Well, something has to be first so it might as well be about the wildlife that abound throughout the park. It's my first love of Jasper. I think I love the wildlife so much because they're soooo available. They're is easy to find in the park, as easy as driving on the road and checking out the scenery. Most of the images you'll find in this article were taken within a hundred yards of the road and didn't require any more tracking effort then paying attention to the road ahead and keeping an eye out to the surroundings. The cool thing is once you get to know location like I have, you begin to understand what time of the year certain spots are more popular than others. It's like beginning to understand the escence or life of an area.

I learned to love Jasper through three years of weekend visits. The standard weekend would mean driving like a maddog from across Alberta--about 6.5 hours--and getting to the park just before sunset--if it happened to be the summer season, otherwise it was pitch black night. Anyway, as soon as arriving within the borders of the park, I'd pull over and configure the car for photography. That meant setting up my 500mm f/4 with a body, pulling out my bean bag, adjusting one of the tripods across the passenger's seat, and driving a lot slower. The wild dash across the province would change within the park to a steady survey of the surroundings and abject adherance to the speed limit. As funny as it sounds, you could do an entire photography safari of Jasper NP and never leave the comfort of your vehicle. The conditions are just that good.

Once you entire the park, begin searching the roadside for animals while trying to keep yourself on the road. Obviously this works best when driving with someone else.

Here's a run down of some especially hot locations. The distances are measured from the eastern entry gate to the park.

6.6-8.9 miles (Disaster Point) - Because of the common wildlife activity near here the speed limit is significantly reduced from 90 km/hr to 70 km/hr. Huge herds of Big Horn Sheep and the occasional Mountain Goat can be spotted here. Apparently the minerals in the surrounding rock is especially appetizing at certain times of the year to the different species. Look on both sides of the road throughout the day. You may see from one to 70 sheep here.

12-18 miles (Talbot Lake) - While not the most extraordinary wildlife location, a keen observer may spot an Osprey or Bald Eagle during the summers. I happened to find my first Cow Moose and I've seen several Whitetailed Deer to the North.

17.8-19.0 miles (west of Talbot Lake) - Scan the southern hills next to the road. You may find several Big Horn Sheep grazing on the barren slopes. The area is especially windblown and can be particularly trecherous climbing with a super telephoto so be careful. Rarely are any sheep found along the road. A mile west of this location you'll find the second especially large concentration of Big Horn Sheep herds. Look on both sides of the road for them. Evening light is probably slightly more appealing than morning because the surround mountains to the east are slightly closer. Still, this location is good any time of the day.