Jamie Johansen

On the 19th, our last day out, we went to Jasper. The day after we arrived we stopped at the Jasper Tramway which is an aerial tramway that takes visitors up The Whistlers Mountain to an altitude of 7,472 ft above sea level. The view is something else. I took plenty of pictures and a couple videos while there.

We saw a bunch of animals, there was an animal jam (traffic jam caused by animals) of big horned sheep and a bunch of their kids who were eating on the side of the high way. We were feet away from them, it was quite amazing. There were other big horned sheep resting on some cliffs and we stopped to get pictures of them too.

After that it was back to Edmonton. Not too much happened once getting away from the mountains. Uncle G was helping me with my Skyrim game as I haven’t been playing much and am somewhat behind on things. The day after we said our good byes to my Nan and Uncle G who had to go back home, sadly. It seems trips like this don’t last long enough sometimes, but it was one hell of a little trip and a great way to wrap up my schooling.

Today was another fairly long, but satisfying day. We left Banff at around noon, stopped at Bow Falls which is right close to the Banff Springs Hotel, did a quick car tour through Banff, then headed off to Jasper. On the way to Jasper we did the Columbia Icefield tour which was amazing. The weather cleared up perfectly for us to head up onto the Icefield and wander about on a small section of it for about 20 minutes. I think I got a bit of glacier wind burn but it was worth it. I might have gotten wind burn from sticking my head out the window for pictures too. 

On the way to Jasper we saw some elk and in the morning, still at the hotel, I saw a deer wandering about and then jumping a fence of the hotel to get onto the good grass. That was quite lovely. I’ve always liked deer and it’s little things like that which make me feel pretty “city” but also appreciate the small things like seeing animals in their natural environment.

Back to the Icefield tour, the guide gave us some information on the way up to the snow coach as well as on the way to the Icefield itself. The trees that were on either side of the small road that the bus took were anywhere from 400-900 years old. If you look at them you wouldn’t think so, but being so high up and battered by glacial winds, they only have about 4 months of growing time before being covered in up to 25 feet of snow. The road to the Icefield on the snow coach is quite something. There’s a hill at a 31 degree incline that you need to go down, then head along the road to the spot that’s prepared for tourists. The view is also something. I’m not sure my pictures do it justice. I brought my 50mm which was quite nice, but I wish I had something a little wider to give the sense of it all. I only took the one lens as I really didn’t need to accidentally drop one and have it roll down the mountain. 

After checking in at the hotel we went out for a bite to eat then did a little wandering around the small main drag in Jasper. In one shop I saw a beautiful blue goldstone skull, about the size of a tennis ball, but out of my price range at $100. Though, they did have smaller ones that you could put on a chain for a decent price, so I bought a couple in the same blue goldstone. I’d never seen that type of stone before. It shimmers and is almost black the blue is so dark. It’s quite pretty. I also bought a couple rings made of agate, one is orange and faceted in a nice subtle way and the other is green with a little cut out on the sides to make one side thicker than the rest. They are simple, pretty and little things that are easy to carry about and all 4 things were just about half of that one skull. 

All in all, a good day. I’m not too sure what’s planned apart from heading back to Edmonton and maybe seeing Oma and Opa again before Nan and Uncle G head home.

Today has been a long day. The graduation ceremony was nice, lots of great things said and entertaining as well. Not your standard stuffy grad ceremony. We were drummed in by an African drum trio and at the end there were Mexican dancers that put on quite a display. I got the first dance on video which I will upload at some point. All in all it was a nice time, it was nice to see my photo family again and I’m hopeful that we can keep in touch with each other. I also hope I can keep in touch with other friends I’ve made at ACAD. I’m sure if I want to hard enough, we will.

