By the time we dropped the dog off last night, we were rather behind schedule. Part of the problem was Edmonton’s traffic quagmire, intensified by the Friday rush hour traffic; the other issue was the location of our kennel, which left us with a selection of secondary highways that swung us in the correct general direction instead of the ideal route: a major artery that could zip us to the mountains in record time.

As it happened, we were passing through my home town rather accidentally at dinner time, and joined my dad at the Dairy Queen for a bite to eat. All our little stops added up to an arrival time of 11:10 in Jasper. It was a clear night and the driving conditions were perfect, so we didn’t mind traveling largely in the dark. My own complaint was missing the approach. Since I was a little girl, I’ve loved to watch the mountains slowly grow closer, anticipation building, but last night it seemed we were just suddenly here.

Today, we took a drive up Mount Edith Cavell, which is only a few minutes out of Jasper and half an hour up a very tightly winding narrow mountain road. These are raw, unedited photos straight from my little pink Canon point-and-shoot.

It felt great to get out of the city and breathe some air that doesn’t smell like car exhaust and too many people. I haven’t been to Jasper in a few years, and it’s amazing how I still feel deep awe at the splendor of the landscape.

We were hoping to see some wildlife, but all the pretty (and/or tasty) woodland creatures were visiting Snow White or something, and we were the only breathing thing in sight for miles at a time.

There I was, wearing my fuzzy new hoodie, walking quickly around at the top of the mountain to keep blood flowing to my extremities. The first little snow lumps of the season were drifting down, and my nose started to run in the sub-zero winds. My sweetie was striding around grinning. “This is the perfect weather!” he’s been exclaiming all day. The Electrician has never liked the heat, and he’s been working in a mechanical room in fireproof coveralls for the past three (hottest) weeks of the summer, so I guess it’s a nice break for him. I just kept wishing I’d brought my mittens.

We’re hoping to visit Athabasca Falls tomorrow. The Electrician has never been. For many years, he’s really been in the mountains only in the winter to snowboard, so this whole dry ground business is new to him. If the weather holds, I’ll take some photos and share them with you lovely people.

If you’re not lucky enough to life in Alberta, I strongly suggest you make it here for a visit. Our mountains are awesome, and our English teachers are really nifty people.

copyright 2011:  http://bluespeckledpup.com