“You should get the yearly park pass” – The park ranger at Jasper National Park welcomes us to the beginning of our journey through the Canadian Rockies… Going into the park center of a Canadian or US national park and paying for the park pass is an almost religious ceremony… My admiration towards the way these countries handle and protect natural areas falls into frustration whenever I’m faced with the reality we have back home…

Our three day stay in Jasper can be described in two words: cold and rainy… As Henrique says: “We have some issues to settle with Jasper”… So there goes another place to our already big list of “come back to places”…

For some time I’m to uncomfortable and worried about the five stitches and the pain in my left foot and the effects they can impose to my pictures that I forget that usually these are the weather conditions that bring me to life… I finally come back to myself on a cold mooring while waiting for the light in front of a glacier… The light never came, but I got back to the usual mind set of feeling that the cold wind and the silence of a mountain bring peace of mind even if we do not get nice looking pictures...

“You have two choices: you can suffer and not be able to walk much during your holydays or you can go into surgery now, suffer for one week and still having some quality time afterwards”… - The diagnostic looked clear. Two days before leaving for my trip to the Canadian Rockies I decided to ask another doctor regarding the problem I was having in my left foot… And yes, I opted for the surgery option…

Two days after the surgery I go trough the 14 hour trip that separates Lisbon from Vancouver with five stitches on the foot and a full arsenal of pills, band aids and bistouries… Other than this, everything goes ok: We are able to go through London Heathrow with our camera equipment, no luggage is lost, we have almost no problem with the car rental, the car is super, we can fit everybody’s luggage in, the hotel is ok, but the rain does not stop falling…

We finally welcomed the first sunny day when traveling towards Jasper National Park...

“Temperatures are going sub-zero, I need to repack my bag…” – Maria tells me about the last arrangements, we’ve spent the last weeks planning our trip to the Canadian Rockies…

“I’m on the departure lounge again” - Bag that fits BA’s hand baggage policy: check; clothing layers for temperatures ranging from -10 to 30 degrees Celsius: check; Hiking boots: check; Pain killers (for my recent foot problem): check; Plane ticket: check; Passport: check; Film: check; more Film: check; vehicle big enough to put al five of us in: check; 200 GB worth of digital storage: ch… well almost…

The limitations on hand baggage are forcing me into some difficult decisions… For the first time I wont be able to take my trusty 35mm film camera with me… I’m left with the Digital with a dead pixel and dust on the sensor that I’ve given up trying to remove before the trip fearing that it will get worse and the medium format that has not proven completely trusty over time… Still these will have to do the trick…

Other than this, the amount of issues that need to be arranged in the office are increasing day by day and the remaining week seams to last forever… What else is new...