Bradley Vacation Blog: August 6 Jasper

It's a beautiful day in Jasper and for our excursion to Maligne Lake. As we walked to the main lodge to get some breakfast, Edith was nicely reflected in the lake.

We waited for the excursion bus at the front of the lodge. There were charming hanging baskets virtually everywhere we went in Canada, but the lodge here has overwhelmed.

Off for a drive through the Canadian Rockies.

We stop for wildlife along the road, here an elk who cares nothing about us.

A brief stop at Medicine Lake. Our guide complained that there hasn't been enough rain this year and all the lakes are low.

Not sure the name of this creek on our drive to Maligne Lake. The google map calls it both Jeffrey Creek and Evelyn Creek. I'll just say pretty.

We arrive at Maligne Lake. It got its name from the Maligne River that flows into it. The river was named after the explorer "a Belgian priest (Pieter Jan De Smet ) voyageur created this name in reference to the current of the river near its confluence with the Athabasca River." Maligne means malignant or wicked. I thought it was calm and peaceful, but I wasn't on the river.

All forms of non-motorized watercraft are on the lake. Our captain was careful to slow down as we passed each kayak, canoe or rowboat to avoid swamping them with our wake. The tour boat we traveled on was grandfathered in as permissible since they were running before this area became Jasper National Park. Nice way to get a monopoly on tourist travel on the lake. Although I guess we could have all rented kayaks.

Pine Bark Beetles has infested the region around Jasper and you can see that they have killed off a number of trees in this area. Both the bus and boat guide said that 20th century fire suppression has resulted in forests that are 3-4 times denser than they should be for optimum health of the trees. The beetles kill off the weak and sickly, and maybe they're part of Mother Nature fixing the problem. But, all of these dead trees make great tinder for the next fire.

I can't name all of these mountains. The guide probably told us, but I forgot. This is part of the range of mountains to the south and west of the lake. You can choose between any of them. My best guess is Mt. Charlton since that's the only one that has glacier markings on the map.