With Joanna Elizabeth, we continued our Canadian adventure yesterday with a gondola ride up the hills above Jasper and then hiked in the mountains to the summit of The Whistler (2,464 metres). The views from the top were stunning, with mountain ranges in every direction.
The night before there had been the first snow flurries of the season with the result that it was wet and muddy underfoot. As we stood on the summit, we watched a weather system creep over the mountain tops from the west, threatening to curtail our time there. As it worked out, just as we were walking back down snow flakes started to fall and before we reached the bottom the peaks had disappeared. The cold on the summit was a harbinger of what we will be facing in a couple of days as we take to the mountains above Canmore for a week. I only pray our Scottish equipment is a match for the Canadian weather.
The Whistler has a range of mammals on its slopes but the only one we saw was a golden ground squirrel which darted about a flat plain near the summit, too fast to photograph. We hope for better luck on our backpacking adventure.
The night before there had been the first snow flurries of the season with the result that it was wet and muddy underfoot. As we stood on the summit, we watched a weather system creep over the mountain tops from the west, threatening to curtail our time there. As it worked out, just as we were walking back down snow flakes started to fall and before we reached the bottom the peaks had disappeared. The cold on the summit was a harbinger of what we will be facing in a couple of days as we take to the mountains above Canmore for a week. I only pray our Scottish equipment is a match for the Canadian weather.
The Whistler has a range of mammals on its slopes but the only one we saw was a golden ground squirrel which darted about a flat plain near the summit, too fast to photograph. We hope for better luck on our backpacking adventure.