SKI LIFT RIDE

June 24, 2015

JASPER NATIONAL PARK, CANADA

Out of one park into another, the mountains continue to impress us with their beauty.  The lakes are shades of blue to shades of green as minerals are carried along by glacial melting. The high mountain peaks are dotted with snowfields melting and cascading down the slopes. 

Jasper National Park is one of Canada's oldest and largest national parks.  It was established in 1907, a few years after Banff, and covers more than 4200 square miles.  

 

We pulled into Lake Louise Mountain Resort, a huge log structure, to take a gondola ride up the side of a ski mountain to see what we can see. The enclosed gondolas were nice but we opted for the open air ski lift.  The ride lifted off and took us across a primitive part of the mountain where one could occasional see a Grizzly Bear.  

Half way up the mountain we spotted a Grizzly looking for lunch.  It was pretty cool!  She was a big one. As we sailed past her we noticed she was wearing a collar.

 We figured the staff tied her up out there to be seen by the tourists and thus, increase their business.  Later, we found out the collar was a GPS Tracking Collar. Apparent, they are put on the females to keep tabs on their whereabouts. 

The lookout platform where the gondola stopped was about two-thirds the way up the mountain. It was a big disappointment to not be going clear to the top but we were high enough to look over and see several big mountains and a couple of lakes, including gorgeous Lake Louise. 

After coming back down we stopped in the cafe for a Starbucks.