58 - The Ancient Forest and Jasper National Park

At Canadian Tire, they recommended we re-tighten our lugs in 100 Km, turns out that's also the location of "The Ancient Forest." A beautiful stop along our way. The boardwalk built through the magical forest was shaded, cool and an easy walk. Amazing redcedar trees, some over 1000 years old (!). A great opportunity to stretch the legs and take the doggies for a walk.

Continuing on 16 east, our route took us right through Jasper National Park, the largest national park in Canada.

This big elk was strolling down the side of the road

Tons of RV's on the road. Prime vacation time. All of the reservable sites were already full. The non-reservable sites were also full, with one exception. The Snare River Overflow Site. This was according to the signs as we entered the park. We took a gamble that there would still be room by the time we got there in a couple of hours.
Yep, still room. The "overflow" site was basically an enormous clearing with a few picnic tables set up on the perimeter. Maybe 5 to 10 acres? There was water available as well as pit toilets. Tons of room. We ended up in sort of the middle, no trees around us but no neighbors for 100's of feet. It had been very overcast and we needed some sun for our solar power. It cooled off nicely in the evening. We shortly discovered there was a railroad track very close by. Not too bad though. Gorgeous views and, of course, plenty of mosquitoes. Swarms and swarms.  We didn't bother trying to leave the RV that evening, just didn't feel like dealing with the mozzies.

View from our campsite

Back on the road

Town of Jasper

Jasper Lake

Sand dunes around Jasper Lake

Mountain goats

Bighorn sheep

I noticed a lot of the trees on the mountainsides were a distinct red color. I looked it up and these trees have been killed by a pine beetle that has decimated the pine trees in BC and arrived here into Alberta a few years ago. Measures are being taken to combat the infestation. Namely, cutting down and burning the already dead infested trees which are also the breeding ground for these beetles. It's a slow process, but apparently the humans are winning.
In the morning, the mosquitoes were controllable using our mosquito coils. Nice coffee and a view.