I remember when we did Jasper National Park a few years ago in the summer, it was one of those picture postcard, must see must do National Parks in a jaw-dropping scenery kind of way. But seeing it in Spring is even more impressive. In particular as we were so lucky with the weather. I had thought much of this trip, including mountain views, might be obscured by clouds and/or rain. At least for the first few days (and we’ll see for the rest), I was wrong diddly wrong wrong.
Not only that but apparently Canada is celebrating a 150 year anniversary of National Parks. Which means that ALL Canada National Parks are free for the whole year. That’s right people, 2017 is the year to check out Canada.
We did feel a bit ripped off though. Lake Louise is one of the most famous landmarks in the Park, its reflective turquoise waters making it one of the most photographed lakes in the world. Our previous summer experience involved elbowing our way through the masses of tourists to see the view and get the picture.
Should be a bit quieter at this time of year, we reasoned. Indeed it was (although it’s never gonna be quite the type of place you get to yourselves). No argy bargy this time…. but hang on a minute, where’s the lake? And how are there still people in the way of my photo. Oh right. That frozen white thing that people are walking on… That’s Lake Louise. No sparkling jade waters at this time of year. White and frozen. Diddled.
Arriving at the campsite near Jasper, Darren’s face lit up when he spotted that each site had its own fire ring. Not only that but a huge pile of firewood, with an offer to help yourself to as much as you can handle. Awesomeness. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, we loaded up. And took a bit more for extra measure. Might have been a good time to remember there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Persistent. I’ll give him that. Managed to light the damn thing with no firelighters. But with damp wood and a teeny weeny fire ring, it was always gonna be more smoke than fire. As we glanced around at other fire rings in the vacant sites, the forlorn leftover piles of wood were a tell tale sign. Other campers must have had similar experiences, hoarding their free wood booty and then abandoning it for the cosy inside of their campervans.
