The Jasper Local November 1, 2015

a lt e r n a t i v e + l o c a l + i n d e p e n d e n t //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

thejasperlocal.com

sunday, november 1, 2015 // issue 60

Local store robbed at knife point Jasper RCMP are alerting the public to two similar robberies after a local convenience store employee was held up by knife point.

ROLL THE ICE// KARA HAGEDORN BIKES THE FIVE-TO-FIVE WILDLAND TRAIL ON OCTOBER 28. HAGEDORN HAD AN IMPRESSIVE YEAR IN CYCLO-CROSS RACING, BAGGING 3RD AT PROVINCIALS LAST MONTH. // BOB COVEY

On Sunday, October 25 at 7:40 a.m. a suspect wearing a hoodie and face covering entered the Mac’s Convenience Store at 617 Patricia Street. Armed with a knife, the suspect stole an undisclosed amount of cash as well as scratch (lottery) tickets.

“The suspect appears to have fled on foot,” Cst. Fraser Bjornson said. “The Mac’s employee was not harmed during the incident.”

On October 19, a similar incident took place at the Certigard

Petro Canada. In that instance, a suspect stole scratch tickets from the front counter while the employee had stepped out, then left the area on a townie-style bicycle.

“The RCMP are not ruling out that it’s the same person,” Bjornson said.

Scratch tickets are traceable. The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission monitors stolen tickets so sizeable prizes cannot be claimed. Cst. Bjornson said armed thefts are unusual in Jasper.

Police are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the person responsible for these crimes. If you have any information, contact the Jasper RCMP at 780-852-4421 or Crimestoppers.

To see an image of the suspect, go to thejasperlocal.com. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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editorial //

page A2 // the jasper local // issue 60 // sunday, november 1, 2015

Local Vocal When the winter weekend arrives, for me and hundreds of other food service workers in Jasper, duty calls.

Gotta make hay while the sun shines, and all that. But although serving tables at a restaurant takes time away from attending hockey games, rock concerts and community festivities, it does provide one with a fairly good litmus test of how busy town is on any given weekend.

On October 24 and 25, it didn’t take long before the verdict was in: #DarkSkies2015 had the town atwitter. At the bistro where I work, we were turning away tables all night and from what I heard on the street, there were lineups out the door at eateries all along Patricia and Connaught.

That sort of boost during a typically slow time is exactly what Jasper’s destination marketing organization promised it would do when it was conceived and indeed, Dark Skies has been a feather in Tourism Jasper’s cap since the festival was launched in 2011. Parks Canada ought to get credit for its part in establishing the vision, too, but since TJ took the reins in subsequent shoulder seasons, the event has been like a comet passing the sun: heating up and picking up steam.

The beauty of the festival, of course, is in its simplicity. Not to say that lining up first rate keynote speakers, coordinating impressive multimedia shows and executing fine dining events at 2,200 metres was a snap. Thinking about those kind of logistics makes our eyelids sweat. Rather, it’s the foundation of the dark skies itself which is gorgeously straightforward. Here we are, in a small, isolated town during a time of year when travel takes more of a commitment… and we’re bragging about it! Venture Beyond, indeed. Reframing our vulnerabilities as our virtues has been a brilliant marketing stroke.

What’s more, the recognition and celebration of what’s always been in front of us—or above us, in this case—is an authentic way to get more local buy-in, be it business owners, artists or educators.

Dark Skies has shown us that making hay in Jasper doesn’t always require the shining summer sun. When that happens, the sky truly is the limit. Congratulations to all of the organizers and volunteers for bringing such a celestial success to this community. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Local RCMP wheelie impressive So I’m heading to the gym at 5 to 7 on Monday morning and as I step outside, boom!.. my town bike has been stolen.

Mad? No. Well, just at myself for not using the lock that’s on the frame … more disappointed that someone would take a beat-up, rebuilt dumptownie, which any local would recognize as mine. I put a post on the Jasper: Buy Sell Trade Facebook page but pretty much wrote off ever seeing my bike again, assuming it was already stripped and painted black.

Fast forward about 36 hours, officer Devon Slade calls me at home and

asks me to identify a bike they have at the detachment. I describe my bike and lo and behold, the local cops have my bike! It should be noted that I didn’t report it as stolen to them. I am so damn impressed I just don’t know what to say!

