Rocky Mountain Adventure: Maligne Lake and other sites.....

Today was a beautiful day - a perfect day for my boat ride on Maligne Lake to Spirit Island. A picture of this lake I found years ago inspired the trip up here. The scenery did not disappoint. It turns out that Spirit Island is not really an island - its called an ismus. The way it came by its name is still debated by local historians, but one accepted story is that a photographer took a photo at the spot and entered it in a Kodak color picture contest in the 1950's. He won. He said the photo reflected the spirit of Alberta and so it became known as Spirit Island. No matter how it got its name - it is a lovely spot.

Even the road to get to Maligne Lake is awesome and it has a sister lake called Medicine that isn't too shabby either. I saw a herd of caribou grazing along the road. There are many caribou that live in the area.

After the boat ride and lunch, I headed to Maligne Canyon, named because the Maligne River carved it out and there are some awesome waterfalls. Parts of the canyon are so deep and narrow, you can only hear the water flowing.

Then, at the advice of my B&B owners, I headed up to see Mt. Edith Cavell - the tallest peak near Jasper. The road up was narrow and winding with several switchbacks, but had been newly paved. (The ride down was much more fun.) The mountain was named for Edith Cavell who was a nurse during World War I. She risked her life to help save Allied soldiers and was killed by the Germans for doing so. There was a huge glacier hanging from the side of the peak and another one at the base. Cold, clear water flowed into a beautiful lake downstream.