Jasper, Canada
Sitting approximately three and a half hours Northwest of Banff is Jasper. Another, in a long line, of wonderfully beautiful areas of Canada. I hope you enjoy the little journey I take you on as we take a little deeper look into the town of Jasper.
One of the most beautiful places I’ve, personally, traveled to in this world is Athabasca Canyon. Athabasca Falls, pictured left, is a rather large and mighty flowing as it drops down into Athabasca Canyon. Because it is flowing so massively, all you see is the white of the powerfully moved glacial water down into the canyon. But once it starts to settle, a beautiful change occurs, drop down to see…
As the water that flows from Athabasca Falls starts to slow, a transformation occurs. The rocky profile of a face that overlooks Athabasca River knows all of that river’s secrets. Keep scrolling…
When the, “Dust,” settles from the massive Athabasca Falls, downriver, the water settles into a more graceful flow and its true color comes through. Glacier water is blue and this is one of the truest, colored, specimens of that fact. In our vying for optimum shooting conditions, we got up at Stupid O’clock, got to the parking lot while it was still dark and there was, but for one, no signs of life. Parking lot was moody and still, a sketch kind of camper was the only other occupant in the lot. That camper, and its occupants, left and so we were alone. It was early in the morning and the light started to filter in from above. I must say, although I plan for almost all weather conditions, this was a brass monkey kind of cold…AND, the wind wasn’t even blowing. It was still and freaking cold. We soldiered on and got to a bridge that crossed Athabasca Canyon. One side was the first 2 photos you’ve seen and, on the other side, was the blue water, calmly making its way downriver. After I was satisfied with the shots from that bridge, we went a little deeper into the canyon. We came back to the bridge and noticed that people were starting to filter in. I looked at my watch and we had been there for 90 minutes, without another living soul around. It was the best!
Maligne Canyon was another lovely spot to hike through and photograph. Once again, getting up at Stupid O’clock, getting to the parking lot while it was still dark, waiting for light to break and then venturing in. It is literally a gorge that you hike through and you see the eons of water flow and how its carved its way through the rock to form the path that it has, just from a geologic point of view it was really interesting. But, the need to photograph what I was witnessing was a far greater pull than studying the rocks. Being early in the morning and without sunlight, I found that using an ND or polarizing filter was not necessary.
As one makes their way through the Maligne Canyon, there are foot bridges that cross the canyon at certain intervals. These scenes really show you how that water just slammed through these rocks to form this canyon. You really cannot take a bad photo in this canyon, even cell phone photos can do you no wrong here.
A canyon wouldn’t do itself justice if’n it didn’t open-up and get faster in its flow. The little dabs of color, to help illustrate the time of year we were there, were perfect to balance out the gray and blue tones running through the canyon. Such a beautiful place.
The last place, and there are so, so many others, that I’d like to give you glimpse of is Tangle Falls. This remarkable set of falls is right off the road as you travel around Jasper. Easy to find and GPS will get you there with no worries. The way the water cascades down the rock face, at times, resembles a staircase.
Once again, the pops of Autumnal color really help highlight the water and the shape of the falls. If you want to see a beautiful waterfall and not hike to the center of the world and back, go to Tangle Falls.
A crude, dirt parking area, rather small and a 10 meter walk from the car and you’re there! Depending on your sky, I would get there early and try to eliminate as much of it as possible. Unless there is some color above the treeline, then by all means, get that sky in the shot. I had a bright, light gray sky and it was painful to have any of it in any shot. Bring filters with you to help with the contrast. The longer the day goes on, the more people will get there and good luck finding a place to park, much less get good shots without people being in them.
Well, there is so much more to talk bout, like the Columbia Ice Fields, Jasper Sky Tram and many, many others. You will not believe all there is to see and it’ll blow your mind. Go, go and see all that natural beauty that our neighbors to the North have to offer you. You will not be disappointed with any of it. Just remember, places like Banff and Jasper, no matter what time of year you go, will always have crowds of some sort to deal with almost anywhere you go. Plan accordingly, leave where you’re staying at Stupid O’clock and get to places early early. I guarantee you that that thought is NOT an original idea and others are doing the same thing. But, not everyone wants to get up at that time of day and there is still a benefit to leaving at Zero Dark Thirty. Wherever you’re going, I wish you nothing but great weather and wonderful memories. Until next week…
