Day Fiftythree - Jul 17, 2009
Radium Hot Springs, BC to Jasper NP, AB
Daily Didactic
We started the morning in Redstreak Campground and did our level best to get on the road at an hour that would accommodate one more soak in Radium Hot Springs. This would bring our summer Radium soak total to three, an unprecedented success for us. We immediately lost momentum with a breakfast at Mickey's Diner and ultimately didn't get on the road north from the hot springs until a little after noon. This was not the end of the world, as we had only about four and a half hours of driving to get to Jasper. The Icefield Parkway drive was just as spectacularly scenic as it is every time we travel it and the weather was beautifully sunny.
We weren't exactly sure where we were staying and it was a Friday, which for us spells trouble. We reasoned that the 800+ site Whistler would surely have sites available, but we would opt for the 300+ site Wapiti campground instead. As we passed the "Campground Full" sign at Wapiti about three miles out of Jasper we sighed a little relief to see no such sign on Whistler. We got in a long line of other travelers and about twenty minutes later were informed by a earnest Canadian that Whistler was full, but they did not want to hang the "Full" sign out so they could direct campers south to open campgrounds. He explained that if they did not direct campers in person they would "end up camping on the side of the road". Our suspicion is that they might have just tried another campground twenty minutes earlier. We ended up bactracking about 20 miles to the almost empty "primitive" Mount Kerkeslin campground. We took a walk along the Athabaska River, and Theresa took a nap while Brian did his level best to burn a huge pile of free wood. Apparently it's been raining around here and when Theresa rose a few hours later Brian had just managed to dry out enough wood for a late evening warming.
Today's Photos
