In the summer of 1984, I was in Jasper National Park to work for the summer. I washed dishes at the Miette Hot Springs Resort restaurant. It was a cozy resort on a dirt road leading to the hot springs swimming pool. There was the restaurant, several guest cabins, a chalet, and several small, canvas roofed, one room cabins for the staff.
The cabins were all in among the evergreen forest and wildlife was common. I used to sit on my front step and look into the dark eyes of deer that would stand maybe ten feet away from me. Bears were not uncommon either so you had to be watchful. They were attracted by the garbage bin from the restaurant. It was concrete with a metal door and a metal arm to lock it in place but the bears were industrious.
If a bear showed up too often we called the park officers and they would set up a bear trap. A bear trap was a long metal tube with a grill on one end and a trap door on the other end. They would put bait in the tube and when the bear crawled in after it, the trap door would slide shut behind it.
On one occasion, the parks officer phoned to ask if the trap had caught anything and the manager sent me to check it. Casually I rapped my knuckles on the metal tube. There was an immediate growl and the tube shook. I beat a hasty retreat back to the restaurant.
On days off from washing dishes, I would sometimes walk down the road to the hot springs swimming pool. The hot springs were popular and there were always people there. The water was hot and felt like a massage to your muscles. Mostly I just laid in the shallow end and let the water caress me. The pool was large with a building and change rooms beside it. The whole thing was surrounded on three sides by forested, steep mountain slopes. With the clear blue sky above, it was possible to be meditative even with people around.
On other days, I went out into the wilderness to experience the park and mountains. I went mountain climbing, on a trail ride on horseback up Sulphur Ridge and a hike out to Mystery Lake. The hike was probably the most demanding of the outings. Approximately a 13 mile round trip done in one day.
Daniel, a short, French-Canadian with long black hair, who was a cook at the resort, and I decided to hike to Mystery Lake one day. We set out about 8 am from the back of the resort. The first part of the hike was through Shuey Pass. Uphill over rocky ground, then down a steep decline to the Fiddle River. The river was low at this point but moving rapidly. We took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pant legs. The trail required us to ford the river.
The rocks on the river bottom were mostly smooth but the water was frigid cold. I was careful putting my feet down as the water was moving fast enough to move your foot sideways when you were putting it down. It only got about knee deep. On the other side we stopped to put our shoes back on before continuing.
