Day 6

Friday, September 28, 2012

We got up and headed downtown for breakfast at a restaurant we had spotted last night while looking for a place to have dinner. Papa George's. Good breakfast special for a reasonable price—reasonable for Jasper, that is.

Then off to the drive to Maligne Lake. So named because some foolish Dutch priest decided to try to ford the Maligne River against advice from the Indians and was almost swept downstream. Of course this was the river's fault. So he cursed the river and called it maligne, which is French for evil. When Mary Schaffer came along later to explore and name all the mountains and the lake, she decided to keep the name.

Anyway, this is the lake that has the famous Spirit Island which can only be reached by boat. It's the second-most photographed sight in the Canadian Rockies. The lake is beautiful and when the boat reaches Spirit Island, it docks on the mainland and you get to get out and walk around and photograph things. We had a very interesting guide, learned all sorts of stuff about avalanches and rock slides.

Then we headed back along Maligne Lake Road to Maligne Canyon. A reasonable trail led to two different bridges across the canyon which provided interesting viewpoints. It's always awesome to see these rivers pouring through these canyons. This one had a pretty spectacular waterfall. I wish my old brain could remember to take a video so as to record the sound, but I never seem to think of it at the time.

Then we cruised through the Fairmont grounds, but decided their lake wasn't too exciting. Back to Jasper for a very late lunch. Stopped at the grocery store to get some bread & cheese for a late dinner out at Patricia Lake so we wouldn't have to go back into town for dinner. Ate at Earl's on the patio overlooking Jasper. Great food at great Jasper prices.

Then back to Patricia Lake. We checked out all the facilities we didn't have time to check out last night. Nice dock and sitting area on the lake and boats, canoes, etc. for rent. Seems to be a popular resort—it's full.