Overlander Mountain Lodge

Hosting at Jasper

by bkathryn

"Sunday, October 17, 2004"

So I left Ottawa bright and early this morning. I had a West Jet flight at 08:35 and arrived in Edmonton at 10:52. I arrived, my luggage arrived, and I took a shuttle from the airport to the Cedar Park Inn – Best Western. [5115 Gateway Boulevard, Edmonton, Alberta; tel: 1 (780) 434-7411; fax: 1 (780) 437-4836] I’m not sure the shuttle was really expecting me, but it took me to my hotel, anyway! We looked around for others who might also have been going to the same hotel, but saw no one.

We headed off to the hotel. Got there, got checked in, looked around at facilities. I spent a little time looking around outside, but there wasn’t anything much very close to the hotel. A little later, I started to see people I recognized and got prepared for our little get-together that afternoon.

After our little get-together, some of us headed to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. After a nice dinner and visit, we returned to our rooms and got some sleep.

"Monday, October 18"

This morning, our bus picked us all up to take us to the Northern Forestry Centre for our day. Unfortunately, our bus driver got a little confused with the Alberta Forest Service and we, consequently, had a nice tour of the city, before our local contact finally telephoned him, wondering where he was and set him straight. A few more turns and we finally made it to the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) Northern Forestry Centre []. Here we got coffee and muffins and heard from the management about CFS, NRCan and forest management in Alberta and Canada, including presentations from a number of scientists who have been doing research related to the work of this international group.

After lunch and another presentation or so, we determined that we should probably just hit the road for Jasper, a 4-hour drive west. It had been snowing all day and didn’t look like it was going to let up any time soon. So we thanked all those in Edmonton who were not going to be joining us later, and hit the road.

Sure enough, the driving was pretty miserable. We had a great bus driver, however, and he managed to get us though the snow. About the time we hit Hinton, the driving snow started to lessen, and it was relatively clear driving for the last hour or so. Still, it was a bit nerve-wracking for the first 3 hours!

Finally, we made it to the park, then almost to Jasper and the turn-off for the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. [Old Lodge Road, Jasper, Alberta; tel: 1 (780) 852-3301; fax: 1 (780) 852-5107] Once we were there, we got settled in our rooms and then had an opportunity to socialize, relax, and hear about forest and wildlife management issues within and around the Park. It was a very interesting evening. But tomorrow the real work begins!

"Tuesday, October 19"

So after a lovely breakfast – following a nice little walk from my outbuilding to the central building – we got down to work.

Chance for hot tub in evening?

"Wednesday, October 20"

More meeting and discussion. Had even more meeting and discussion after the close for the day.

Went to town for hamburgers and beer?

"Thursday, October 21"

Finalized everything, eventually.

Then, just after the meeting ended, we had our dinner.

Then, I had to go back to my room and get all my belongings packed.

"Friday, October 22"

Today was the first day of our field trip. We started, however, with a few presentations in a room at the hotel. Then it was time to say so long to the lovely Jasper Park Lodge. A shame we had to work, really, it’s such a nice location and there are so many other things to do. But that was why we were there.

So off we headed to look at some forestry sites. One of these included a prescribed burn site in the national park. Eventually, we made our way to the Overlander Mountain Lodge, where we had lunch. We also saw sites highlighting special places in the forest, natural disturbance in forest management, and multiple use landscapes: all very interesting. At the end of our busy day, we headed to Hinton and the hotel we would stay at that night, Days Inn Hinton Hotel. [358 Smith Street, Hinton, Alberta; tel: 1 (780) 817-1960] Almost right away, we were back on the bus to go to the Hinton Training Centre, where we had dinner and a few more forestry presentations. After dinner and the talks, we headed back to the hotel. I took advantage of the hot tub one more time. Then visited for awhile with some high energy colleagues and then I eventually hit the hay. One more day to go.

"Saturday, October 23"

Today, we had a few more forestry sites to see before we would be back in Edmonton. This time is was stream crossings, growth and yield, wildlife management, and recreation in the forest with Weldwood of Canada. We were back in Edmonton somewhat before 6 p.m., where we first dropped a couple of people at the airport on our way back to the Cedar Park Inn – Best Western.

A bunch of us arranged to meet and have the hotel shuttle take us to the West Edmonton Mall. Seemed like several people had not yet been there! It was actually very busy and it took us a while to find any restaurant that could fit such a big group. We managed it, finally, had dinner, then looked around the mall a bit more, then headed back to the hotel.

