Alberta Trip - Day 7 - Sulphur Skyline Hike, Jasper

Sulphur Skyline trail at Miette Hot Springs, Jasper National Park.

After a restful sleep we met up for breakfast in the main lodge at the Mountain River Lodge just outside the entrance of Mount Robson Provincial Park in B.C. Like I mentioned, breakfast was included for Gabe and I who stayed in a room at the lodge, but the others had to dip into our collective fund ($15 each) to have theirs.

They had two different appetizers. I had a delicious poached pear with a biscuit while I believe the others had something (can't remember what) topped with berries. Then we were served two poached eggs wrapped in bacon on top of English muffins with pieces of pineapple and honeydew on the side. They were tasty. Our beverages consisted of coffee and orange juice.

We sat at a large table in the dining room along with a few other guests. There was an older couple from the U.S. and another couple from Australia. It was nice to have a chance to chat with them about their experiences to this point.

After eating I walked out onto the large porch surrounding the main lodge to find a number of hummingbirds buzzing around the feeders they had out there. There were so many of them. We quickly fetched our cameras to take photos and videos of them. It was incredible. I've never seen so many in my life.

We hit the road before 11:00 heading east along Highway 16 towards Miette Hot Springs in Jasper National Park. Along the way we stopped for pictures of course. We got there around 2:00 p.m. local time (losing one hour after crossing the border from B.C. back into Alberta).

We had considered visiting the hot springs, but decided to do the Sulphur Skyline hike instead. The hot springs just looked like a crowded outdoor swimming pool.

The hike would cover 8 kilometres round trip with an elevation gain of 700 metres. From the top you can see the Fiddle River, Utopia Mountain and Ashlar Ridge (according to the sign at the trailhead).

For the first 1-1/2 hours you're hiking below the tree line. After that it opens up and you can see more of the natural surroundings. This is where you'll see an oddly placed large white boulder and when the climb truly starts in earnest. From this point on it takes another hour to the top.

The view from the top is spectacular. You get a 360º view of the surrounding mountains. On the day we went the skies were blue and dotted with fluffy white clouds. Incredible.

We had lunch at the top eating the sub sandwiches we bought earlier. I had strapped my sandwich to the outside of my camera bag. While I was taking pictures, a rascally chipmunk attacked it after I left it sitting on the ground. He didn't get much mostly chewing through the saran wrap only.

It's funny how there are chipmunks everywhere. Even places above the tree line where no vegetation grows. I guess they rely on hikers who willingly or, in my case, unwillingly feed them.

Our second case of "lost and found" happened on the mountain. We had been on the mountain top briefly when another group of hikers joined us. They were visiting from the Czech Republic. On the way up they had found Emily's smart phone which she had dropped. She was understandably happy to get it back.

Earlier in the trip Lewis had lost his new iPhone at the Vancouver airport. Someone found it and was going to ship it back to him.

I guess there were two more incidents regarding lost and found hats too. I had dropped mine along the trail from Whitehorn to Rearguard along the Berg Lake trail and had to backtrack to find it. And I had found and returned a gentleman's hiking hat along the Snowbird Pass trail when we hiked that.

On our way down the Sulphur Skyline trail we encountered a couple of groups of young big horn sheep. One group avoided us, but seven others walked right by so close you could touch them. This was around the big white boulder. Of course we snapped away like crazy with our cameras.

We finished the hike around 6:30. After that we hopped back on Highway 16 for the 1-hour drive to Jasper for dinner. Along the way we saw a few elk munching grass along the side of the road. Of course we stopped to take pictures before hopping back into our vehicle and continuing on.

In Jasper we tried Famoso again. If you remember we tried going there before, but they were busy so we ended up at Earls Kitchen + Bar across the street. This time they had tables available. We split five pizzas between the six of us. That was enough to satisfy our hunger.

Leaving at close to 10:00 we had a long drive ahead of us. We had booked a loft-suite at the Banff Inn (in Banff of course) some 4-hours away. We'd be taking the Icefields Parkway 93 and Highway 1 back. All in complete darkness. So, obviously, we couldn't drive as quickly as during the day.

Bedtime was late. The six of us had to share one bathroom and everyone had to shower. Unfortunately we couldn't sleep in because they had a firm check out time of 11:00 a.m. Tomorrow would be a slow day.