Maligne Lake and Spirit Island

June 10, 2019

We planned to go kayaking on Maligne Lake today!  I have always wanted to do this, as this lake is one of my favorites.  Mother Nature, however, had other plans.  The weather was cloudy with a soft drizzle and gusty winds.  We drove back into Jasper and made the decision that if the winds kept us off the water in our kayaks, we would take the boat tour to Spirit Island on the lake, which would be a great compromise. 

We went to the Maligne Lake Boat Tour office in Jasper and booked a tour for 1:30 in the afternoon.   After enjoying a cup of coffee, shopping in some of the shops and walking about the town, we headed towards Maligne Lake.  We saw more elk and bears on our way there.  

As we drove past Medicine Lake we saw the devastation of the wildfire of 2015, which destroyed a large area around the lake and neighboring mountains.  We stopped and spoke to a Park Naturalist who had a display about the resident woodland caribou.  He explained the differences in caribou in Canada, and told us that the local herd around Medicine Lake is endangered as the herd in the past was made up of 68 animals, however is now down to 3!!  The park is considering implementing a breeding program to assist in increasing the herd.  The greatest threat to the caribou has been humans.  Caribou have hooves that allow them to travel through snow very affectively, however humans are travelling in the backcountry on snowshoes.  The snowshoe tracks allow the wolves to travel over snow also and this has made it easier for wolves to kill the caribou. His job is to raise awareness to this fact and give us greater knowledge to the negative effect of humans on the wildlife.

We arrived at Maligne Lake early enough to enjoy a sandwich. As we were walking into the restaurant, I noticed a woman who I thought I knew.  As I got closer she looked at me and asked, “Are you Bill?” and I asked, “Are you Beth?”   We acknowledged and gave each other a hug!  (Debbie was in front of me and turned around to see her husband in the arms of another woman!)  

Beth and I had worked together in Nanaimo before I retired. Beth introduced us to her wife, Kathy. Beth met Kathy online and they married in 2013.  Beth retired and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where they are now living.  They are vacationing in Jasper, Banff and Calgary and Kathy is really enjoying their time in Canada.   We had a great conversation and they promised they would follow us on the blog.  Another great coincidence! 

After a quick lunch we boarded the tour boat, a twin engine covered cabin cruiser that could hold 50 passengers.  We are part of approximately 30 passengers.  Maligne Lake Boat Tours has been taking tours on Maligne Lake for 70 years, before the park was created, therefore, they have been “grandfathered” into being allowed to have the only combustion engine on the lakes of the National Park.

Our skipper, Nat, and our onboard guide, Meg, gave a very informative history and pointed out specific mountains and details of the surrounding area of the lake and how the lake was formed.  Our trip to Spirit Island is approximately 45 minutes and once we arrive we can walk into the area near the island. The island is considered to be sacred according to the indigenous people and the Parks discourage anyone from walking onto the island, attached by a narrow isthmus.   We looked at the incredible scenery and took many photographs. It really is an iconic scene. 

As we returned to the docks, we noticed that the winds had increased and the temperature had dropped.  It would not be a very comfortable paddle and so we concluded that we had made the right decision.

We still had lots of daylight left so we returned to Jasper.  We took a side trip and explored the Pyramid Lake region and finally came back into Jasper for supper.  We enjoyed a delicious burger at Authentic Burger.  Before returning to our campsite, we stopped at the Jasper Recreation Centre for a swim, hot tub and a few minutes in the steam room.  The Jasper Rec Center is a clean and modern facility.

We drove back to the trailer and it did not take long before we were fast asleep.