Along Mount Robson to Jasper National Park

And we’re already on the tenth day of our trip through the west of Canada. On that day we would fi-na-lly make it to the Rocky Mountains. But before that, we had another drive of about three and a half hours ahead of us.

Fortunately along the way we passed the Mount Robson Provincial Park, so that of course called for a stop.

To get to Mount Robson Park from Clearwater, it was already a good two hour drive. But nothing an amazing playlist and some good company can’t solve.

As we were nearing the park the discussion started as to which peak in front of us was Mount Robson. We were slightly disappointed by what we saw. We had expected Mount Robson to be a bit more spectacular. But we were just too soon to pass our judgement. As we were almost there, the road took a bend and suddenly the peak was in front of us in all its glory. Now that was an overwhelming moment.

Excited to discover more we parked our car and strapped on our hiking boots to hike to Kinney Lake. This four kilometer hike takes you through the forest along the Robson River with views on Mount Robson.

The hiking trail itself was somewhat dull and there were quite a lot of people walking the trial. We had read about a running competition taking place in a few days so maybe that’s why it was already busy, but it didn’t feel like we were hiking through the wild Canadian nature. The views from the shore of the Robson River were a lot better though, so at least we got that.

After about an hour we arrived at the shore of Kinney Lake. The surrounding peaks reflecting on the surface of the lake made for a beautiful photo opportunity. Sadly by then the sun was pushed away by the clouds filling the sky. Our bare legs didn’t really appreciate the lack of warmth from the sun.  But we braved the cold and still enjoyed our small lunch on the shore of the lake. I’ve had worse views while eating.

For the experienced hikers this trail continues all the way to Berg Lake and Berg Glacier. The entire trail is nineteen kilometers one way, so that’s quite hard to do in one day. However there are opportunities to stay the night at the top. Sadly we didn’t have time to do all that, so we turned around and headed back along the Robson River.

Back in the parking lot there was only about an hour left to drive before we would enter the town limits of Jasper. On that drive we crossed a state border, from British Columbia to Alberta, and sadly that also meant we were entering into another time zone. So in the blink of an eye we lost one hour of our day.

Fortunately we didn’t have a lot more planned. We checked in at our most lovely Airbnb, “Come on Inn“, and then walked through town to the visitor center of Jasper. Time to collect some information on what we could do and see in the area. The staff at the visitor center was very helpful to point us to some interesting activities and provided us with some hiking trail maps.

Armed with all that information we went to Smitty’s, a restaurant close to the visitor center. While sipping our refill coffees and enjoying a piece of delicious warm apple pie we tried to make a schedule for the next two days.

For dinner that night we headed to a place that was recommended by our Airbnb hosts; Famoso. This Italian place proved to be a really great choice. We enjoyed our pizza so much that we even returned to this place on our last evening in Jasper. So yup, it’s that good!

For the rest of the evening we relaxed at our Airbnb with a glass of cider and a beer. That day we might not have done quite a lot but the next days promised more lovely views and beautiful hikes.

♥

 

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