM Addendum: Maybe drinking coffee wasn't such a great idea: we're still wide awake nearing midnight and -4C. Sleep would be nice right about now so we have the energy for tomorrow's leg of the trip.

Photos:

Top right: Jasper Townsite
Middle left: Me over Evelyn Creek.
Bottom right: View of Maligne Lake from Little Shovel campground.

Day 3 >>