Shocking TV images of last summer’s wildfires in Jasper National Park looked apocalyptic, but nearly a year on, the Alberta town is preparing for another summer season.

Only about a third of Jasper itself was affected; most hotels have reopened, and the town is urging the industry to get behind it. “Jasper is standing strong,” said Emily Van Tighem, Visit Jasper’s media manager.  

“While our town and park may look different, many areas remain untouched and as beautiful as ever. Dining at local restaurants, booking tours with Jasper operators and shopping at independent stores all help our community rebuild and thrive.”

A team from Audley Travel will visit in March to assess. James Butler, Audley Travel’s Canada product manager said: “From what our partners in Jasper tell us, the majority of the side of town with hotels and restaurants was largely unaffected, as well as the majority of the operators running excursions.

“We’re particular happy that our exclusive wildlife tour is able to run, despite the owners’ house being lost to the fire.”

Nevertheless, some local operators have had to rethink what they do, with several opting to demonstrate how nature is recovering in the 115 square miles affected.

One such is Jasper Food Tours, whose Peak-Nic itinerary demonstrates outback cooking using dried ingredients. Estelle Blanchette, who owns the company, was forced to live in a camping site after the fire and now her tour traverses the recovering landscape’s renewed growth, examining how nature is fighting back.

Before the fire

My walk with her when I visited Jasper last May starts with an unexpected close encounter. I see it in the corner of my left eye, an adult black bear, bang in the middle of a tree-lined path, looking right at me, a great photo.

I raise my camera, whispering to Estelle, “Shush, It’s a bear!” Estelle turns and has other ideas: “YAHOOHOO, YAHOOHOO”, she yells. The animal saunters off.

I’m quietly furious with her until she patiently explains: “That was too close, three bus lengths is the limit.” It’s overdramatic to say she saved my life – bears routinely walk away from confrontation with humans and munch mainly berries – but in these situations, expert advice is best.

Estelle has a rucksack full of food but suddenly I’m glad the meal isn’t me. I then learn she’s a master of back country cooking using dehydrated ingredients and a kitchen that fits into a backpack. Great, I think, first she ruins my photo and next she’ll feed me her take on Pot Noodle and Cuppa Soup. But as Estelle sets up, she reveals she can whip up cheese fondue and eggs benedict in the back country. It might not be too bad.

True to her word, she’s soon straining paneer cheese made there and then from powdered milk and citric acid. Dhal is prepared and naan bread made from scratch as a curry sauce – cooked at home and then dehydrated – bubbles away on her camp kitchen. “I call it my mountain range,” she quips. Tastes are accentuated by clear mountain air, she tells me, dishing up, but whatever, it’s magnificent.

Bellies full, we gaze down on Jasper from our viewpoint as a kilometre-long freight train snakes through. Jasper evolved as a railway town in the Canadian Rockies and many visitors arrive on Via Rail or Rocky Mountaineer.  Jasper National Park receives two million visitors annually, a third of Banff’s total; consequently, its vibe is more laid-back and suited to its natural setting. 

Jasper’s remoteness (four hours from Edmonton) also means no day-trippers, unlike Banff (90 minutes from Calgary), so suggest Jasper as a more laid-back, less crowded option. Visitors need at least three nights there.

Meeting the locals

A drive through allows us to see Rocky Mountain goats – a rare sighting – clinging high up, plus big horn sheep and elks preparing to calve.

“The great thing about Jasper is we have a lot of large animals,” says our driver Russ, who apologies that I’m “two weeks too early” for the grizzly bears’ descent from the mountain, when they hunt elk calves and more endearingly, search for their favourite treat, dandelions.

Jasper boasts 600 lakes, many of them glacial and aquamarine blue. We take to Pyramid Lake in a hand-made wooden canoe and spot moose footprints below water that reflects snow-capped quartzite mountains and Aspen trees. Paddling to a beach, we stop to sip hot chocolate laced with Baileys. Our guides pick spruce and juniper leaves that we rub in our hands, savouring the odour.

It’s sublime, and complete contrast to another activity that better satisfies a mid-life crisis, namely riding a 1600cc Harley Davidson. To be clear, I’m only the passenger and, with a shoulder injury, in the sidecar. Wearing leather chaps, a bandana and biker jacket, I resemble one part of a terrible Village People tribute act.

We roar up the hairpins to Marmot, Jasper’s ski resort, and I quickly learn how we must compensate for the sidecar, which lifts a little on bends. Later we pose for photos leaning nonchalantly on the bikes. Now, dammit, there’s evidence to prove how silly I look.

Swopping leathers for rubber we go rafting in melt water that was ice just 18 hours ago. It’s refreshing, but the neoprene keeps me warm as I slice the paddle through the waves. This is only a Category 2 river, but at times it’s a technical challenge; at one set of rapids, we lose our coordination and spin the raft, at another, we run aground and need to bounce off boulders.

After all that activity, I hope for an early night, but nature has other ideas. Jasper is the world’s second largest Dark Sky Preserve, with a Dark Sky Festival every October, and tonight it puts on a once-in-20 years Northern Lights display.

The Aurora strobes like a rock show, with pink and green hues visible to the naked eye hanging over the jagged mountain backdrop. Everyone is out watching and even locals shake their heads in disbelief.

Later, Russ explains: “We’re not in the high band where you see the Aurora for a third of the year, but there is the potential to see it 25% of the year, whereas in Calgary and Banff it’s under 10%. If it’s a really strong event you can hear it too, it’s a crackle and a hiss.”

The Indigenous explanation for the Aurora is that spirits that have left us are dancing in the sky. Jasper’s spirit was undoubtedly subdued by the wildfire but rest assured visitors this summer will find it’s in ascendance again.

Book it: Audley Travel offers a 16-day Jewels of Western Canada self-drive tour with three nights in Jasper plus Vancouver, Whistler, Wells Gray Provincial Park, Moraine Lake and Banff. Among Jasper activities included is a small group guided tour to spot black and grizzly bears and other wildlife plus a guided trip on the Athabasca River following the route of fur traders. The trip costs from £5,355pp including flights, accommodation, rental car and excursions. audleytravel.com/canada

For more information, see jasper.travel