“Jasper, Canada’s largest national park in the Rocky
Mountains, has rugged scenery and a less touristed vibe. … Fishermen enjoy
angling on Maligne Lake (the largest of the Rockies’ glacier-fed lakes), while
the Miette Hot Springs offer soaks in outdoor pools, surrounded by forest and
mountains.”
First up, Jasper. I actually had to rearrange a little bit –
Jasper was supposed to be second – which actually worked out for the best since
Jasper got snow the day I was originally supposed to be there.
One of my concessions to traveling during COVID was that I
limited the number of excursions/experiences I planned and instead splurged on
fancy hotels. By the time I booked
Jasper, most of the hotels in Jasper-proper were already booked. So, I stayed up a Miette Hot Springs. This place would be extra fabulous if you were
actually visiting the hot springs, but alas they are closed this year. Don’t
quote me, but I think I read it’s because they couldn’t find enough qualified
lifeguards to open this season, due to COVID.
What I didn’t realize when I booked the Miette Springs Bungalows was that it’s literally next to the Hot Springs, and that also means it’s about 16km up a windy mountain road.
The Bungalows themselves were really cute/rustic, and the views were
pretty amazing. They warn that while
they have wi-fi you should download anything you want to watch before coming up
the mountain. I did not, but I
should’ve. They were serious about that
wi-fi situation. You don’t realize how
much you use your phone until it’s actually not available. Not just wi-fi, but zero cell service. I sent a couple of texts that read, “I’m not
sure when you’ll get this, but…..”
The first night I ate at the on-property restaurant. It was good, but nothing super special. While
I was eating a couple ran in and started talking about a bear that was roaming
around. I did not run out to see
it. Although, it’s an ok time of year to
bear-watch – they are all getting fat and happy for winter, but I still didn’t
want to accidentally stumble on a bear with cubs.
Day 2 was excursion day, and this was the only excursion
that I had really considered doing. I’d
initially thought I’d visit Maligne (Ma-lene) Lake and take some pictures,
wander around, but you can only see Spirit Island by taking a boat trip. So, I booked a trip. I soon found that both Alberta and British
Columbia have enacted several rules to keep folks safe. I had to show my vaccine card basically
everywhere, including to be able to purchase a boat ticket. Masks were required at all times in the cabin
of the boat. Everyone complied, nobody complained, and many, many people
commented on how much safer they felt because of it. It’s not hard, folks. It’s about considering
the community and not just you.
On the trip out I met, Mika the dog. She was a really well-behaved , and smartly
dressed little pup. We became fast
friends. After we got to Spirit Island,
I discovered a human girl, Mika. Only
because dog-Mika was being asked to sit and girl-Mika was very confused and
upset that a stranger was telling her what to do.
Maligne Lake is stunning and Spirit Island is a scared site
of the Indigenous Nakoda or Stoney people. It should surprise no one that they
were treated horribly, kicked off their land, driven onto reservations, and
subjected to the kidnapping and genocide of their people. Recently, there have
been attempts at reconciliation, Spirit Island, for example. Visitors are no longer allowed to walk on
that sacred ground, it is reserved only for the Stoney people and their
ceremonies. If fact, after discovery the
mass graves at residential schools, the Stoney performed a ritual to allow the
Stoney children’s spirits to rest. It should also surprise no one that the
attempts at reconciliation are nice, but not nearly enough. We stole their land, we killed their
children, we tried to obliterated their way of life, their ties to the land,
and we tried our best to erase their culture from this world. Until we very
frankly confront the past and how we (white folks) still benefit from their
destruction we cannot reconcile.
