| TONQUIN VALLEY AND MOUNT EDITH CAVELL (3363 M) |
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| Canada - Canada 2007 | |||
| Written by Daniela Pascan | |||
| Wednesday, 29 August 2007 00:00 | |||
6 days and 5 nights we “got lost” in the wilderness of Jasper National Park, on Tonquin Valley (August 20 -25, 2007). The access road is close to Jasper town. For camping in the park it is required a backcountry permit. The fee is 9$ per person per night. It is better to make a reservation in advance, but because we traveled at the end of the season we were lucky to find spots in campsites. The majority of campsites have in between 4 to 6 distinct spots
 After we entered in Jasper NP, on the road we saw a bear family: mother with three nice cubs, so we didn’t miss the opportunity to take many pictures of them. The first night we spend in a campground close to highway – first come, first served. This was just a half way stop in our way to Jasper town to pick our backcountry permit and to get more information about Mount Edith Cavell (3363m), that we planned to hike. We were told about the bear activity in the area, but we didn’t worry too much about because we had two “weapons”: the bear spray and another one more deadly, which I can’t tell because of “national security” reasons. But nobody told us about the mosquitoes, which we fought for two nights and against whom we had no "weapons".The trail has about 42km and we started the trip from the Marmot Basin parking lot, where we left the car. The route makes a loop and after 5 days we arrived at Mount Edith Cavell parking lot, from where we hitchhike to our car. Because Canada is just a “small” country I had been hitchhiked by a family and a Romanian magazine revealed their nationality. Thanks once again to family form Edmonton, unfortunately I don’t remember their names. The yellow dots represent the spots were we camped. In the last point we spend two nights because we hiked on Mount Edith Cavell (the trail is marked with red line). The red spots represent the parking lots and the top.  Another map with Mount Edith
 We took almost 1000 pictures. Here are some moments:
Icefield Park way it s considered to be one of the most scenic road of North America. Everywhere you can see glaciers and lakes, a road that is worth driving in any season.  Apartment, extra comfort, no mortgage and condos fee, always with Mountain!
Sweet sunny trail...  ...and sparkling water!
 Amethyst Lake, where we camped the second night.
 Outpost Lake and Canadian Alpine Club hut, that we found it locked.  Third day: Mount Edith Cavell (3363m), a 13 hours trip.
 After 4 hours we reached the ridge. In the background Ametyst Lake is visible.
 On our way up, we traversed the slop on the right toward the south ridge, a sensitive spot where we roped in.
  Sebastian and Florin on the top
 Left of right?
 View from the summit toward the Cavell Lake (in the middle of the picture) and the Edith Cavell Glaciar Lake, formed at the base of the wall (on the right with some icebergs in it). Also the Angel Glacier under the top.
 I wish I could fly!
 On the way down, on the left is the East top (the main one) and on the right the West top (secondary).
 The glacier lake formed by the Edith Cavell glacier, this time from its level.
 Angel Galcier from the lake, the wings are visible
 On our way home we stopped at Athabasca Falls...
 ...and Columbia Ice Field (int is obvious the colors on our clothes)
 ..near by there is Mount Athabasca (more precisely Athabasca Galcier), another project for us.
Our intention was to stay another day in Banff NP, to hike another 3000 m peak, but the weather turned bad (snowy), so we decided to keep something for the next trip.After 6 days in the Jasper NP wilderness, we felt that we just scratched the surface of a wonderful area with endless hiking, climbing, mountaineering and skiing possibilities
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 July 2009 14:00 |