After the ceremony and pictures with my family, bidding farewell to my Oma, Opa and A, the five of us left over drive on to Banff. I’m typing this in the Catherine the White room at the Banff Springs Hotel which is very surreal. This hotel is incredible. Dinner was amazing and just wandering around the hotel is a treat in itself. There are pictures and tapestries everywhere, all with little blurbs about what the picture is, who’s in it and all that. You could spend hours looking at them all. There were people in the swimming pool outside, it would have been so nice swimming in the mountains with that view. The hotel has been around since the turn of the 20th century and just thinking of the history and how people got here when the train came in and how, in the 1920’s, you could put down $50,000 to stay here for the summer. It’s quite mind-blowing and an over the top top-off to finishing school.

The view is incredible as is the whole experience. I really couldn’t ask for anything better. We also know how to have a good time, the hotel has the classic white bath robes so we all wore ours for a “serious” portrait. I just about suffocated from laughing.

I’ve taken a bunch of pictures on the drive here and I hope to upload those soon. Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to the Columbia Ice Fields if it isn’t too foggy, there isn’t much to see when it’s foggy. I’ll be shutter happy as we go along as it’s very difficult to take bad pictures of the mountains when they are so beautiful. 

First night of the “road trip.” AW and I left Edmonton at around 5, stopped in Red Deer at Glenn’s for some all-day breakfast. Cheddar omelettes and hash browns were eaten. Stopped at Peters’ for milkshakes and got to the hotel and all that just fine. A is asleep while I type this as quietly as possible. I hope I can fall asleep fairly quickly as I’ve always had trouble falling asleep when everyone else is asleep before me. I don’t know why. The last time A and I shared a room was probably when we were in Bamfield, BC on a little trip with some art and biology kids in high school. Everyone else went to see bioluminescence but we were feeling quite ill from the horrible coach ride out that we stayed in and went to bed early. It rained the whole four days we were in Bamfield, hopefully it won’t be too bad tomorrow even if we are spending most of it in doors for the grad ceremony. 

It’s nice to have events like this to bring people together. My nan and uncle G from out east, my Oma and Opa are coming as well and A, of course. I have to say I appreciate the people I have in my life, coming down with me for a little celebration. Now that I’m making money I hope to travel more, doing smaller trips out east and I’m hoping to go back to the UK or Europe in a couple years. I miss it out there.

Tomorrow A will drive back to Edmonton while my family and I carry on to Banff. I haven’t been out there in a couple years, it will be nice to be close to the mountains again. Then on Friday we are doing the Columbia Icefields and Jasper to come back to Edmonton on Saturday. 

Not this Monday but next, my Uncle G. and my Nan are coming out west for my graduation. They haven’t been out west for quite a long time, so we’re all looking forward to them coming out. My Nan is still in Newfoundland while my Uncle is in Ontario.

We’ve got a few things planned which I’m looking forward to quite a lot. One thing they want to do is go to West Edmonton Mall. I mean, you have to go to the mall! To be honest, Edmonton doesn’t have many major tourist attractions, so the mall is an okay one. You can walk around, shop and have a meal on Burbon Street as well. Wednesday, my folks and them will be going to Calgary ahead of me as I’m driving down with my friend who’s being lovely and coming to the ceremony which is on Thursday. Thursday evening after the convocation, grad show opening and probably a meal, the five of us are going to head to Banff, as my Nan and Uncle haven’t seen the mountains up close before. So we’ll spend Friday morning or so in Banff as well and then make our way up to Jasper. 

Along the way to Jasper (about a 3 hour drive) we’ll be going to the Columbia Icefield. The Icefield is on the Continental Divide of North America and it feeds eight major glaciers. There are also some of the tallest mountains around the Icefield.

So the five of us will board a snow coach and get up there and get out onto the Icefield. The last time I was there I was very small, but I remember the blue colour some of the small crevaces in the ice field had. That sort of ice berg blue that is really quite pretty.

I’ll, of course, be packing the camera with me so I hope to get some great shots out of this little road trip. I’ll also take video if I remember for those video diaries I do. If I bring my computer, not sure I will, I’ll blog from where I am. If not, I’ll do what I do when traveling abroad and bring my travel journal to write in then type them up later.