I am trying to figure out when would be a good time to make my annual trek to Jasper.  Going to the mountains never gets boring.  There is always something different to see or experience.  I've done the Ice Walk in Maligne Canyon a number of times.  Each was different in that the guides were never the same and the scenery is never the same.  It is always a photographer's paradise.  Last year was the third or fourth time that I've gone but I had yet to see an ice formation that looked like a forest fairy.  

It is things like this that I look for when my camera is close at hand.  The textures, colors and formations of ice are never the same from year to year and that is what I love to capture.

I still feel the excitement build as I catch the first glimpse of the mountain peaks.  They are a welcoming sight.  Sure I can do all my favorite things like snowshoeing, x-country skiing, ice skating and hiking close to home but there is just something special about having the mountains surround me.  Hiking through a trail in the mountains where the smell of pine permeates the air is an experience like no other.

The second most favorite thing that I love doing is taking the half day train tour from Jasper to Dunster BC where you get to experience a little general store that also serves as a post office, a vet supply store, a hardware store and much more.  The cost is reasonable for a scenic rail trip that takes up the entire afternoon.  The train leaves Jasper at noon and winds through the mountains on the way to Dunster.  A tour bus picks you up there and brings you back to Jasper.  The guides on my previous trips have all been very knowledgeable about the area from the salmon run at Rearguard Falls to the pine beetle that is invading the forests.  There was and is always something new to learn.

(I've posted some additional photos at https://www.facebook.com/Ramblings-of-an-Outdoor-Girl-1015659961820012/?ref=bookmarks)