Hitchhikers Guide to Jasper

Is it a moose?
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We headed out to Jasper with a 4 hour flight to Calgary upon which the vast majority of passengers were heading for the Calgary Stampede, a rootin tootin cowboy festival with rodeos and wagon racing and all that. We were sat next to a stetson wearing bleach blonde momma who was delighted to be sat next to Brits "cause you guys are hard to outdrink". When she realised our budget wouldn't stretch to $8 cans of (weak) larger she insisted on feeding us up. Unfortunately, we didn't think the festival was going to be so popular that we wouldn't be able to get accommodation in Calgary. We couldn't - so we headed off to Jasper.

On top of Whistler Mountain (Terminal Mt in the background)
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So we waited around the Greyhound station (NB: Greyhound stations at midnight are not nice places to be) and eventually boarded for an eleven and a half hour bus ride to Jasper. The passengers who "ride the hound" (as the locals call it) aren't, it's fair to say, the movers and shakers of society. We sat opposite a woman with severely bruised arms and her hospital tag still attached to her wrist. When you consider that 'the hound' is the preferred method of returning ex convicts to their hometowns you can understand how even backpackers, unwashed, with clothes they've been wearing for over 24 hours, consider it to be a crappy way of getting around. Thankfully we're writing this nearly three weeks after the event so the crick in Kieren's neck is but a memory. It wasn't fun, it wasn't even that cheap - but I guess it had to be done.

All that effort...
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So tired, sweaty and in unfamiliar surroundings we arrived at Jasper and, as instructed, waited for the bus at the totempole just outside the town. It eventually arrived, an hour late, and drove us to our hostel, some 8kms away from the town and indeed the rest of society. The hostel, built halfway up Whistler Mountain, consisted of a communal kitchen and a 42 bedded dorm which, quite frankly, smelt of people who liked to climb mountains in the summer.

The following day we climbed to the top of mount Whistler (yes, we actually managed to get to the top of the mountain for once!) to have stunning views of the aquaramine pools in the appropriately named Five Lakes Valley and Terminal Mountain.

... for one photo
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The minibus that ran people into Jasper town was at best infrequent and at worst infrequent and expensive. As hitchhiking is seen as quite normal practice around these parts Charlotte stuck her thumb out and Kieren showed a bit of leg and, on every single occassion, we got a lift. Memorable 'hitches' included the guy who stopped and offered a lift before we'd even stuck our thumb out and then proceeded to drive two miles out of his way along with the taxi driver that stopped on his way to a call and gave us a free ride.

Just outside Jasper
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The best example however was when we, after growing in confidence, made a sign out of last night's pizza box for Athabasca falls -  some 40 miles away. We were picked up within 20 minutes by a (self confessed) redneck couple by the name of Jodie (him) and Clarice (her). Not only did they stop on the way so we could take a look at Horseshoe Lake but also gave us a lift all the way back whilst Jodie told us old hunting stories. Apparently, "there's a corpse on every wall" of their lounge including a wolf and half a bear (the front half we presume) mounted as a testiment to Jodie's hunting abilities.  When we got to Athabasca Falls it was worth the drive - the pictures do them more justice than we ever could.

Lake Beavert
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We were only there for 3 days (before taking a very scenic train ride through the Rockies) but wish that we had just a little bit longer.........