I guess it just goes to show that aside from dealing with all the crap they have to put up with, the local constabulary are just good members of the community who are looking out for their neighbours’ well-being and property.

Mantiens le droit indeed!

- Brian Sutherland, Jasper

The Jasper Local //

Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

Bob Covey..........................................................................................bob@thejasperlocal.com

Art Director

Nicole Gaboury........................................................................nicole@thejasperlocal.com

Advertising + sales

sarah DeClercq.........................................................................sarah@thejasperlocal.com

cartoonist

deke......................................................................................................deke@thejasperlocal.com facebook.com/thejasperlocal

@thejasperlocal

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Local dining//

sunday, november 1, 2015 // issue 60 // the jasper local// page A3

New F&B contractor to help Marmot Basin ketchup with guests' needs Nevermind the new snow and the dropping temperatures, at Marmot Basin, frozen is so last season.

Marmot Basin has hired contractor Dana Foods to introduce a fresh, locallysourced, high quality menu to the hungry throngs at Jasper’s downhill ski area.

The Ontario-based company specializes in from-scratch, made-on-site food, said VP of Operations, Ralph Rick.

“We have a lot of staff managed by Red Sealqualified chefs,” said Rick.

“Everybody in our company loves food.”

That’s good news for patrons of the ski hill who have

become used to associating the cafeterias’ selections with tennis elbow from rigorous mustard pumping.

Dana Foods, which will also head up food services at the Jasper Skytram, says that nutrition and freshness is very important to them.

“We are trying to make it so if any customer walks into an establishment where we are preparing the food they will get good, fresh food prepared by great chefs,” Rick said.

Marmot Basin’s 2,000 guests on any given Saturday won’t be out of the company’s scope, either.

Besides running smaller, boutique eateries, Dana Foods handles food services for factory workers in the automotive industry across the country. At Toyota plants in Ontario, 1,000 employees march into the café all at once.

“They’re in and out in 20 minutes,” Rick said.

“We have a good track record.”

Although there will be a noticeable difference between the menus at the lounges and the cafés at Marmot Basin (note: cafés will replace cafeterias), all food

served will be guided by the principles of sourcing as locally as possible and using fresh, not frozen, ingredients.

“We tend not to use frozen fries, for example. We’ll bring in bags of potatoes, scrub them, clean them and then put them through a potato press and fry them right there on site,” Rick said.

Guests can expect to see a fairly traditional ski menu at the cafés—burgers and the like—but with high quality ingredients. Meanwhile, the lounges will feature Alberta proteins—think beef, bison and pork—as well as more regional specialties, such as BC salmon.

“We’ll talk to customers and get a sense of what they’d like to see,” Rick said.

In the meantime, Dana has hired two senior managers from the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis Country to head up front and back-ofhouse services at Marmot Basin. Rick is optimistic that their leadership will cultivate an appreciation for food through the ranks.

“Hopefully those more senior people help to act as mentors,” he said.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

MARMOT BASIN STAFF HAS BEEN IN TRAINING SINCE OCTOBER 26, JUST IN TIME FOR THE FIRST STORM. PATROLLERS WERE PRACTICING LIFT EVAC, FIRST AID AND RAILING STABILIZATION // RYAN TITCHENER

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Local politics //

page B1 // the jasper local // issue 60 // sunday, november 1, 2015

Blue riding, red nation: MP looking to collaborate Not that all the conversations were warm and fuzzy.

Eglinski said he got a sense of discontentment from constituents regarding the national Conservative party, even if voters supported him locally.

“I knew we were going to have a problem,” he said.

“A lot of people were unhappy with some of the national decisions being made … even some of the older Conservatives were a little questionable about the leadership.”

The Conservatives are currently in the process

“A lot of people were unhappy with some of the national decisions being made.”

//YEllowhead MP Jim Eglinski during Tour of Alberta Festivities // Bob Covey

Jim Eglinski is no longer staying in hotel rooms in Ottawa.

Yellowhead’s Conservative Member of Parliament— re-elected October 19—just signed off on a nice apartment near Parliament Hill.

“It’s about a 10 minute walk from the office,” he said.

“It’s good, a nice location.”

The more permanent digs are a sign that the 66-year-old’s seat is secure now that the 42nd federal election is over. Not that there was much of a doubt—the retired RCMP officer and commercial pilot walked away with 72 per cent of the vote in Yellowhead, a decisive victory against runner-up Ryan Maguhn (Liberal), who secured just 14 per cent of the tally.

