Based on the forecast we thought our first day around Jasper would be a wash and we anticipated having a rest day. We had a leisurely breakfast and saw that the forecast had improved somewhat (rain showers increasing later in the day), so we decided to go do something after all. We ended up at Mount Edith Cavell, a spot we had visited ten years ago.

There are two main trails at Mt. Edith Cavell: the Path of the Glacier and Cavell Meadows. The Path of the Glacier trail was originally a 1.6 km/1 mile loop, but potential ice/rock fall hazards and flash flooding have prohibited access to Cavell Pond and its outlet stream. In 2012 a huge piece of the hanging Ghost Glacier equivalent to 1428 buses fell 1000 m/3280 ft off the side of Mt. Edith Cavell. This created an avalanche and mud slide that filled Cavell Pond at the base of the mountain and caused a small tidal wave and flash flooding that severely damaged the parking lots, picnic areas, and road. Thankfully this happened at night and nobody was injured.

Even if you can't walk to the pond, there is a short, paved trail that climbs to a viewpoint with views of the north face of Mount Edith Cavell, Angel Glacier, Cavell Glacier, and Cavell pond. We stopped here to read the informative signs before backtracking and continuing up the trail to Cavell Meadows. The trail climbs over the lateral moraine and where it parallels the moraine there are great spots for even better views (this is where this picture was taken).