The helpline said it was fine to drive the van slowly so I did… sort of. They wanted me to drive at 45kph which would have taken 3 and half hours to get to Jasper. So I went just a little quicker and did it in and hour and half.
Aimi was really under the weather today so it was the right call to bin the climbing trip, as frustrating as we both found it. But this did mean we got to explore Jasper more fully today.
After dropping off the RV to be fitted for a new tyre, we walked across the railroad and into Jasper. The train station here is massive and basically the length of the whole town. At one point there was a huge freight train pulling in, it was so long the carriages just kept going on and on. Luckily there was a foot traffic underpass so we walked into town and found food.
Ramen. Aimi’s favourite and basically chicken noodle soup. Good for when you’re sick. It also made us nostalgic for our trip to Japan. Hopefully next year we are going back.
You’d think paying for a tyre replacement would be easy. And certainly, Jasper Tyre were very helpful and willing to accept payment however it came. But Cruise Canada took ages. We ended up waiting over an hour for them to pay. Then when I called up for the 3rd time they said they hadn’t received an invoice! Of course they hadn’t, they hadn’t asked for one! So that was emailed across and then it was paid and we could head off… it was almost fortunate we had this extra day to faff about with this!
Jasper has been mostly destroyed by wild fires that over ran the town in summer 2024. Started by lightening and fueled by very dry woodlands from a lack of rain, the warm winds whipped small fires up into a large one quicker than could be contained. Very soon the town was evacuated and the fire destroyed a large portion of it.
Walking around there are some new buildings that have already been rebuilt, but the majority of the outskirts of town are still burnt shells, demolished lots or some undergoing reconstruction. The most heartbreaking thing was driving into town and seeing the rows and rows of shipping container houses that are the temporary accommodation for the displaced citizens.
Surrounding the town and these depressing huts are burnt forests almost as far as the eye can see. All the way up both sides of the valley in all directions are black burnt trunks of trees sticking out of the ground like the prickly hairs on a bald guys head.
The drive here was spectacularly beautiful with lakes and trees and glaciers. Jasper is barren like a bomb has hit. But we wanted to come and contribute our little bit of tourism to this hard hit town. I’ve been hiking a lot using my walking poles, so much so that over the years I’ve worn thru the spikes. There is an incredible mountain gear shop here where I’ll probably buy some new ones. It’s time for a new set and it will help the shop owner.
Sadly, one of the natural beauties I wanted to see, Malign Canyon, was off limits. The canyon is a deep narrow cut in the rock formed by water with a path along the edge. There are 6 bridges that cross over it in several places and the fire had burnt and damaged these so we weren’t allowed to go there. But from the carpark at the top there was a good view over the valley. Or what would have been a good view had it all not been burnt to a crisp.
We got to Wapiti campground relatively early this afternoon, pitched up and made ourselves comfortable. With electric hookup, we didn’t have to worry about getting cold out running down the batteries. They even provide firewood, which I thought was a luxury, but then after reading an information sign I understood why. They don’t want you bringing your own wood and potentially infesting the woodland with bugs the local wildlife and ecosystem is not used to.
Watching the sun go down, we actually got to use our camp chairs for once. All the other places we had stopped it was either too late or riddled with mosquitos preventing us using them. Here, it seems one of the benefits of the apocalyptic wild fires are the lack of mosquitoes! This made playing Uno, eating crisps and having hot chocolate in front of the fire much more enjoyable.