BY SUSAN R. EATON, FOR THE EDMONTON JOURNAL, OCTOBER 2011

A family enjoys a night of stargazing on Pyramid Island on Jasper National Park and Dark Sky Preserve’s Pyramid Lake (image: Yuichi Takasaka, www.blue-moon.ca)

JASPER - Performing a weird rendition of hopscotch, I leap over voluminous piles of elk poop as I zigzag my way toward the Jasper Information Centre National Historic Site on Connaught Drive. A quick inspection of the bottom of my boots indicates that I need to hone my hopscotch moves, and that Jasper’s four-legged residents — the donors are nowhere to be seen at the moment — are integral to the nitrogen cycle of this sleepy town of 5,000, nestled in Jasper National Park. I’m in town to learn the basics of “wilderness astronomy,” Jasper’s newest tourism activity. Declared a Dark Sky Preserve in March 2011, by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Jasper National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is gearing up to host its first Dark Sky Festival from Oct. 21-24. << MORE >>

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=5b71f0ac-ad71-4bf5-a807-88b73e4f852a

Space journalist and Wilderness astronomer Peter McMahon stargazing on the shores of Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park and Dark Sky Preserve (image: Yuichi Takasaka, www.blue-moon.ca)