Ode to Edith

I have found myself drawn to Edith ever since I first laid eyes on her back in the 1990's. There is just something about her natural beauty - her hard and icy edges that compel me to look for her all over town. The story of how she was named after a Belgian WWI nurse executed by the Germans for treason is especially intriguing. Yes Mount Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park in Alberta is one of my favourite places to visit. ( Click to read the story about the naming of the mountain)

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

She might have one look in the morning and another at night.

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

Sometimes her head is in the clouds.

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

On her north face the Angel Glacier spreads its wings.

Angel Glacier - Click for larger

To the left of the Angel is the Ghost Glacier and below is the Cavell Glacier and the meltwaters of Cavell Pond.

Mount Edith Cavell's Glaciers - Click for larger

Mount Edith Cavell's Glaciers - Click for larger

Ron will go to great lengths to photograph this mountain - including removing his boots and pants and wading through a glacial stream.

Ron photographing Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

The results were worth the numb feet.

Mount Edith Cavell and glacial runoff - Click for larger

But we aren't the only one exploring this mountain's charms. Daily many tourists hike the two breathtaking trails to view the glaciers and the alpine meadows.

Hikers on Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

In the rock pile walls along the Cavell Meadows trail lurk all kinds of interesting creatures.

American Pika - Click for larger

American Pika - Click for larger

Hoary Marmot - Click for larger

Every time we are in Jasper National Park we visit Edith Cavell. At the end of July and beginning of August we spent 5 days in the park and photographed and hiked up Mount Edith Cavell almost daily. We even used it for a meeting point for friends.

We last hiked on Mount Edith Cavell on August 1st. Sadly on August 11 on arriving in Inuvik, NWT we heard that a huge part of Edith's Ghost Glacier collapsed causing ice, rocks and glacial waters to spill out of Cavell Pond sweeping down the mountain cutting new paths and flooding the parking lot, even destroying an outhouse and picnic grounds below. Luckily it happened before 5:30 am and no one was there to be hurt or swept away. Even the road in is closed now. It's hard not to think about what might have happened if that avalanche had occurred one of the times we were there - especially when Ron waded through that glacial meltwater stream.

So is this a sign of global warming? Probably. Will we ever get to hike there again? I hope so! Indeed I hope the cell phone image below is not my final snapshot of Mount Edith Cavell!

Mount Edith Cavell - Click for larger

Timing is Everything

Time, or maybe the weather, hasn’t exactly been on our side for much of this trip. Most mornings in the Yukon we set the alarm for 4:30am. When it went off we would look out and try to decide if the clouds would part enough for us to get at least a few moments of sweet morning light on some mountain vista. By 5:30 am our last morning up the Dempster Highway we had a glimmer of hope. So we left the nearly out of gas van sitting at our campsite in Tombstone Territorial Park, grabbed the gear and hiked the 2.5 kms up the mountain road to the Tombstone Viewpoint. Our speed up that hill seemed in direct proportion to the rate that the sun peeked over the mountains to the east and lit up the opposite mountains. We arrived puffing but in time to even see light on Tombstone Mountain off in the distance in the valley between the Tombstone Range and Cloudy Range.

Tombstone Range - Click for larger

Cloudy Range - Click for larger

The light didn’t last long. It was cloudy once again as we walked back down the mountain road to our campsite. The other still-sleeping campers were unaware that there had even been a moment of nice light. Timing is everything.

Tombstone Mountain - Click for larger

On our way back south from the Yukon we stopped again for a night in Muncho Provincial Park - this time in the MacDonald campground. It had been quite cool, cloudy and windy when we passed through on our way north - just as it usually was when we visited in 2006. However on that day it was hot and rather muggy. We both even went in for a swim in the cold 12-kilometre long almost always rippled mountain lake. During dinner the clouds suddenly parted, the water flattened and Ron spent about 45 minutes getting some stunning mountain reflections. Then the light was gone and the wind came back up again. Timing is everything.

Muncho Lake Dock - Click for larger

Muncho Lake - Click for larger

In July when we traveled through Jasper National Park the weather didn’t allow for pictures at all (see Ron’s posting "Stormy Weather" for more info). So we tried again on our way home. It mostly rained or the skies were grey while we were there. On the morning we left dawn brought clear skies and mist hanging over the lakes. Timing is everything indeed!

Patricia Lake - Click for larger

The Palisades in Jasper - Click for larger