Mile 19621

 We leave Kamloops, BC this morning with gray skies and a light rain.  We have quite a stretch ahead of us today, so after some bagel and a good coffee we find our highway out of Kamloops.  The Coquihalla Highway as Hwy-5 is also called leads us North to Clearwater, BC.  The weather doesn't know exactly what it wants and we are switching constantly between more or lesser light rain, and some overcast with the occasional opening in the cloud cover.  But the road is smooth, and meandering through the mountain ranges is a breeze.  

Traveling the Yellowhead Hwy

 Soon we have the Columbia Mountain Range ahead of us with the Monashee Mountain Range to our right.  The hwy follows the Thompson River for quite some time, and many lakes are left and right of the road.  Shortly after Tete Juane Cache, BC we find Hwy-16, our old friend the Yellowhead Hwy, which brings us into Jasper, AB.  Entering Jasper National Park the damages on the forest from the fires in 2023 are still visible, lot of the mountain faces are still black from either the fires or the charred trees still standing.  It is a sad picture to see, but nature has already started to recover and the ground covers are creating a green carpet already.  We leave the Jasper N.P. as we continue our way North to Hinton, AB for the night.  But in the early evening hours we are lucky and see a Bighorn Sheep grazing undisturbed from the traffic stopping to look at it, and a little further down the road a Black Bear is crossing the road in search of his evening meal.

Jasper National Park

Bighorn Sheep and Black Bear near Miette Springs turn off, Jasper N.P.

"Nature is resilient.  It teaches us to slow down, breathe, and be patient."  -  Emilie and Darren, Jasper, AB locals in "Voices of Jasper" on the Jasper National Park's Facebook page

"The landscape inspires nenewal - a world waiting to be explored."  Suzanne Higham in "Voices of Jasper" on the Jasper National Park's Facebook page