Dollop of Cream: rocky mountain climb

Right. So I do understand that this is supposed to be a food blog.

But.

Last weekend we cheated fall and went camping in Jasper, in the Rocky Mountains. And I just had to show you.

The nights were cool – I mean put-on-a-tuque-and-a-down-vest-and-cozy-up-to-the-campfire cool – but the sun rose in the morning over the Athabasca River right behind our campsite and slowly gained strength until it felt like a mid-summer's day.

On Saturday morning, after a simple breakfast of cereal and bananas and tea, we loaded up the backpack and set off for Edith Cavell Meadows.

This is the Angel Glacier. Last year, a chunk of the nearby Ghost Glacier hurtled down the mountain and pushed tons of rocks and water over the path to make it unpassable.

Every so often, we could hear the glaciers groaning and creaking, especially as the sun beat down on one of the angel's wings.

The meadows were a native heather and little old trees that a sign told us could be one hundred years old.

This is where we stopped for lunch: ham sandwiches, carrots, peanut butter rice crispy balls, chocolate, a lot of water, and quite the view.

Refueled, we climbed another three hundred metres straight up to reach the top of the moon. Or so it looked.

Everywhere we looked, we could see mountain valleys and ranges leading off into other worlds.