Friday 22 September
We needed to drive 17 km southwest of Jasper for our first sight for the day . I’d read that Mt Edith Cavell and the Angel Glacier were a prime place to visit in Jasper National Park and that you need to get there early as the parking lot fills up. The drive up was narrow and winding but as we drew closer to the mountain we could see what the fuss was about . I’d read it was a “beast” of a mountain and up close it was spectacular . Luckily we’d arrived in time to get a park and set off up the hill on the Path of the Glacier Trail . We could see the glacier above us as we climbed . It’s only about 1.2km in and out and once we topped the rise we could look down to lovely view of the lake at the base of the glacier and the icebergs floating in it. It’s a magical place , it was much more remarkable than I’d expected ( another place where photos just can’t capture the scale) We continued down the rocky path to the lakes edge and just took it all in. This is definitely one of the highlights of the trip 🥰
We dragged ourselves away and set out for Maligne Canyon, this is back out the other side of Jasper so about another 25 km drive. The canyon is the deepest in the Rockies , 50m deep at some points . It is crossed by a series of 7 bridges which are joined by a walking trail. We parked at the big lot at the First bridge ( a bit of a challenge but Neil’s usual parking luck held up here) and set off down the path. Along the way we saw waterfalls and pot holes and places where the water disappeared into caves. It was a steep walk down so we went to the 4th bridge and then made our way back up again. There were lots of people here but we felt that it was hard to really get a good look at the canyon properly as it is so deep and so narrow .
We stopped at one of the picnic tables here for our lunch.
Next we had a 44km drive out to Maligne Lake . They do boat tours on the lake but we were planning to walk some of the trail that runs along the shore as I knew there were another set of Red Chairs there ( I’m in a mission!)
The drive out passes striking Medicine Lake which at this time of the year is pretty shallow. We also came across a “Bear Jam” where cars just stopped and the roadside was packed with people training their cameras on a Grizzly Bear placidly eating in the valley below .
A few miles further on we came upon a Jasper Park Ranger car standing guard over a female moose who was grazing on the side of the road . The ranger had a megaphone and was telling every car that passed to keep moving , she got very stern with the driver of the camper van before us😂
Finally we arrived at the lake and went for our stroll to find the chairs and the pretty views.
Back at the Lake House area we indulged in a gelato cone before heading back to Jasper to buy food for dinner.
Along the way we came across yet another Bear Jam. Neil thinks it was the same bear we saw earlier as it wasn’t far from where that had been . This time he was heading out across the creek.
We could self cater in our cabin which we enjoy doing every now and then on a long trip. Before dinner we took our wine and chips down to telecom the lodges Adirondack chairs with their view over the river .
Then back in the cabin a few Elks decided to wander in for a little light grazing.
I hadn’t had very high expectations of Jasper but our walk at Mt Edith Cavell has been one of the highlights of our trip , so yay for Jasper !