Family Get Together in Jasper

For over a dozen years now my family has held an annual get together in the mountains.  This includes my Mom, as well as my two younger brothers and their families.  This year we returned to Jasper National Park.  We had reserved some accommodations at the Patricia Lake Bungalows, up on the bench above the Jasper townsite.  This was the weekend of May 26 to 28.

I booked the Friday off work as one of my scheduled days off.  We pulled the girls out of school for the day, and headed for the mountains in the morning.  The rest of the family would arrive later that evening.  On our way into the National Park we say a Mountain Goat up on a steep slope above the road.  On our way home a couple days later we would see Bighorn Sheep in the same spot.  We stopped in the dunes on the spit of land between Jasper Lake and Talbot lake and explored for awhile.  The mountain runoff is in full swing and water levels were high.  I pulled out my view camera and made a couple of photographs while the girls explored.  Later we headed into town and had dinner at a local restaurant.  It was a Greek place and the pizza I ordered was one the best I'd had in years.  After dinner we headed up to the Bungalows and checked in.  The rest of the family would arrive later that evening.

The remainder of the weekend was pretty laid back and we just visited and relaxed.  We rented a couple of canoes and some of the family paddled around Patricia Lake for a while.  We played Bocce and Frisbee and Basketball.  In the evening the requisite game of charades took place.  While some of the family was on the lake paddling around, my brother Greg and I took a walk along the shore.  We watched a garter snake, about 18 inches long, slithering amongst the rocks at the waters edge.  Then to our surprise it dove into the cold mountain water and disappeared into the underwater rocks.  A moment later it popped back it, with a minnow in its jaws.  There were calypso orchids blooming all over the place in the woods.

There was a spectacular display of aurora late that night but I missed it.  My brother Wes and his daughter were out to experience it.  On Sunday afternoon we checked out and headed into town for an ice cream.  After that we said our goodbyes and headed off in various directions to our homes.  The girls and I stopped by a small roadside pond on the way home and I took another shot with my view camera.  After that it was a pretty uneventful four hour drive back home.