July 03 was supposed to rain. However, to our surprise, it turned out to be a gorgeous day.
The plan was to drive to Maligne Lake with a stop at Medicine Lake and then go to Maligne Canyon on the way back.
At close to Medicine Lake along Maligne Road, we were rewarded with our first wildlife sighting of the day. It was, we chose to believe, a caribou. We got very close quietly. Such a majestic and graceful creature! He was completely at ease, taking his time grazing and after a few minutes, disappeared into the woods.
Medicine Lake was small but no less beautiful.
Maligne Lake is said to be the largest and deepest lake in Jasper National Park. It was exceptionally long at 22 km. We took to hike the Mary Schaffer Loop that's about 3km long and with part of it along the lake.
Before the trail leaves the lake front, there is a nice little "bay" with a pebble beach. Everyone had lots of fun here trying to skip rocks on water. Daddy could skip as many as 15, and he was dubbed the "Master Skipper".
The trail took us inland, and at one point there was a beautiful meadow where the boys excitedly discovered a couple of gopher holes.
After looping back, we continued along the lake for a stroll and stopped at where Maligne Lake turned into Maligne River.
Next stop for us would be the Maligne Canyon. While driving there, we were rewarded with our second wildlife sighting of the day. This time it was a black bear with two cubs!
This was our very first bear sighting!
Continuing on, we saw another caribou, which could be the same one we saw in the morning, given the location.
Our fourth wildlife sighting of the day was again a black bear with, this time, one cub.
After a short lunch at the teahouse by the parking lot at Maligne Canyon, we set out for a walk to the fourth foot bridge. It was a fairly pleasant walk with each bridge bringing a spectacular view of the Maligne river rushing through the canyon.
Dinner was had at the only Chinese restaurant in town. Not really very authentic, and no comparison to the one we went to at Banff.
By the time we finished dinner, it was already a little past 11pm, but it did not feel that late.
Good night.
- The Canadian Rockies-Day Six