But although he was happy Yellowhead went blue, Eglinski himself was blue that the majority of Canada went red. Eglinski admitted the mood was a little sombre at the Galloway Museum in Edson on elec-

tion night, where he and his supporters had rented a room to watch the results come in.

“I think we were shocked to see the numbers come in from Eastern Canada early on,” he said. “We were quite worried…I watched a lot of guys I worked with in the last year—very important ministers—being beat out in their ridings, and it hurt,” he said. “But my numbers came in strong so we had our happy moments.”

Eglinski’s numbers were stronger than he anticipated (they certainly made this reporter’s crystal ball look a little cloudy), as his strategy of attending every large group function he could get to appeared to pay off. He and his team hit fall fairs, award nights, community dinners and car shows. They went to 4H functions and horse sales, dropped in on general stores and visited every hamlet in the riding.

“We committed ourselves to as many functions as we could, every day of the summer…and it paid off,” Eglinski said. “People appreciated that.”

of selecting an interim leader. Eglinski said some names are starting to come forward; members and party officials are being solicited via digital video presentations.

“We’ve got some good candidates,” he said.

Until parliament was dissolved for the election, Eglinski sat on two committees: immigration and social services. However, he won’t get assigned a new portfolio until the House resumes and national caucus meets, on November 4 and 5, respectively.

Until then, Eglinski is concentrating on following up on his constituents’ needs—grant money which wasn’t awarded, for example—and meeting with the Alberta caucus. He hopes to make progress on the pine beetle issue, and he hopes to bridge some gaps with Alberta’s provincial NDP. Their recently announced deficit budget, certainly, will offer a glimpse at what the Liberal’s national one could look like.

“It’s good in one sense it’s going to stimulate job growth,” he said, “but I just think ‘who’s going to pay for that?’”

More than anything, Eglinski is waiting to see who he’ll be working with: be it his leader, his fellow committee members or ministers of the ruling party.

“As soon as we get to know the ministers responsible … we can all work together and build some relationships. That’s going to be very important over the next little while.”

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com Parks Canada, via the services of Jasper Concrete, has been constructing a new dam at cabin lake.

The reservoir will better prepare Jasper for fire suppression purposes.// bob covey

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Local science//

sunday, november 1, 2015 // issue 60 //the jasper local// page B2

Grizzly DNA taken from hair snares at scent lure sites provided the foothills research institute with data to produce its latest report on bear numbers.// (file)

More bears may not equal healthier bears Increased numbers of grizzly bears over the past 10 years just outside of Jasper National Park may not tell the whole tale of grizzly bear health in Alberta, experts with the Foothills Research Institute (fRI) suggest.

Gord Stenhouse is the lead author of a recentlypublished study which reveals that grizzly bear populations in bear management area three (BMA3), a 10,000 km-sq area east of Jasper National Park and south of Highway 16, have increased at seven per cent annually, an unusually high rate in North America. However, Stenhouse says the data doesn’t reflect animal health as much as it does animal habitat; furthermore, the results may be spiked by the addition of bears to BMA3 from other parts of the province. Since 2004, approximately 30 bears have been relocated to BMA3.

“We’re guessing the [higher] results are from a combination of factors,” Stenhouse said.

BMA3, naturally a boreal forested, foothills landscape, is often referred to as an industrial landscape because of the high amount of oil and gas exploration, mining and recreational activities which take place there.

“It’s a very busy place,” Stenhouse said.

Perhaps paradoxically, those landscape alterations have actually created good bear habitat.

“Bears like a matrix of young and old habitat, they do well on edge habitat,” Stenhouse said.

The openings created by roads and other access points increase ungulate numbers and food supply, which bears like. The downside is, those access points also increase human-caused mortalities among bears, including vehicle impacts, destroyed problem bears and poaching.

“All those industrial activities have been positive relative to the habitat component, but as we conduct resource extraction we are building access, and that increases mortality risk,” Stenhouse said.

Meanwhile, in the rugged, untouched habitat of south Jasper National Park—where it’s tougher for bears to earn a living, but where poaching and other human impacts are greatly reduced— Stenhouse’s data suggest life for grizzlies is good.

In 2014 researchers discovered a 31-year-old bear, the same grizzly they first encountered 15 years prior, when Stenhouse first started doing his research.

recreational activities, the bear population has expanded,” he said.

