Day 14 – Wednesday 7th June – Whistler Campground at Jasper

Today Hilary and Chris have organized a boat trip for us on Lake Maligne, not as part of the tour but something a lot of us wanted to do.  On the drive to the lake there is an opportunity to take a walk on the Maligne Canyon Trail, so we take advice and park at the Fifth Bridge and walk from there.  This is another stunningly beautiful walk within the narrow limestone gorge. The path goes alongside and crosses at a number of bridges, the cascading river. This plunges through the contorted shapes of the canyon sides and over many waterfalls.  The water itself has come from Medicine Lake through a complex series of underground passageways.  In spite of the fact there is no river issuing from the lake itself, the level of water in it is seasonal and dependent on the flow through the network of tunnels and into Maligne Canyon.

The walk up the canyon ends at First Bridge where there is a large car park and tea rooms.  Unsurprisingly the last two bridges have considerably more visitors than we have seen on the walk up to that point.  We are however very pleased to have a sit and cup of coffee.

Then, with time pressing, it’s on to Maligne Lake and the boat trip to Spirit Island.  There is a lot of tourist hype about the “island” and this is the first real example of overtly commercial exploitation of the natural environment we have encountered on the trip.  It will not be the last!

By the time we have parked the RV we are just in time to collect our tickets and head for the dock.  We are whisked along in a powerful boat with a commentary on the mountains and lake features as we pass them.  The scenery is spectacular and as we near the far end of the lake the boat turns into a small bay and we see the much-hyped Spirit Island.  It is quite striking but we have seen and will see just as beautiful scenes and places on this tour.  We land for some photos and then after a short time board the boat for the return ride down the lake.


 As we disembark there is an opportunity for a cup of tea and piece of cake, as there has been no time for lunch today!

Then it’s back in the RV for the return drive to Jasper.  There are mountain goats on the road at Medicine Lake but we have also been advised to look out for a bald eagle nest just off this road and sure enough we spot the nest and the mother eagle in another nearby tree.  The use of the super zoom means that I get a great view of both and some nice pictures of the two young birds in the nest and their mother who is keeping watch.

 Altogether a great day.

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