17 Aug 2010 - Jasper AB

Day 56

Last day for the group of eight; we have had a fantastic time. Today's forecast was sunny high of 32; but the smog from the BC fires affected that and we had a misty day, high of 23. We went to the visitor centre first and they suggested avoiding the Tram ride because of the smoke (we delayed a decision on that til later) and recommended going down the Maligne Valley - so that is what we did. It was a great trip, we had lunch at the lake and stopped at Medicine Lake on the way back as well as Maligne Canyon. The lake is strange because it has a river into it but none out of it - the water drains via underground rivers; so every fall it becomes a mud flat again. The canyon is not very wide (might average 20 feet) but has been eroded to depths of over 150 feet. Only pictures can describe it best.

We got back for happy hour then decided to drive up to the Tram to decide if it was clear enough to go up. It wasn't but we went up anyway (no idea when we would be here again).

Went out for dinner since it was our last night together. We ate at the Something for Everyone.

Coming back into the campground we counted 18 Elk, three as close as 20 feet from our camper.

Camera went caflewy as we ended the Tram trip - not sure if we will have any more pictures on this trip.

We are outta here at the crack of dawn tomorrow - not sure when the next blog update will come - we have no specific destination(s) we just plan to drive as far as we can each day....