Day 10: The first activity that morning, was a walk through Maligne Canyon along a side arm of the Athabasca River in Jasper NP. The fast flowing and swirling water of the river has carved this Canyon in depths of more than 50 meters in several million years. Along the path, which runs completely along the river, you see countless small and larger waterfalls and hollows in the deposited limestone formations. Definitely worth making one of the walks. I myself went up to the 5de bridge and returned to the parking lot via a hill.
After the walk through Maligne Canyon we would drive on to Medicine Lake via Maligne Lake (50km / 31mi) and have Lunch there, but it turned out differently. We had the children with us!
Maligne Canyon Trail
The walk along the 5 bridges starts at Maligne Canyon Parking. Depending on the starting point on the parking lot, you may first meet the 2de bridge and have to go back along the other side of the river to get to the first bridge.
From 1th in 2. de bridge are only 300 meters apart. Then you have to go back in the direction of the 2de bridge to the 3de, 4de in 5. de bridge to walk.
It is about 1u15 steps to the 4de waterfall and at this point Jessica and Tess wanted to go back to the camper. Eli and I went on to the 5de bridge, but after a 15min walk Eli also went back without saying anything. He stepped so quickly that I could not follow.
Up to bridge 5
I then walked to bridge 5 alone and have returned via a different route. At bridge 5 you take the path to bridge 6, but you turn 400 meter further to the right into the forest and go up a hill (very steep climb). On top of the hill you have a beautiful view of the surroundings after 20 min of walking. Arriving at the Camper, Jessica said that Eli had left the camper to find me. Jessica followed him, but did not find Eli after 1u15 search. It was already 2.30 pm and Tess and I have eaten. When Jessica was back, I started looking for Eli. After a 20 min walk along Maligne Canyon Trail we met each other at 3 bridge. What a relief, you never know what can happen.
Medicine Lake
After Jessica and Eli had lunch we drove to Maligne Lake. Maligne Lake is touristy, but I thought it was not too bad. It was a little later in the afternoon, but the only mass that really stood out were the tourists on the shore of Medicine Lake. That is because there is only 1 parking and that spot is also the best place to take pictures of the lake.
Medicine Lake and... selfies!
We saw a lot of Japanese and Chinese people on our route. At first we thought that Canada should be very popular in Japan and China, but we noticed that most of them spoke English. In retrospect, we learned that they were actually Canadian tourists and that their ancestors had immigrated to Canada in the railroad era. The number of Selfies that were taken at the water, you wouldn't believe it. Not one or two, but I have seen some people take 20 selfies at the shore of Medicine Lake.
In some places I had to wait 10 min to be able to take a picture. Even though they see that you want to take a picture as well, they do not give way until they think that they took the perfect selfie.
Maligne Lake
Maligne Lake is 22 km long and is the largest natural lake of the Rockies. You can take a boat trip along the famous Spirit Island. The island is located 14 km north of the parking area and can only be reached by a canoe, kayak or tour boat. We found it on the expensive side and skipped the boat trip. There are also different hiking trails, but we found all 4 that we had already walked enough that day 😉.
Jasper
On the way back to Jasper there was a wildlife traffic jam, so we also stopped and had a peak (safely). It was a flock of an 10-tal Elks (Wapiti), which rested on a river bank. After a few photos, we carefully crossed the busy road and drove to Jasper to visit the town. Jasper is a cozy village with many shops and restaurants. We also went into the Canada Parks Tourist Center. Really a nice information center with beautiful souvenirs. Jessica has bought oven mitts in the form of bear legs that we now use every day.
The weather was still good and warm enough to walk in T-shirt. Once back on Camping Wapiti it did not take long for the kids to continue working on "their camp" and prepared everything for the next campfire. The next day we went to Dutch Lake RV Park at Clearwater.
Dutch Lake & Rearguard Falls
Day 11: On the way to Dutch Lake we made a walk to Rearguard Falls (3.2 km).
Read moreJasper National Park: Map
- Western Canada travel program overview