“The fact that he’s still alive shows that humancaused mortalities are low back there in the park,” he said (the bear’s main habitat is near the Southesk River, in the southeast portion of JNP).

“To me that will help inform how we move forward. We also need need to understand from a genetic standpoint what impact that moving bears [from other areas] have on other populations,” he said.

A significant drop in bear mortalities in Alberta took place in 2006 when a moratorium on the grizzly bear hunt was enacted. In 2005, 73 grizzly licences were awarded and 10 legal kills were tallied. The number of illegal poaching incidents was 36 from 2006-2014, and the same number were attributed to accidental deaths (eg. road kill).

Stenhouse said that the fRI study shows that without the grizzly bear hunt, humans and grizzlies can co-exist on the landscape.

“Even with the ongoing forestry, oil and gas and

All this is to say that more bears might not equal healthier bears. Stenhouse wants to determine the health of grizzlies with his next research project; he plans to test cortisone levels for signs of stress and reproductive hormones to figure out birth growth and body weights. Moreover, he wants to test BMA3 bears against JNP bears.

Stenhouse declined to speculate whether or not some Albertans would use data showing increased grizzly bear populations as reason to push for a lift on the grizzly hunt.

“I wouldn’t rush to answer those questions,” he said. “This is one population unit that we’ve got good data on but there are many other population units for which we don’t.”

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 60 // sunday, november 1, 2015

LOCAL FEATURE //LOCAL FAREWELL//

A Day in the Jasp

A decade of ski turns, ridge rid

// ROOSTER TAIL IN THE MIETTE PASS AREA DURING EXPLORATORY SKIING IN WEST JNP // B HAUG PHOTO

//ALWAYS SOAR

CHAD DAY IS GOING WEST. T 30-SOMETHING CARPENTER HOCKEY PLAYER, MOUNTAIN BIKER, SKIER, SURFER AND WISE CRACKER HAS LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON THE TOWN HE CALLED HOME FOR YEARS. BY BOB COVEY

One of my favourite memories of Cha Day is from the summer of 2008, when group of us went up Pyramid Mountai Although I remember seeing his silho cresting the summit ridge far ahead of me and can recall the ease with which soared off of the dirt rollers during the ride down, what stuck out then, as it d now, was how much fun he had simply throwing rocks at a chunk of snow. Ta aim at a precariously hanging cornice ing our lunch break, Chad threw grape sized boulders until his arm just about off. Soon enough, one by one, the grou us joined in until we had knocked that nice into oblivion. Lesson? The guy lo to play, and inspires others similarly.

// remember chad, you’re just a stone’s throw away from Jasper.

VANCOUVER MIGHT NOT BE READY FOR CHAD DAY. They’rE GOING TO HAVE TO GET USED TO A GUY WHO CALLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT. HE MAY BE TOO BRAMBLY FOR THEIR ‘BURBS. HE MAY BE TOO COARSE OF A GRIND FOR THEIR ESPRESSO MACHINES.

It’s something those who have seen hi at the hockey rink know well. Like no e I’ve met on the ice, Chad is able to ska the line between competitive intensity devil-may-care exuberance. His athlet is one thing, but it’s his love of the gam which earns him the respect from play ers around town. He’s creative, powerf and precise all at once; a beast to com against, a pleasure to watch, and even when he plays dirty—and it’s only a ma of time before his years in junior hocke reveal themselves—you can only be pis at him for so long until that goofy smi disarms you.

It was 10 years ago that Chad Day beg disarming Jasperites with his easy-com

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feature //

per life

des, hat tricks and campfires

RING, NEVER BORING.// A CHARLTEN PHOTO

THE R, N D N

R 10

ad na in. ouette f h he e bike does y aking e durefruit t fell up of t coroves

im else ate y and ticism me yful mpete

atter ey ssed ile

gan me,

//GOOD THING RAIN DOESN’T DAMPEN HIS SPIRITS, #VANCOUVER

easy-go attitude, a style that was reflected in the many recreational endeavours he picked up. His penchant for frat-boy humour (again, a product of his junior hockey days) made it easy for dudes to laugh with him, whether they were swinging hammers on a roof or swinging flies on a river. But he’s got a sensitive side, too. He plays a little guitar, designs pretty coffee tables and is a positive role model for kids at the rink.

He’ll even show up to an aerobics class if it means helping his instructor friend pump up her numbers.

