September 28, 2016

This was our last day in Jasper. It had gone by way too fast. We all felt like we didn’t have enough time, but were grateful for the time we got. We were trying to figure out what our last day in Jasper should be. We wanted it to be relaxing and away from the town. I had seen pictures of Pyramid Island on Instagram and again, I just had to see it. So we did the short drive (10 minutes from town) and we were hooked. We got there early enough in the morning to see the mist on the water.

After seeing this and talking to a few people, we knew we would come back at night to star gaze. If you drive a little further up from the island there is another parking lot that has a hiking path that is perfectly groomed and has multiple little trails going to the lake. (Large enough to turn an RV around or park. I would max it at 30′)

So after awhile there we went back to the RV park to have lunch and hang out. We headed back in the late afternoon. We got a great parking spot with the best view of the island.

We brought the truck and RV. It was perfect since we planned on being there for quite some time. I think in total we were there for about 7 hours.

Pyramid Island is a very popular place. Tour bus upon tour bus stopped there when we first arrived. Then a lot of cars came to set up for the sun set.  A lot of people bring picnics as there is a small area with tables and benches and then there is a lot of lake shore area to bring chairs to hang out and watch people paddle board.  This is another lake that motorized boats are not allowed. We loved how these parks were nature first and not tourism.

After the sunset, most of the people left and it was very tranquil. We cooked dinner in the RV and hung out. It was definitely getting chilly!!

Then all of a sudden we heard the worst sound ever, tour bus engines. I guess if we heard that it was the best area to watch the night sky then everyone else heard it too. Kevin and I had been discussing that we were just in Alaska for 10 days and then Canada for 14 and we still had not seen the northern lights. We signed up for the late night calls if they happened, but we still had not seen them.  We looked on websites to see the chances that night at they were actually pretty good. So we decided to stay even when it got cold, really cold. The stars were amazing and we chatted with some other photographers taking pictures of the milkyway.

Then at around 11:30 a.m. they started coming! It wasn’t the strongest showing and we didn’t have our camera set for it, or the best camera to capture it, but I was so happy watching the green dance across the sky. It was worth the cold and long wait.

I could have stayed in Canada for another month. We didn’t do as much hiking as we would have liked and of course we didn’t see everything we wanted to. It ensures that we will be back to this magical place. I don’t think anywhere else could compare to Banff, Yoho and Jasper. Or it will be a fun challenge to find in the U.S!

Advice: Pack a lunch and hang out during the day and then come back at night. Or if you have an RV hang out the entire day. Paddle board, lunch at he island, hike, dinner at sunset and then star gaze.