After a night in a nice hostel, HI-Banff Alpine Center, we started our Canada 2015 adventures by hiking in Jasper National Park's beautiful mountains on a 4-night almost 50 mile loop trip called the Brazeau Lake Loop Trail. The trailhead begins on highway 93 between Lake Louise and Jasper, near the Columbia Icefields. (NB: we do not recommend visiting these ice fields if you do not like large crowds of people.) On our drive out to the trailhead, we passed the picturesque Bow Lake and had to stop for some gorgeous pictures of the stark blue-green lake surrounded by fireweed (be prepared for lots of pictures of fireweed: it grows everywhere!).

Here's a map of the trail loop.

The start of the loop trail quickly ascended into an alpine landscape over Nigel Pass with small areas of pine trees sporadically marking the rocky terrain. The trail was very easy to follow as it wound through the valley and we took a few opportunities to deviate from the trail to explore small waterfalls or get a better view of the glaciers clinging to the mountains on either side of the valley.

Typically folks who do the Brazeau Loop have the option of going clockwise or counterclockwise around the loop. We went clockwise, stopping at Four Point Campground the first night and heading off towards Jonas Cutoff. The Four Point camping site was the only site the whole trip that we didn't get rained on during the night! Dan woke up early and took some gorgeous morning pictures near the river right by our campsite.

Look over the valley on our way into the loop

The clouds started to move in our first long day of hiking (almost 20 km!) and the weather didn't get better until our last day. I ended up taking most of the pictures on this loop due to Dan not wanting rain to get into his camera. But the second day's hike was mostly rain free, with a large swath of cloud-cover rolling in steadily over the valley. We headed out with the weather getting slightly colder and threatening of rain as the day went on. We stopped for lunch to take in the views. Most of our lunches were an amalgamation of granola, mixed nuts, dried tofu, and dried fruits. We left the stuff that needed rehydrating with boiling water to breakfasts and dinners. While we ate, Dan tried some shots with his camera on a timer so we could get some pictures of both of us. :)

There were some interesting antlers and other bones, probably from some huge elk or moose, scattered around various points along the side of the trail. They looked bleached and picked clean. Sometimes they were set up in such a way with rocks that marked the trail, as a sort of macabre cairn. Dan had fun taking artsy pictures through one.

We passed a couple who wanted pictures of themselves, so we asked them for some of us in return.

It started raining with a few brief moments of sunshine and we were fairly wet by the end of the day. We had to make it over Jonas Pass before pitching camp, though. At the pass, the rain started to come, so we didn't stop for many pictures. The following was taken right before I summited. We ended up taking a break right after the pass using the rainfly for cover as the rain pelted down on us. That's always fun, and one of the reasons we carry fold-out chairs: one of our luxury camping items. :)

Our second campground along the river was Jonas Cutoff. Dinner was pad thai with dried tofu! Bowls full of warm pasta after a hard day's climb in the rain. Yum!

That night we didn't get much sleep due to a very loud and active thunderstorm that we watched through the rainfly of our tent. We later found out that was one of the largest thunderstorms in that area in awhile and it was quite unique because of the sheet lightning every few seconds -- we certainly saw it light up our tent for most of the late evening! We wish we had pictures but it was pouring rain and tough to take pictures from inside the tent! It was slightly unnerving because we were on the side of a mountain slope and while there were trees, the campsites themselves were slightly exposed. It was a very primal experience!

The next day was so wet with fog and light rain that we had little hope of hiking in dry socks. I left my main pair of hiking socks on all day so I still had dry socks to wear that evening. Dan went through his two pairs and had to dry both that night. We headed to the Brazeau Lake for camp and made it in the early afternoon so we had some time to relax and try to get our soaked clothes hung up to dry. Luckily, there were some clothes lines up in the trees (the campground is right next to a lake that people swim in!) so we utilized those right away. If it had been maybe 20 degrees warmer we could have swam in the lake, but it was just too darn cold.

Gorgeous clouds rolling over the mountains.

Interesting bird that blended in with the foliage quite well...probably a grouse.

We took our time making dinner that night and settled in early due to rain again. The next morning Dan awoke super early to get some pictures of the lake before dawn. I slept a bit more but went out to the lake myself to see the clouds and walk along the shore. It was so peaceful and the lake's surface was like a mirror except for the occasional ripple due to misty drops. The rain had let up, but the low cloud ceiling was still very dense over the tops of the mountains.

We spent most of the morning sleeping in between rain showers. Sometimes I would just lay there in my sleeping bag next to Dan and listen to the melodious pitter-patter of the light rain on the rainfly. I love moments like that, when you can just forget everything and listen to nature. Even though we were still soaked through, our clothes still damp, and slightly chilled due to lack of sunshine for the last 3 days, we were in the backcountry, isolated from civilization, alone, save for maybe one or two others in the same campground. This is my favorite stress reliever.

We were in no hurry to get back to Four Point campground because it wasn't a long trek and it was mostly downhill. We head out about noon from the lake with the clouds just starting to break. The trek back was tiring mostly because we were ready to be dry and rest our feet and legs. Though, I will say the bunga pads I wore the entire time (even while my feet were soaking wet) were absolutely amazing. I didn't have any blisters on my heels and aside from general muscle soreness my feet were great at the end of this long hike! We camped at the same campground we stayed at our first night and headed out the next day greeted with warm sunshine (finally!) and breathtaking morning views of the river and valley. The clouds did clear out over night, but that meant the temperature had dropped dramatically and we woke up to ice crystals inside our rainfly! But the sunrise casting its warmth over the parting clouds was well worth it.

Watching the sunrise golden touch over the mountains

View from Nigel Pass looking towards the road

This was a gorgeous loop and we'd highly recommend for anyone planning a trip in this area. You can take your time on this one too because there are other campsites as well. We did it in 4 nights, but some people take longer and explore more. Jasper National Park has so much to offer. We will definitely be back.

Up next: Mt. Assinaboine!

Brazeau Loop

Mountain Lakes, Valleys, and ...Antlers