Day #4: Sky Tram and Lake Annette

We spent the full day on Monday in Jasper, getting up early to take the second sky tram of the morning up to Whistler's Peak. We drove part way up the mountain to get to the tram platform, which has pretty nice views itself:

View from the bottom

Jasper the bear

watching the first tram ascend

We could not actually see a ton on the tram ride itself, but when we stepped off on the upper platform, the view was great, even though it was a very hazy morning:

 

Mt. Robeson, the highest peak in these mountains.  It has its own weather system and is rarely viewable, so apparently we were lucky to see it

We decided to take the 2.8 kilometer hike from the tram to the summit of the mountain:

a little friend at the start of the trail

the valley below us -- you can see all the little kettle lakes

Other side of the valley -- that's a train winding its way through the middle of it

 

the kids climbing up ahead of us -- Benji's red sweatshirt made them easy to see

We stopped at what we thought was the summit -- a large flat area with clear views of everything around us:

Boys on rocks, part 3

 

 

Boys on rocks, part 4

Boys on rocks, part 5

 

 

As it turned out, we were not actually at the summit, and Benji really wanted to climb the last little bit to the top (but the rest of the kids did not), so Kevin took him while the rest of us had a rest:

Path to the summit

 

Benji and Kevin making the climb

At the top

The way back down:

Abby and Neena

We finally spotted a marmet! (their whistling gives the mountain its name)

He was awfully cute

After lunch and a rest, we headed out to Lake Annette in the early evening to picnic and swim:

Fathers and sons on the dock

Abby insisted it was not that cold

But Benji and Kevin would not move off this rock

Abby swims!

After the lake, we headed back to make a campfire for our last night in Jasper:

 While we were sitting there, some elk walked by! (not as cool as the bear we saw on our first day, but still....)

Tomorrow...our slow trip back through Banff and more glaciers!