Local Rivers

Last week I took a Swift Water Rescue Course, this proved to be one of the more interesting courses so far and had me a little worried. The course was three days long and had us learning how to swim and make rescues in the fast moving Athabasca River.


The river consists of melt water from a nearby glacier so the temperature is a balmy 4 degrees Celsius. We had to wear dry suits to keep from getting hypothermia, shoes to keep our feet from getting cut up on the rocks, helmets to keep from getting knocked out while floating down the rapids and PFDs to keep us afloat.


This spot is called "Beckers", it is just off of Highway 93 in Jasper National Park. The picture doesn't do this spot justice, I was scared floating through those rollers down stream. We had to perform certain tasks like swimming into mid-stream eddies, going under & over logs in the river, getting our PFDs off while tied to a stick totally submerged and (my favourite) cutting yourself free from a rope tied around your foot while underwater.


Yes, that's fresh snow up there!


Before having to swim in the river I actually didn't mind spending some time fishing on the weekends. Here's my first Bull Trout, this one weighed about 3 pounds.


This is my first Arctic Grayling, what a beautiful fish.