“Hey Mark, check out these little loons!” Garth, a Parks Canada resource conservation staffer, had just walked into my office. On his camera were photos of a couple of small, black, fuzzy loon babies. Rescuing injured, lost or otherwise needy birds was not all that unusual for Parks staff, but the l...

All over Jasper National Park, bears are waking up…and they’re hungry. Wildlife photographer Simone Heinrich spotted this black bear—her first such sighting of the season—late in the evening, just as the sun was setting. It was snacking on the sticky buds of low hanging balsam branches and not reall...

May 4 is an auspicious day for Star Wars fans, but it also has special meaning for local bird watchers: it’s approximately when hummingbirds start to arrive in Jasper. In many ways, hummingbirds are like Jedi Masters. They’re fierce warriors, extremely powerful for their size, and can fly in ways th...

“Hold on!” the pilot yelled. We had been surveying arctic caribou from a Dehavilland Beaver (often referred to as the best bush plane ever built). This particular aircraft’s “tundra tires” allowed its pilot to land just about anywhere, but our makeshift landing strip would be a real test. The ridget...

Hopping from rock to rock, our laden backpacks jostling uncomfortably, the trail finally disappeared in a backwater channel of Jasper National Park’s Whirlpool River.  We gave up trying to keep our feet dry and simply waded in. On the Athabasca Pass Trail in Jasper National Park. // Tania Millen Sud...

Photos by Patrick Barker for The Jasper Local An elk that fell through a partly frozen lake in Jasper National Park was given a new lease on life by Parks Canada staff. An elk fell through spring ice on Lac Beauvert April 17. // Patrick Barker On April 17 at approximately 5 p.m., a bull elk fell thr...

Photos by Maur Muzza Mere @ muzzadventures and Patrick Barker @ patrickrbarker The fifth annual Marmot’s Revenge skinned into Jasper National Park March 31-April 2 where guests at Marmot Basin got a close up view of the sport of ski mountaineering. Three dozen or so speed suit-clad racers climbed, b...

For ruffed grouse, winter in the Rockies can be a grind This ruffed grouse is getting some good lift off to get to those tasty rose hips. But wait, don’t they have wings for that? They do, but…a ruffed grouse’s wing feathers are designed to give them quick and powerful bursts of flight—maybe you’ve ...

Marmot Basin has always been known as a family friendly resort. With the opening of new, rugged terrain, is it time to start giving the Jasper National Park ski area more credit as a destination for hardcore huckers? The first time he rode the Knob Chairlift at Marmot Basin, Jasper skier, Pierre Ant...

“Mark, are you absolutely sure you need more photos of those grey birds sitting on grey rocks?” My wife was in the kitchen of our Jasper condo, clutching a steaming cup of coffee while watching me prep my gear for yet another day of photographing American Dippers. Advertisement inquires: andrea@rave...