Wednesday 11th

Got up at 7.45am. Showered and had breakfast in room. Not rushing to go out so typed up diary and checked emails. Spoke to Tracey and Andy. Internet connection far too slow for FaceTime.

Went out about 10.30am and headed for Maligne Lake. Stopped just down the road alongside the river to take a few photos - saw butterflies. Turned onto the Maligne Lake road and went off to the Hanging Valley viewpoint and then straight to the Canyon.

We had coffee and shared an apple strudel as we’d only had fruit for breakfast. The canyon is fantastic with huge amounts of water rushing through. It’s carved its way down into a deep gorge. We followed a walk down from Bridge 1 to Bridge 3. All really really impressive. We started to come back up but spent some time talking to a group of Canadian ladies who were on tour together and who came from Edmonton.

Arriving back at the start we went back into the café and shared a salmon salad sandwich and an apple juice. The sandwich was really nice. We then went into the shop and bought a sweatshirt each.

Continuing down the valley was a steady drive as the speed limit is 60kph and there are warning signs about caribou - although we later discovered that there are hardly any of these left.

As we approached Medicine Lake we found people parked on the roadside. We naturally assumed that there was wildlife around but in fact it was simply the best place to get the view down the length of the lake with the mountains at the end showing as a really clear reflection in the still water. At the moment the lake is still there but obviously much lower than it has been. It fills in winter but there are swallow holes which take the water underground to emerge further down the valley. As the summer approaches the infill from snow melt becomes less than the outflow into the swallow holes and the lake slowly and completely disappears.

Shortly after setting off we found roadside parking. People were photographing a bald eagle sitting on a nest in trees on the lake shore. Les got a couple of shots at full telephoto. A more interesting shot was of the man in the car in front who had a camera lens the size of medium artillery piece. We’ve seen bald eagles much closer in Yellowstone so we’re not quite sure why we bothered with this one.

As we were about to leave we looked down towards the lake shore and saw first one bear and then two in the area. We took some long distance shots and then watched them walk across the road into the car park. We jumped in the car and drove round to near the car park, but by the time Les had got out and crossed the road the bears were disappearing into the forest at the back of the car park. We were still pleased with ourselves at having seen two more black bears.

A little further on we saw more roadside parking. This time a bear was a few yards from the roadside down the slope towards the lake. It was eating dandelions which we’d been told by someone earlier that they do to cleanse their system when they awake from hibernation. Managed to get some shots - we were a lot closer this time, but there was lots of vegetation that kept getting in the way.

Back in the car and finally non-stop to Maligne Lake. Contrary to our guide book the boat cruises are already running (book says they don’t start until July). The cruises last 90 mins and cost C$60 - we decided not to bother on the grounds of both time and cost. We went and had a much needed cup of tea in the restaurant and then walked down to the water’s edge. The lake is certainly impressive and very picturesque but we’re not quite sure why it’s supposed to be the best in the Rockies. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s very long and pretty well completely isolated with no roads alongside.

We had our photos taken by some nice Australians and then set out on the lakeside part of the Mary Schaffer Loop as far as the viewpoint. On the way, by the boathouse, we saw some people getting out of inflatable canoes - very impressive. As we watched the women deflated her canoe, rolled it up and put it into a large bag. We took some pictures to show Nigel.

We returned from the viewpoint back along the lakeside path rather than doing the complete loop. By now we’d had enough for the day and got in the car for the drive back. There was almost no other traffic on the road, so Les put the car on cruise control at 60kph and we were jokingly scanning the woods on either side for bears. To our astonishment Anne suddenly spotted a bear at the edge of the forest alongside a large empty parking area. We swung into the car park and stopped a few feet from the bear, wound the windows down and frantically started taking photos. At this point we realised there was another bear. The two of them came within a couple of feet of the car, although completely ignoring it, despite the fact that the engine was still running. It became obvious that they were going to walk along the car park parallel to the road. Les put the car in gear and drove alongside them taking photos. Anne was steering from the passenger seat. Got some fantastic photos until they disappeared again into the trees at the far end of the car park.

All this and nobody else in sight. We couldn’t believe our luck.

After that the drive back on the final stretch of the Maligne Valley and then into Jasper was a bit of an anticlimax. Filled the car before going to the hotel as we have a longish day driving tomorrow.

When we got back in our room and sorted ourselves out and downloaded photos. We decided that Anne’s birthday had already arrived in the UK so we shared a beer from the fridge to celebrate. We’ll probably open Anne’s cards tonight to save time in the morning.

Went across to eat in the hotel restaurant as it had been good yesterday and we didn’t want to make the effort of going out. On our way out in the morning we’d picked up a guide to Jasper Dining at Maligne Canyon. We’d sat and looked at it over coffee. There are certainly more places to eat than we’d realised from our quick drive around yesterday. However none of them seemed to be a ‘must do’. In the end we had another excellent meal. Anne had the salmon that Les had tried yesterday and Les had a steak. Interesting to see that the vegetables had changed from yesterday, so they obviously do try to vary things. We noticed that the meals aren’t huge as they are in the USA and Anne was actually able to finish hers - first time this trip!

Back to room to type up diary. Anne opened cards. Some really good ones - especially Jan & Dave’s ‘this little piggy’. So good that we sent a thank you straight away. Joyce’s card was full of 70 confetti. Think we managed to clear it all up.