We’ll miss Chad in Jasper because he’s a good guy to have on an expedition—he’s the type you can rely on to get the fire going, or fix the boat motor if your buddy wraps his fishing line around the prop. He’s good for a stupid story—there’s the one about nearly getting killed with an exploding white gas container, and you probably don’t want to know how fast he’s gone on a motorcycle (or a boat, or a skidoo). Even still, his common sense always seems to shine through, just in the nick of time. After all, he was smart enough to start a business, and smart enough to call it quits when it started eating into his play time.

the national park, he was known for always willing to lend a hand.

Vancouver might not be ready for Chad Day. They’re going to have to get used to a guy who calls it like he sees it. He may be too brambly for their ‘burbs; too coarse of a grind for their espresso machines.

If we know Chad, however, he’ll adapt with ease. The same way he became so at home in the Rockies, he’ll soon adjust to the new adventures that await on the coast.

Like riding a wakeboard behind a Maligne Tours boat, we’re confident that once the engine rumbles to life, he’ll just pop right up.

In only 10 years, Chad Day got a lot done in Jasper. He bagged a lot of peaks, he skied a lot of lines, he spent a lot of nights under the stars and he made a lot of friends. He’s been a good guy to have around, to learn from, and with. And even though the various teams he played for, worked with and volunteered for are going to miss him, he can be damn sure there will always be a space in Jasper he can park his truck.

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

For the last few summers, Chad spent a lot of time at Maligne Lake, where he worked in a variety of capacities—carpenter, maintenance guy, boat mechanic, and general Renaissance man.

There he got to know intimately a piece of the world so many people spend a lifetime trying to get back to. He ingrained himself in the lore and history of the Maligne Lake Chalet, and whether it was to visitors, fellow staff or the duty warden // Watch out for that disarming smile...especially if he has the puck. who represented

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page B5 // the jasper local //issue 60 // sunday, november 1, 2015

Local dark skies

Astro tourists orbit 'round Jasper shops Louisa Balbi is a selfproclaimed space geek.

“I’m the type of person who likes to go out to see the night sky,” she said. “I’ve taken midnight excursions to see meteor showers and the northern lights.”

Not to mention, she’s a huge Chris Hadfield fan.

“I just think he’s in the elite of humankind,” Balbi laughed. “There aren’t that many people like him.”

All this is to say that when Balbi saw a Facebook ad for the Dark Skies Festival in Jasper starring Commander Chris Hadfield, she knew she had to attend.

“I looked into it and made the decision. Hadfield was definitely the big draw,” she said.

Balbi, 41, is a pharmacist from Kimberly, B.C. She and a friend made the not-insignificant six-hour drive to Jasper to take in the Friday night event and reacquaint themselves with the town. Originally from Calgary, Balbi had only been to Jasper once before.

But now she’ll be back again.

“It was a nice winter weekend,” she said. “We liked it, people were super friendly and the drive up was great.”

Balbi and her friend stayed in a local approved accommodation, had dinner, breakfast and lunch at local restaurants and—saving a bit of money by not paying a provincial sales tax—did a bit of shopping.

“We got some winter boots, some outdoor apparel,” she said.

Balbi is exactly the type of visitor Tourism Jasper is hoping to attract with its Dark Skies Festival.

“Astro tourism in general is gaining popularity,” said Nancy Gordy, media and PR specialist with Tourism Jasper.

While the event has grown exponentially in the past five years, its success is owed in huge part to the festival’s many volunteers, Gordy said.

“Without them, there simply wouldn’t be a festival,” she said.

Nicole Veerman was one such volunteer. The local

Dark Sky promotions like this one helped bring record visitors to this year’s events// ryan bray / parks canada

newspaperwoman took a break from her editorial duties to clock in for three volunteer shifts over the weekend.

She and 60 other volunteers, mostly from Jasper, took tickets, set up crafts and helped visitors experience the night sky viewing opportunities.

“We were super impressed with the number of volunteers who came out,” Veerman said.

Heading up the volunteer coordination duties was the Friends of Jasper National Park. Veerman, who sits on the board, said at Dark Skies, the benefits outweigh the work by a light year.

“It’s never a chore,” she said. “I got to do crafts with kids, I got to see Chris Hadfield. It’s a pretty minimal amount of work for the amount of perks.”

And so what was the brightest star of the

festival? As cool as the other programming was, for Veerman, it was all about the spaceman.

