Jasper Special
I know, I know. I have been a terrible photo blogger. Some weeks: photos. Other weeks: no photos. It just doesn't seem right. Let me make it up to you by showing you many photos of a cool place I got to go to that you didn't! Jasper is a super town, the kind of place I'd love to live if my funds were unlimited and I could just throw my cash bundles at people and say HA! GIVE ME THAT! then twirl my moustache and saunter off. Alas, I lack the cash bundles and the facial hair for such a life.
I bring to you today a slightly different version of this small, charming mountain town than I thought I would. At the end of my trip I realized I had a collection of photos that said something a little melancholy about Jasper, but I hope you'll take the message with a grain of salt.
Jasper: going the wrong way? Ok, kind of a pretentious question to ask. I only started thinking about this question because of this chance photo. I was trying to only get the raven, but before I could zoom in it started to fly off so I just snapped the picture and the sign ended up being in the frame. I only noticed what the sign said later, but altogether the photo got me thinking. What direction is the town headed? It gets more and more popular as a tourist destination every year, and while the town seems to remain small which I'm glad of, the landscape is undeniably changed as tourism increases.
This is a view of a river that runs nearby the Jasper Park Lodge (no I didn't stay there, don't have the mad cash for JPL!) taken through the frame of a bridge built across the river to access the hotel and golf course. It was actually so difficult to see the mountain range without the bridge getting in the way that I chose just to take a shot straight through it. The experience definitely made me think about how intrusive manmade structures can be, and how much we often struggle to take pictures that appear natural and far from the influence of cityscapes. I know that I took my fair share of pains to try to crop roads, cars and people out of my photos while I was in Jasper. Although this landscape looks infinitely better without the bridge overlaying it, sometimes maybe it's worth acknowledging our presence and influence, rather than trying to ignore it or crop it out.
Here was a bit of a sad scene we came by on the way home. A herd of bighorn sheep trying to cross the highway was intercepted by an equally large herd of cars that stopped to observe them, many pulling over unknowingly in the way of many sheep that had yet to come down the cliffs and join the rest of the group. This little one shuffled down the rock face, saw all the vehicles and people poised with their camera phones and dashed haphazardly across, only calming down once it had rejoined its herd. The poor guy just seemed so afraid, and although this event can hardly be said to have a significant impact on the sheep's wellbeing, it makes you think about how we change the lives of animals just by being in a certain time and space.
But these small moments of pause are just that - small. These landscapes and animals remain beautiful, and for the most part, undisturbed. I think it's worth taking the pause, for sure. But it's also worth thinking about why all these manmade structures are present: because we appreciate this place. People care about the wilderness and they don't want to see it go away, they want to be able to visit it and revisit it intact. Jasper is still a gorgeous place and I think people try to disturb it as little as they can. I was lucky to spend some of my winter break there and I'm sure I'll be back next year!
Happy Holidays.
SEN
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