A place that makes you feel safe and happy… The obvious answer would be my home, but that would be too easy. So where else?

My Mom’s and sister’s are both places that I feel safe and happy.

However, the place that makes me feel safe and happy is not a place where I would ever really “live” but a place I visit. A place everyone can visit. A place, I find, of great peace and tranquility.

Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park is where I would say I feel safe and happy. The 23 metre high falls is one of the most powerful falls in the mountain parks. It cuts over a hard quartzite stone, carving out the softer limestone underneath, creating a beautiful pathway underneath – a memorizing trailway for the water to flow. The sound of rushing water can be heard from the parking lot, and for me, is as peaceful a sound as waves crashing to shore by the sea.

There are a couple of hiking paths around the falls, one of which is paved all the way around and is accessible. It takes you to various look-out points where you can experience the spray of the falls. The other takes you down to the basin of the river and has a fairly steep climb. I last did it in 2018, I doubt I’d be able to do it anymore. The attached picture is from that trip, taken in October, when water levels are at the lowest, you can still see the power of the river.

I could spent hours here, just watching and listening to the roar of the falls, watching the fallen trees swirl about in the catch basins below the falls. It is mountain majesty at its finest.

While from the reports from Parks Canada suggests no buildings were lost at the Falls, it is hard to say if the landscape has changed in the area from the Jasper Wildfire 2024.

Post inspired by 30 Days of Gratitude by Ordinary & Happy