Day 10 To Maligne Lake and Maligne Canyon

This morning, after buying petrol (98p per litre here) we headed north out of Jasper, then east after crossing The Athabasca River via one of the many box bridges

towards Maligne Lake, a journey of around 50 minutes. The road was quiet, with breath taking scenery and a prominent bear warning sign.

We drove through a vast area of burnt forest, reminding us of all the fire warnings that we have seen. Despite the rain the alert level is still extreme.

Pausing to admire the view at Medicine Lake, the name derives from an Indian word meaning "Lake of the Spirit."

Then on to Maligne Lake, a very busy spot with boat trips to Spirit Island, canoe/kayak hire and plenty of coaches full of tourists. As usual, as soon as you walk a little way, you can get away from most of them! The Canadian sized mossies were not so easy to get away from!

Managed to get a glimpse of Mount Warren and the other mountains surrounding the lake,

Back to the car park, with great views, as usual

and the now familiar long drop toilets

and animal proof bins, with catches underneath the handles to stop the bears raiding them.

We then drove back towards Jasper to visit Maligne Canyon, with a series of 6 bridges, which provided great views of the deep canyon, river and some spectacular waterfalls.

and a Canadian sized log jam!

After walking the pathway to the first 4 bridges we returned to the cafe for a quick drink and then drove to the other 2 bridges, some 4km away, via The Maligne Overlook with it's stunning view point

Just as we headed back onto the main road we caught sight of a brown bear with her two cubs, but unfortunately, we weren't fast enough with the camera to get any pictures.

Bridges 5 and 6 were after the river had widened out