Sunday, April 11, 2021

Birthday View from the Top

For Glory's second COVID birthday (sigh) we took another trip to the mountains but decided we would stop in Jasper for some sightseeing so that Canéla wouldn't be trapped in the car all day. And what better place for sightseeing than a mountaintop accessible by tram?


The $5.70 it costs to have our new canine companion accompany us was a bargain, and although the ascent up to the chalet left her disquieted, Canéla behaved herself very well, and didn't even bother the other dog on our car overmuch.


Glory and I had been up here together a few years earlier, here being the top of Whistler's Mountain by way of the tram. At that time, our attempt to hike to the summit was not only a failure, but the ice and snow made our descent treacherous enough that I fell, arrested my tumbling plummet by grabbing onto a sturdy boulder with my shin and was in considerable pain for the remainder of our excursion.





This time around, I only went up as far as the second bench, and after getting a few pictures together, I wished the others well as they attempted to reach the false summit. (The actual summit had enough snow covering it that snowshoes were actually required to proceed.)




Glory got the furthest, but eventually, even she turned back.

Even though it was cold on the mountaintop, it was a bright, clear, beautiful day, and we still had daylight following our ride down the mountain, so we went exploring in the Flex for a bit. We ended up walking across a recently refurbished bridge to Pyramid Island, on Pyramid Lake (natch). 

It turns out the island can be rented for private gatherings (outside of COVID, one presumes) and there are a set of benches by the lakeside that would make a wonderful spot for a wedding or renewal of vows or some such. Even with "only" a birthday to celebrate, it was one more wonderful new spot to visit in Jasper for us, and a great place to finish out sightseeing before picking up a pizza from North Face (white garlic sauce, crabmeat, onions and spinach) and returning home.



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