Sunday 6th July Jasper

We were up early today and joined our optional excursion to Maligne Lake and Spirit Island.

Our first stop was Medicine Lake and igt is approximately 7 km long and is a relatively shallow lake. The lake is part of the Maligne Valley watershed which is mainly glacial fed. Then onto Maligne Lake which is surrounded by ice capped mountains and is also glacial fed.

Our boat tour went for about 90 minutes and a guide spoke part of the way and gave a nice history of the lake and pointed out some of the sights. The tour stopped at Maligne Lake Lodge and we had a short break where everyone got off the boat. On the shore, there's a short looping trail that offers some spectacular views of Spirit Island. Spirit Island is the heart and soul of Jasper National Park and is only accessible by boat. The scenery here was awesome. Glaciers, mountains, forests, islands and the beautiful blue lake.

We then headed for Maligne Canyon for lunch and sighted a black bear and cub along the way. Maligne Canyon is a natural feature. Eroded out of the Palliser Formation, the canyon measures over 50 metres deep. We walked along the canyon and spectacular views of waterfalls and the canyon.

Back to the hotel then we caught a taxi up to Whistlers Mountain and went up the Sky tramway to an elevation of 2277 metres. We had stunning views over the mountain ranges and of Jasper township. We had a coffee in the cafe on top of the Mountain and then headed back to our hotel on the free shuttle. We had tea in the restaurant adjacent to our hotel.