A trip to Jasper - After the Fire

Every year in January, Susan and I  take a short trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary- this year our 43rd!  As often or not, we head for the Rocky Mountains and the nearest mountain town of Jasper. Alberta. 

This year, we expected an unappreciated change in this “mountain jewel”.  In August, a huge wildfire had swept through the Athabasca Valley, reaching and engulfing the area around the town. Sadly, the fire didn’t stop at the town’s edge and when it was finally extinguished about 30% of the town was reduced to  smoldering ruins. 

We couldn’t help but be disaster tourists as we  slowly drove through the hardest hit western part of town.  First we saw the ruins of the historic Anglican Church.

The building reminded me of  the remains of European Church that time alone had reduced to stone corner and foundation. The churches walls, floor and arched ceiling trucked to the landfill and only these stones and a a pile of twisted metal from heating and fixtures remained 

The adjacent suburb was mostly flattened ground with piles of rubble and two large excavators loading these piles into trucks. Remarkedly, the devastated area was marked by individual houses and one whole street that seemed untouched. Vehicles outside these surviving houses showing residents had returned – perhaps with a sense of survivor guilt.  We later heard that firefighters had bulldozed certain houses (some already alit) to create fire breaks that allowed neighbors homes to be spared. 

All that was left of the Esso service station and convenience store was the Esso sign and two iron ceiling beams.  The Maligne Lodge and our favorite coffee shop now sadly a bulldozed, scarred empty lot.

Downtown Jasper, as expected of a major tourist destination, is full of restaurants, mountaineering stores, souvenirs and gift. stores  and historic hotels. Sprinkled in of course are municipal buildings, banks, library and other services for a town of  5,000 residents.

The commercial buildings seemed intact and open for business, with two exceptions, In the middle of both main streets were blocks of 4-5 two story buildings that were now either empty or covered with scaffolding.  This scaffolding was the only evidence we could see of active rebuilding in the whole town.  It seems that, as in the suburbs, flying embers had set alight one of more buildings in the downtown core and firefighters had destroyed these to prevent spreading the wildfire spreading.  

We then headed to the most famous hotel in Jasper, the luxurious Jasper Park Lodge. This hotel had been built to accommodate  well healed visitors travelling on the newly constructed CN cross Canada Railroad. Unlike many of the other luxury railway hotels, the Jasper Park Lodge was not constructed like a medieval castle, but rather consists of a main lodges and 30-40 smaller cabins – that vary in size and cost from hotel studios to multi room log cabins. 

We usually stayed at the Lodge for our anniversary but this year we just couldn’t see our selves paying $400 plus a night for the privilege of acting rich. However, we couldn’t  resist a couple of visits to the main lodge to enjoy an expensive lunch or two. 

 

In our hike around the lake that fronts the Lodge, we marveled at how close the fire had come. The lodge building were was completely surrounded (though with a buffer of 3-400 meters) by blackened stumps where once the fir forest had thrived.  the next day we hiked up the Maligne canyon to really visual the forest destruction. In years past we usually put our ice cleats on and hiked through the frozen canyon marvelling athe ice encrusted rock walls. This year however the hike trough the canyon itself was closed as 3 of the wooden bridges and many guard rails  that surrounded the canyon had been destroyed.  Further down the river at the 6th bridge we walked through the forest, amazed at the  blackened trunks, mostly still standing. WSe could see the work that had already done by Parks Canada staff to clear this trail of fallen trees and other debris.  Very few of the trees had actually burned though – but all had lost their needles and many leaned on their denuded neighbours for support.

On most of the mountains surrounding the town, the fire had climbed up to the tree line. Blackening all the trees. Of course, fire in the forested mountains is partof the cycle of nature. The problem is this cycle revolves on time scales not set by humans.  It will likely be far past my lifetime before Jasper’s mountain slopes return to their emerald majesty.

Despite the tragedy of this wildfire, the spirit of Jasper lives on. Fortunately the Marmot Basin ski hill was not burnt and though electrical and other utilities suffered, the Hill opened for skiers on time. The Town also is shaking off the tragedy. We attended the annual Street Party that finishes “January in Jasper” celebrations. The temperature – about -15C with wind was a wee bit chilly, but bonfires, propane heaters and our Riverdale friends from Major Love warmed the crowd with their music.

Despite the challenges that lay in front for residents, flora and fauna of Jasper National Park, irt remains a jewel in the Rockies and this will not be our last visit.