Adventure on the Rockies

Jasper is a small town hidden between the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, pretty close to British Columbia. We visited the town on April 25, 2018, and stayed for three days. It takes an estimated 4 hours and 30 minutes from Calgary, the capital of Alberta province, to Jasper -- a total of 450 kilometres on road.

The roads that lead to Jasper are very unique. Some lead to the top of the mountains and some go as low as the lakes. Forests cover all the mountains around the region. During our drive, we were able to see some wild bighorn sheep and deer. Interestingly they did not pay any attention to us.

When we arrived in Jasper, we took a SkyTram to the top of a mountain. We even found a gift shop and a coffee shop at the summit. It was great to be able to see the whole town from the top.

The following day we planned a trip to go and experience the "Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure". At around midday, we headed to the place where we would take a bus towards the ice field. On the way, the bus driver told us a lot about the region. It was a 4-minute drive to the place and the bus driver talked about some trees that were located to the right of the road. The driver asked us, "Do you know the age of these trees?" Most people said the trees were 20 years old at most because they were pretty small in size. I couldn't believe it when the driver said they were around 450 years old. He also told us about how these trees don't get enough nutrient and only grow 60 days a year. Some trees didn't have branches on one side because the glacier sometimes send tiny, sharp icicles down and when they hit those trees, the branches fall off. Hence, these type of trees are known as "flag trees".

The tourist bus dropped us at an ice stoppage and we boarded a hiking bus there, especially made for the ice mountain area. The wheels of the bus were almost as big as me. The driver said there were only 20 such buses in the entire world. Surprisingly, the bus aced that course with no problem, and we arrived in the second-biggest glacier in the Rockies, the Columbian Icefield. The place was 300 feet of ice and remains as it is for hundreds years. I kept on kicking the snow until a weird, blue type of snow came up. The tour guide informed us that this occured when the ice didn't have enough oxygen content.

Lastly, we left for the Glacier Skywalk. On the way we saw many signs that had a lot of information about the area. It said that the Skywalk was constructed from between 2013 and 2014. It was at one side of the mountain, 280 metres over the valley. It was made of 4-inch thick glass that can hold up to a snow bus carrying 3 passengers. As I walked on to the Skywalk, I felt very scared. The view from the platform was amazing -- you could see the mountains, rivers, forests, waterfalls, and if you were lucky enough you could even see animals. We took lots of pictures there.

Although the Skywalk was at a height that made us dizzy, it was really beautiful up there. After a while of taking pictures we took the bus back to the place where we bought the tickets for the Glacier Adventure. The next day we took our car and headed back towards Calgary. All in all, this was a wonderful experience.

The writer studies in Grade 7 at Ian Bazalgette School, Canada.