5000 kms total in 5 days, 1000kms a day from Edson Alberta to Tofino British Columbia traveling through Jasper National Park and Banff National Park.
Let me tell you, the time flew by as it always does when you’re on the road with great friends and cameras. We covered a HUGE distance, saw a lot, but also missed a lot with travelling that far.. either way it was still and incredible trip. My first 4 days of vacation were spent just relaxing at Jmac’s home outside of Edson Alberta as he had to work those 4 days. We spent a few nights after he got home from work driving over to Hinton and photographing some of the RAM’s up on the hillsides and touring around through some of the mining towns down through Robb Alberta. Our buddy Dietz came from Edmonton to meet up with us at Jmac’s on the friday so we could go hit Jasper on the Saturday.
Jasper is one of my fave places.. something about all those mountains and the way the water makes little rivers all through the trees at the base of the mountains.. how clear the water is, how fresh the air smells… how free you actually feel as you drive on through such a beautiful place. We saw a momma brown bear with two cubs down by the highway feeding off all the barrie bushes but thanks to some very stupid tourists yelling at them trying to get some pics.. they took back off up the hill into the woods so we missed the shots. Oddly enough this whole trip was super weak for animals.. the Eagles had taken off North to drop off their young so we only saw 3 the entire trip, we saw a few Elk crossing the road… no other bears, some deer.. that was about it… at the end of the trip we saw more in Jmacs backyard than the entire trip.. Two Moose, Some black bears, 3 Grey Owls.
Sunday was the start of the big trip, we fired back through Jasper and worked our way across Alberta and into British Columbia, making our way to Vancouver Island. We crossed on the ferry landing in Nanaimo where we stopped in to FOUR CROWS BARBER SHOP, a friend of Dietz owns it and Jmac use to go there to get his beard trimmed up when he lived on the island. Four Crows is wicked.. amazing barbers, great vibe and the owner Mike is a great dude… got to know him over some beers.. did a little video for them and shot some images around the shop while Dietz was getting a cut and shave. We spent the night in Nanaimo and made our way onward all the way out to Tofino. I still love Tofino, but I have to admit… this time out will probably be my last.. It’s sad to see how Touristy it has become.. they are turning it into a place like Muskoka here in Ontario.. use to be quiet and relaxing and so beautiful.. but this time when we were there it was packed.. 2 hour waits to get into restaurants and the brewery .. more condo’s have gone up, people all over.. it was so bad we were there for maybe 45 mins and got back in the car and left… we spent a few nights on the island and I have to say this trip… my fave spot was probably Nanaimo.. not for photos or anything but just the place that made me feel like I could move there and it feel like home. We ate at this place… can’t remember the name but you eat outside right by the harbour, otters were swimming up as we ate delicious food. In the morning we ate at this little all day breakfast spot that was kind of simple and hipster but the food.. my god the food was great and I had freshly squeezed Orange Juice and it was one of the most glorious things I’ve ever had.
On our way back we went through Banff National Park and that was a major goal for this trip.. not that I haven’t been through Banff before but I had never been to Moraine Lake and it was a bucket list item for me on this trip. First day we stopped it was around 7pm I think, we drove right in .. it wasn’t that busy but the water was choppy.. if you look up Moraine Lake you’ll see a million shots of the lake still and the reflection on the mountains in the water and that’s the shot everyone wants when they go there… after all it’s the most photographed lake in Canada. My goal was just to photograph it in a way I’ve never see it photographed.. so while I was bummed out the water was so choppy and no reflection could be achieved … that was ok.. I just needed to look and find a different way to photograph it and make it look as beautiful as it is. I believe I succeeded twice! first I went right down to the waters edge from the look out point but when I took the shot from that close to the water the extreme blue colour of the lake disappeared.. the shot still looked cool but I had to get that notorious blue colour in a shot. So I climbed back up and saw all these little weeds growing off the path down by these rocks so I decided to crouch down and put those in the foreground and kind of make this shot look tropical and it worked!
Overall this trip was a big success and as always I did not want to leave and even got to a point I was looking for jobs while I was there. I’d love to move out there, I have the opportunity, a place to stay and everything… I’d be better off than most people who move there.. however, my mom and dad are here in Ontario.. they’re getting older and I’ve built up a name in photography here over the years.. so who knows what my future holds. Anyways.. images below like always.. if you see a thumbnail you like, click on it to make it bigger! hope you enjoy them.
~ Kevin.
Jasper Alberta
