Halfway up the Whistler trail. The tramway station at the top is the goal
There are many interesting trails and sights around Whistler and two of our most memorable ones were the trek up the Whistler Trail and the Cavell Meadows Loop next to the beautiful Mount Cavell.
The Whistler Trail has an elevation gain of 1200m and the trail starts from the base through the forest to above the treeline and rock boulders to the top where the tram station is. It took the tourists just six mins to ascent the 1200m on the tram while it took us four hours to steadily trek up to the top. It was tough initially through the forest because of the mosquitoes problem but it got better as we climbed above the treeline which also became cooler and windier. The summit of the Whistler Trail was another half an hour of upslope trek from the tram station.
Nearly 2/3 up the Whistler trail, passing the huge rock boulders
However the effort was well rewarded by panoramic views of the Miette Valley and Athabasca Valley. It was also fulfilling to have trekked through all the three elevational life-zones in the park: montane (to the upper limit of aspen growth), subalpine (to treeline) and alpine (above treeline), something which the tourists on the tram would not have experienced!
Mount Edith Cavall, named after a 2nd World War heroine is the prettiest mountain around Jasper.
On the summit of Whistler. Mt Edith Cavell and the other mountains in the background
It is distinctive with its slanting slopes covered by snow. As usual, we prefer to go high and see more and went on to the Cavall Meadows Loop after finishing the Glacier Loop. There were many fallen icebergs floating on the Cavell Pond and while we were at the pond, we witnessed a small part of the Angel Glacier breaking off and crashing down the mountain. Although it was quite a sight, it was rather saddening to think that the glaciers will all continue to break and recede with global warming.
The Cavell Meadows trail with an elevation of 400m brought us to eye level with the spectacular Angel Glacier. Beyond the treeline, the bouldery moraine trail was extremely windy on that day. Along the way, we saw three Hoary Marmots feeding from the ground. They were rather unafraid of humans and continued to munch away while we snapped pictures of them.
We had some more sightings of the black bear in Jasper National Park in addition to other wild animals like the bighorn sheeps, white mountain goat, elks, wood peckers and the very tame deers that roamed freely through the campsite. One thing worth mentioning about the black crows is that they are so huge in size that they look like a fat chicken while walking on the ground!
