Always interesting to read our plans from last night...and then see what we really did! Ran Sara down to see Lake Lucerne which was only 2 campsites away - had a beautiful view of a small lake, but everyone else in the campground had cleared out by 10am. So we were preparing for departure ourselves, when I saw a car stopped in front of our campsite - stopped cars usually mean wildlife, so I looked out our windows and found that we had an elk family feeding in our midst! How close we came to missing the whole event!! Looked like two big elk and a youngster - at least, we think they are elk - we had to consult our wildlife books on this one - they have a light tan butt and their antlers are slanting back. We considered a mule deer as well, but the copilot/navigator/wildlife researcher has narrowed it down to elk! Let us know if you know differently - these Ohio/GA girls don't know an elk from a mule deer, but are sure it's not a giraffe! So we got on the road at 11:15 and immediately lost an hour by entering Alberta, Canada, now 12 noon. So we are worried about getting a campsite tonight (July in Jasper is peak season); when we found phone service, we called the campground and were told "NO campsites available for tonight!" We made a reservation for tomorrow night and just as they were about to give us a confirmation number, we lost our connection. So we pick up the speed and drive to the first campground (Whistler has 535 campsites and Wapati has 554 sites, and there are also about 8 other campgrounds within Jasper National Park! - that's a lot of campers!!). The good news was that there was an "overflow" lot on Snarring Road - a first come, first serve campsite area and when that is full, the "big lot" is available where you just "claim a spot". None of the sites have utilities and you are not allowed to park at any rest stops or roadsides in the parks, which covers the next 100+ square miles. The pressure is on to find a site, so we get on the road to find Snarring Road (about 20 miles from Jasper town, which we have yet to see). And try to claim a campsite since it is now 1:30pm! Snarring Road is a road into the wilderness interior - 20 miles out of town, then 4 miles down a side road lined with untouched grasses and bogs, passing only an inhabited "toll booth" that tells you to "go left after the bridge to claim a campsite, or go straight ahead to claim a site "in the field" - miraculously, we found "other settlers" in this campground, and even "quick claimed" our campsite by setting up our cheap blue yard chair and Sharon's yoga mat - that means the site is reserved!! It would have been obvious if the RV were there, but we needed to drive the RV out to get to anywhere! We also met a couple from State College, PA who had been here 40 years ago and were on a return trip - so maybe we'll see them again on our cross-country drive to the family reunion in Ohio. Next we shift gears and consult our maps, deciding we are closest to the Malign Lake District, so pull the RV out (and a very tight spot I might add!). We had planned to stop at Lake Annette for lunch but we see scary storm clouds moving in, so we head for the end of the road first. We saw Malign Canyon, then back on the road to pass Medicine Lake (a disappearing lake - apparently it fills every spring as snows melt, but by August loses it's waters into underground springs and turns the lake bed into mud flats - a funny story is how in the 1950's, they thought they could "plug the drains of the lake" by filling them with old mattresses and magazines, but that didn't work, so now the lake goes dry by late summer and fills each spring!). We drove on another 30 miles to Malign Lake - discovered by Mary Shaffer, an artist from Philadelphia, who had heard of the "undiscovered lake" - she led an expedition of friends, based on a 14 year old Indian guide's map, by horse and raft, until they found Lake Malign! It is gorgeous!!! I mean, maybe the prettiest area we've seen on this whole trip (altho it's hard to remember!). Clear blue glass, smooth lake with mountains surrounding it, and canoes, kayaks, and small motor boat cruises dotting the water - a sight guaranteed to lower your b/p by 20 points! We had lunch (at 5pm) waterside, met a couple from Michigan who recognized us (our dog) from the ferry trip, and they told us of their side trip to Stewart, BC where they got to see the salmon running and were even close enough to see a brown bear catch a salmon and eat it, crunching noises included! We have tried to catch this site, but always seem to be too early or too late to see the salmon running. We walked the Mary Shaffer loop trail with incredible views of the lake, and hurried back to the RV to start the 30 mile drive back to town since we were low on gas (hadn't anticipated this long side trip!). On Malign Lake Road we ran into several "wildlife traffic jams" - we did get to see a few baby bears, sheep (?), but no caribou (despite the big warning signs). We made it back to Jasper with gas to spare (phew!) and found the town charming! Couldn't believe, it's like a European Alpine Village!! We got gas for now and headed back to be sure our campsite was still secure - all is good, blue chair reservation intact at 8 pm - time for dinner. Moving to Whistler Campground tomorrow, need dump station and fresh water refill!
P .S. Thought I had finished the day, just needed to give Sara a final walk - so went over to campsites 1-3 and saw water behind them - Sara and I crawled through some trees/reeds and over a rocky embankment, and "Eureka!" - I felt like I had discovered the "gold of scenic views"!! It was a bluish River (Snarring River) with little Rapids, near sunset (10 pm), surrounded by the Canadian Rocky Mountains, flowing under an iron bridge - just like a published photograph! Sara and I had to run back and get Linda to share the view, as well as about 10 other campers who had brought out the cameras. What great fortune to have been sent out to the "overflow sites" and we never would have seen this view! After that, I decided to cross the bridge and see how the "overflow campers" in the "big lot" had fared. I was surprised to find it more like a "ranch" of campers - picnic tables at each site and trees divided by trails - probably at least 50 campers (cars, RV's, and tents). Really not a bad location! But we were so lucky to get our current campsite!