Discovering Jasper, Alberta
Updated: Sep 29, 2018
Growing up on the East Coast you don’t see many mountains. I remember watching Lord of the Rings and seeing these beautiful shots of mountain landscapes (which BTW are my favourite movies of all time, if you haven’t guessed already) and from that moment on I dreamed of seeing these grand entities one day! I recently had to travel to Edmonton, Alberta for work and I jumped with excitement because finally I was going to be in driving distance to the Rocky Mountains! As soon as I could, I booked some time to explore the Jasper portion of this natural wonder.
Jacket by Andrew Coimbra
Driving into Jasper, I felt like I was looking at a painting. I have seen many photos of the Rockies, but you really must see their scale with your own eyes to put their massive size into perspective. I was simply lost for words at their beauty. I have never felt so small in my entire life looking up at these beautiful creations. With the wind blowing through my hair and my nose filled with the smell of woody pine delights, I knew there was going to be one epic adventure ahead of us.
Our first stop was Sunwapta Falls. As I stood in front of the falls,I noticed how insane it was to see the way the glaciers have carved out these beauties filling them full of soft taupe-y green water! I am so happy I came in the spring because the falls where just roaring with power from the melting glaciers. There are three sets of falls we discovered in Sunwapta, so make sure you travel downstream to see the lower portions of the falls!
Next we made our way to Athabasca Falls which is basically an instagrammer’s dream. My creativity was going wild as we shot some stunning Andrew Coimbra looks around this cliffy terrain outlined in the mist coming off of the falls!! After shooting in maybe less than appropriate footwear for hiking, we rested our feed in the crisp glacier water at the bottom of the falls.
As we made our way back to the hotel for a bite to eat, we met many four-legged locals that were out grazing on the fresh spring flowers and greenery.
We stopped into a very sweet local family run restaurant called Raven Bistro for dinner. Hands down, this was one of the best meals I’ve had in my life! From there delicious curry dressed take on a green salad, to delicious local meats, I wish I had one more stomach so I could try everything on the menu. I was also delighted by their desert menu which offered a lavender creme brûlée. Lavender is one of my FAVOURITE dessert flavors so I could not resist ordering it despite being so full.
The following day we made our way to Pyramid lake which offers a spectacular view of the mountains! You can rent a kayak or go horseback riding in this area which is definitely on my list for when I return! You can also check on a website called Aura Watch and it will tell you if the northern lights will be visible at night from this area.
A day and a half in Jasper was not long enough, there is so much to explore that I feel I only cracked the surface of the adventures to be had there! My inner child is so grateful for this trip and it will be a weekend I will never forget! Now I need to find a way to get back to this magical area!
Huge Thank you to Mark Ralph for taking many of the photos of me on this trip and designer Andrew Coimbra for dressing me for this adventure. #Alberta #Jasper #ExploreCanada #ExploreAlberta #hikingJasper