Jasper national park

Having finished my skiing in Golden/Kicking Horse, next on the plan was a place called Jasper. Halfway between Golden and Banff, and a long way north, south west of Pocahontas (Yes, it's a place called that). First I wanted to get some gasoline in Golden, and drove on. The x-miles-left-to-so-and-so signs kept on talking about Radium Hot Springs, with no mention of neither Banff nor Jasper, and after about 25 miles going straight south east, I decided it was about time to check the map. Sure enough, I made a wrong turn in Golden, and had to go 25 miles back. So about an hour after leaving Golden, I was back in Golden, found the right exit onto Canadian highway 1. After that mistake I've been a bit more careful to make sure I'm on the right road.

Somewhere up in the mountains where the sign for the 93 junction. After a quarter mile or 400 meters that they would call it in Canada, there was a sign like this:


Then a sign like this:


Then this:


And this, not much help to get on the mountain it seemed:


And then finally this:


With my Arizona registered automobile with Arizonian summer tires, I decided to give it a try. After all, it was a Japanese hyper electronic controlled 4 wheel drive, and a Japanese hyper electronic anti skid gizmo, and not to forget. I was born on a slippery winter road (more or less). After all, I could always turn around if it got too bad (was I not laying in the ditch somewhere that is), I was just a few miles from Lake Louise.

So I made a quick calculation of my gas level, my estimated gas consumption, translating this into miles per gallon, figuring out what the trip odometer would read when I reached the gas station, and decided I would just about be able to make it without running out of gas. That also meant that if I went further than halfway to Jasper, I would not be able to make it back to Lake Louise.

Carefully I continued, at moderate steady speed in order to minimize the gas consumption.

It was long after dark, but the sky was clear and the moon was full, and it lit up the most gorgeous landscape! I was driving along at steady paste, the road seemed dry and safe, and I was gazing out at the wonderful moonlit mountains I was passing by.

I only stopped a few times for pictures, here is one:


After about 60 km from anything looking like civilization, lay a rangers station. It was lit and seemed inhabited. Poor guy I thought. Sure looks lonely! Another 170 km of constantly nervously recalculating remaining distance and estimated gas consumption and I was in Jasper. Tank not nearly empty, still I decided to fill her up. Glad to be there.