"Sunday, October 24"

Today, my flight back to Ottawa was at 11:35. I got out to the airport in plenty of time. Caught my plane and got home about 17:13. It was a good meeting and a great field trip; I think Canada (and the CFS) can be proud. And we shouldn’t have to host again for awhile!

1 week to see it all! Well.. less than that..

by LadyTarasque

"First impression of Jasper"

Well.. we drove alll the way to Jasper from I forget where (didn't record anything so details are sketchy!) but it was suuuch a long drive. Anyways, when we got there, I was like.. WOW! When you first come in, it's a picture perfect setting! There's the small town with the huge mountains towering in the background :D should have taken a pic of that.. :[ heh heh (I at least got an overview photo of it from up a mountain).. anyways.. Jasper's so awesome, I'd live there if it wasn't so expensive (because it's in the middle of a provincial park and they aren't going to expand anytime soon!)!

Which road to Jasper?

by dabidc

"The scenic route"

Jasper is a small town dedicated to tourism and is surrounded by a vast National Park of the same name.
It is located at the junction of Highway 16 which runs from Edmonton to Vancouver or Prince George and the Ice Field Parkway, which connects to Lake Louise in Banff National Park.

The Ice Fields Parkway is a 230 km route through the valleys of the Bow river, the Mistaya river and the South Saskatchewan river. It is almost a seamless transition from one river system to the other for there are no steep climbs on the road. It is two lanes with a shoulder that is also used as a bike route. The speed limit is 90km /hr, a reasonable speed to enjoy the scenery, stop to take photos and to look out for animals. It is open year round but you can expect delays and road closure, after a heavy snowfall. Several places to visit on the southern part of the road were described in my Lake Louise and area section, this part will proceed north from Bow Summit and Peyto lake.

Photo opportunities or short hikes and visits are found at Mistaya Canyon, Saskatchewan Crossing for a meal break and then on to Parker Ridge where it is possible to look back over the road just travelled. More difficult to see but there are two waterfalls in this area, Bridal Veil falls and Weeping wall.

At the end of the climb you reach the Columbia Ice fields, where you can marvel at the masses of ice, get up close and personal or continue on to Sunwapta Falls and Athabaska falls and finally into Jasper to find accommodation, rest and look around on another day.

"You can walk or ride the bus on the ice."

One advantage of walking to the toe of the Glacier is that you can also see the notice boards that show where the end of the glacier was in each year from about 1900. The notices show that the glacier is melting and it is surprising how fast this is happening.

The other way to view is to take one of the buses that ride on the ice on big tires to lessen the impact of the weight. It is possible to get out and walk over the ice, but take care and also dress warmly.

"Close to the highway."

This is just one of many places to stop and visit on the Ice Fields parkway, the journey can be completed in half a day but if the weather is good it is very pleasant to stop and look around you at the impressive scenery and take a few photos and explore way side points of interest.

Jasper!

by guybert

"Jasper Park Lodge!"

We stayed in Edmonton for 3 days, then it was time to move on & see the mountains! We drove through the Canadian Rockies which was quite an experience for me because I had never seen the mountains before.
We pulled in Jasper by mid afternoon & headed to our hotel which was Jasper Park Lodge just outside of town. It's a gorgeous hotel, very fancy & beautiful scenery.

"Beautiful Chalets!"

The accommodations are all individual chalets that are very well maintained & are all located facing the lake...beautiful!

"Caribou!!"

We saw lots of wildlife in the area. This is a good picture of a herd of Caribou walking across the frozen lake. I took out the binoculars & watched them as they made their way to the other side of the lake. About 10 minutes later, I noticed a couple of wolves that were walking accross the lake at the same spot.! They were probably following the herd & wanting to catch themselves some supper?

"Geese looking for open water!"

Also on the edge of the lake, there was only one small spot of open water (the rest of the lake was still frosen over). Canada geese that were making there way north for spring were all standing at the edge of the ice getting drinks of water. I guess the water was even to cold for them to get in? We could walk almost right up to them when we were taking pictures.

"Resting up!"

The geese are having a drink of water & resting up before they keep going on their journey northwards for the summer.

"View from our chalet!"

You can't ask for a better view than this. You can see the snow covered mountains in every direction & the frozen lake in front of the chalets.

"Reflection off the window!"

Here's the same view, but by looking at the reflection in our window. I tought it would make for a great picture.

"Town of Jasper!"

We went into town for lunch & to see the sights. It was a very nice, quiet (because of it being on the off season, winter is basically done & summer isn't here yet) & also the people are very warm + friendly towards you. We had our lunch, spent some time around town seeing the sights & them it was time to move on and head out to Banff.