“He came into his own,” Veerman said. “He was joking and interacting with the crowd. You could tell he was going off script.”

Balbi agreed. After seeing her hero speak to the audience and relate to the crowd, she had a new appreciation for the international space station commander.

“His stories were incredible,” she said. “He was really personable.”

Even without Hadfield on the bill, however, Balbi said she’d be back for Dark Skies 2016.

“It was fun, it was relaxing. I’d definitely come again.”

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

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Local motion //

sunday, november 1, 2015 // issue 60 // the jasper local// page B6

Finding life after death race Jasperites are a seasonal lot. How many times have you asked or been asked: how was your summer?

For me, this summer was the most enriching one I’ve had since I moved to Jasper 12 years ago.

But while finishing the 125 km Death Race was something I was proud to have checked off my “bucket list,” seeing through a different, deeper dream was even more rewarding, and in some ways, more challenging.

Since I first watched my parents set off on the journey 28 years ago, it has been a lifelong goal of mine to complete the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Fatima, from the door of my parents’ home in Portugal to the great basilica, 90 km away. While the Great Canadian Death Race has occupied my mind as a runner for the past several summers, the goal of completing the pilgrimage has been something stirring in my heart for most of my life.

For me, my pilgrimage to Fatima represented a journey of faith and reflection, but most importantly, a journey of gratitude. Fatima (which houses a sacred Catholic sanctuary where three shepherd children witnessed the apparition of Mary) has been a place I have visited with family more than a dozen times. I have forged a deep connection to my faith at this holy place, each visit further fuelling my determination to complete this pilgrimage.

However, as with many meaningful journeys, getting to the starting point is half the battle; ironically, my largest struggle in getting to the beginning of this expedition was my parents’ protective love.

Having completed the journey several times themselves (my mother twice and my father at least half a dozen times), my parents, who did their pilgrimages as part of a group, deemed that doing it alone was crazy. Despite having completed a 125 km race over and across the unforgiving Rocky Mountains, to them, my

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desire to run this pilgrimage solo, in one day instead of three, was too dangerous.

Between the big distance, the bad drivers and the shady characters I was bound to encounter, they considered the idea preposterous. Ever since I announced my intentions to them a year ago, they had been determined to dissuade me. Even in the days leading up to the start of the pilgrimage I could picture my father’s coy smirk. “We’ll see,” he had said, which translated to: “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you do this.”

Lourdes and her loving, protective father during the Sanctuary of Fatima pilgrimage.// supplied I suppose we were all a little crazy, because at 4 a.m. on a hot August day not far from my own back door. There was so much to be the Atlantic coastline, as I took my first step thankful for, and when I rounded the final corner on a journey I had waited a lifetime to begin, I and glimpsed the chapel of the Sanctuary of looked up to see not only my dear father, but Fatima and the 30 metre-high statue of the my loving partner Chris. They were there in cross standing before me, I could no longer support as I began what would be one of the hold it in. I wept with overwhelming awe and toughest but most meaningful treks of my life. gratitude and a sense of faith and belief that I While I endured 89 km of bone-jarring road can’t imagine recreating in formal ceremonies and cobblestone, oppressive humidity and two or rituals. close calls with dumb drivers, my dad and Chris Although it may not have been a spiritual endured 13 hours in the car together, surely a awakening, and the terrain certainly can’t different kind of test of faith. compare to running through our aspen forests And despite the blisters and hamstring cramps or alongside the Athabasca River, for me the that lasted upwards of 30 km, I continued. pilgrimage was a culmination of a spiritual Putting one foot in front of the other, I found journey, the checking off that my trek transformed from a physical of a lifelong bucket list slog to a journey of intense reflection, rapidly item and a return to my blossoming into overwhelming feelings of roots. gratitude for my treasured life. Each time I It was also one heck of a would see my support vehicle ahead of me, way to wrap up my best it was a reminder of how blessed I was to summer yet in Jasper. have such a wonderful family who could look Lourdes Nunes is the beyond the sanity of my endeavours and offer owner of Summit Massage Therapy and Co-owner of me unrelenting love and support. Each time I The Jasper Fitness Netstepped from the hot sticky pavement to the work. She is proud to help uneven cobblestone sidewalks, I was reminded Jasperites keep active, agile and feeling alive in of how fortunate I was to have the vast and the great outdoors. pristine Jasper trail network right outside