Skyline Trail, Jasper National Park, Sept 2004

Day 5: Arctic Voyage

Although I claimed I wouldn't do anything stupid, the Germans made us do it. If they can do it, so can we.

After getting a late start (what a surprise that is), debating whether or not we would attempt the Notch or take the alternate Watchtower Trail, we decided we'd at least go up to Curator Lake to get a better look.

Upon arriving at the lake we just kept on going up to get a better view (the Nocth is, at this point, obscured by clouds.) The closer we got to the top the windier and colder it became. To make matters worse, the trail became more and more treacherous due to the steepness of the slope, the narrowness of the trail (when we could make it out), the fact that we can't see much due to being encased in cloud, and all that damn snow.

In some spots, the only way to make out the trail was by following the half-buried footprints the Germans left in the snow. They had done it in yesterday's sunshine so probably had better visibility. Just when I thought it was starting to get a bit dicey, I passed through a hole in the mist and saw that we were nearly at the top (the mist quickly enveloped us again.)

The top was cloudy, snowy, cold, and treated us to some gale-force winds. For the next two hours we trudged through the snow and had the snot blown out of us by the wind. We received a respite of sorts when the sun came out for about five minutes while we were on the lee side of a small hump. Sonia took the opportunity to make a snow angel.

The weather got much better once we descended into Tekarra valley and got out of the wind and snow. The rest of the hike to the Tekarra campground was a gentle descent along the valley floor, with Mount Tekarra looming to our left.

The Tekarra campground was good and muddy, although our tent site was pretty high and dry. The mud did mean we couldn't trade in our boots for sandals.

Supper tonight was crackers and peanut butter as the appy and curried rice and hot chocolate as the entree. The hot chocolate was both the drink and the dessert. We has a pair of gray jays, AKA camp-robbers, join us during supper, cleaning up the cracker crumbs. The skies cleared up during supper, but to late for us to get any sun. It does mean, however, that it'll probably be a cold night.

Lights-out came early tonight so we can get an earlier start tomorrow morning. It appears as if it'll be a sunny day tomorrow.

Photos:

• Top right: Me standing uphill of Curator Lake.
• Middle left: Sonia coming up to the Notch through the clouds.
• Bottom right: On the ridge of Amber Mountain.

Day 6 >>