Friday August 21, 2015
This morning dawned absolutely freezing cold – just a few degrees above literal freezing. On top of that, it was raining, a cold, driving rain. Which was an issue for us, because we had pre-booked our morning activity for the day: a rafting trip through the Athabasca Canyon.
We called the outfitter to check their policy, and the trip was a go. They assured us that because the river was such cold water anyway, the kit we would be outfitted with, consisting of wet suits, gloves and booties, with a fleece under layer, would keep us sufficiently warm in the cold air and rain.
So we checked in with our guides at the storefront in downtown Jasper, and bussed out to the riverfront put-in location at the base of Athabasca Falls. We went through a safety briefing, and then piled into the raft to begin the trip. Three of us had a seat on one side of the boat or the other, with an oar. Mallory, on account of her smaller size, had a seat in the bottom of the boat, up front. From one perspective this worked in her favour – she did not have any paddling to do. The drawback was that she was out front and down low, and every time a wave washed over the boat – which happened pretty regularly – she was completely soaked in bone-chilling water.
It was good fun being out on the river, but we were all freezing in spite of our protective gear. As our time in the raft went by, the fog that accompanied the rain began to lift, and soon we could see that not only was it raining, but it was snowing at higher elevations and there was snow on the mountain peaks all around us.
Finally we reached the take-out location. I actually have video footage of us climbing out of the raft where you can see our breath in the air because it’s still so damn cold. So much for our ‘summer’ vacation!
We went back to our cabin for some much-needed hot showers and changes of clothes, and lunch that we brought back from town.
After lunch, we went back into town to tour the wildlife museum and do a bit of souvenir shopping, and then drove out of town to Mount Edith Cavell to do a short hike.
There was still snow on the ground here, which made it quite beautiful.
We climbed up as far as Edith Cavell Pond, which is impressive with its turquoise water sitting beneath the summit of the mountain.
We may or may not have had a snowball fight and built another inukshuk or two along the way.
Back in Jasper, we went for dinner at a local pizza joint called Lou Lou’s, and spent some time strolling around town, before calling it another day.
Cook Family Travels 