A Special Mountain

Today is Remembrance Day here in Canada, the day we stop and remember those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom.  Remembrance Day is observed on November 11th in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" on that date in 1918.

So today I want to skip ahead in our trip to a very special mountain.

Back in 1915, surveyor A.O. Wheeler was asked by the Geographic Board of Canada to recommend a mountain to commemorate British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed by the Germans in 1915 for assisting over 200 Allied prisoners of war to escape from German occupied Belgium. The world was outraged by her execution, and Wheeler was asked to choose a mountain to name in her honour.

​Wheeler chose 'La Montagne de la Grande Traverse' (the Mountain of the Great Crossing), "the beautiful mountain facing the Athabasca Valley", just south of Jasper. At 3,363 metres (11,033') it is the highest mountain in the vicinity of Jasper. To the native people it had always been known as 'the White Ghost', because the snow-covered north face would glow as a ghost in the moonlight.

The mountain was officially renamed 'Mount Edith Cavell' the following year, and to this day a memorial service is held in her honour each summer in Jasper. 

​Not only is it a beautiful mountain, but it is also one of the most accessible in the Rockies. There's a 14 km road winding up to a parking lot below the awesome north face, and trails lead to the high mountain meadows, and one used to lead up to the glacial lake at the base of Cavell Glacier. I had been so looking forward to taking some dolls up the trail and taking photos beside the glacial lake - which is filled with small icebergs. It was always such a fabulous scene. But this past August a massive landslide completely wiped out the lower trail, as well as part of the parking lot. Now the only view is by means of the trail to the high mountain meadow. 

We started the almost one kilometre long uphill hike to Cavell Meadows....

It was supposed to be a nice day, but no sooner did we finally get to the top of the trail, but a couple of raindrops started to fall. We very quickly set up the four dolls we'd brought along, but it was difficult terrain, the wind had picked up, and it was really starting to rain. Thankfully I'd brought along a garbage bag to sit on, but the dolls were getting wet, and the camera was getting wet, and the sky looked rather threatening, so we had to work fast.... 

I managed a few quick shots, even though the dolls weren't that well posed.....

It was cold, very windy, and we were all getting very wet....

The dolls quickly went back into their boxes, and we tucked the boxes into the garbage bag, and I tucked my camera under my jacket, and we started back down the trail back to the parking lot. Halfway down, the rain slowed to a drizzle, so we took the dolls out for a few more quick photos...

By the time we got back to the RV, the rain had stopped. So we went to Cavell Lake....

 ....with it's great view of Mount Edith Cavell....