Hey guys and gals!
We are now back from our week-long getaway to our favorite place in Canada... Jasper National Park, what a week! We experienced so many new things I hardly know where to begin but one place unexpectedly stood out and I might as well start there and change it up from my usual day-by-day break down. This part of Jasper deserves to be the star of the show for this trip. No doubt the Maligne area has always been one of the highlights of the park and a favorite of ours with the beautiful Maligne Lake and Spirit Island leaving countless visitors in awe for most of the temperate season but in the winter, the tourism activity comes to an end leaving the canyon as the center stage for epic frozen fun.
A view of Pyramid Mountain as we are coming down from Medicine Lake on our way down to Maligne Canyon. Taken on Maligne Lake road. Shot 1/500 sec. f/5.6 78 mm, ISO 360
To get a better understanding at what we are about to walk thru, I will give you a little bit of information on the flow of things around here. Being the largest lake in Jasper, Maligne Lake is fed from melting glaciers, from there it runs down the mountain via the Maligne river into Medicine Lake where the water disappears...where does it go? Medicine Lake is also referred as the "bathtub" of Jasper being a unique feature with an interesting story behind it. In the summer, the glaciers melt faster than the underground rivers and cave systems can carry forming an accumulation of water resembling a lake that eventually drains completely and disappears as winter sets in, glaciers freeze again and the water flow slows down.
Medicine Lake. Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 46 mm, ISO 100
From Medicine Lake, the water flows into a network of underground rivers that carries the water to various directions including Maligne Canyon (a dye test determined it flows as far as the Red Deer river). The underground rivers never freeze and maintain a temperature of around 5 degrees celcius continue to feed the canyon all winter long forming impressive ice formations and caves. The partial freezing of the river and reduction in flow allow for access inside the canyon for a different perspective identifying all of the water sources from the large obvious waterfalls to the smallest of cracks that may otherwise go unnoticed in summer along with hidden caves at the bottom of the canyon.
Shot 1/125 sec. f/5.6 18 mm, ISO 400
We always do the self guided tour on the ridge in the summer and I highly recommend it being an easy enough short hike but the area really comes to life after the big inhumane cold streaks like we just experienced and that's where the real fun begins. I know many of you think I'm nuts for celebrating the sometimes intolerable winter conditions, there is reasoning behind my madness, you can't get a playground like this without! Luckily as soon as we got to Jasper, the temperature took a sudden turn for the best to just above the freezing mark being perfect for exploring. The only thing, being on the ice is much more dangerous then walking the ridge and there are many precautions to be taken.
Photo taken with my camera by some new explorer friends for the afternoon.
The fast flowing river doesn't completely freeze during winter and the water levels fluctuate creating what is called "shelf ice" that can be hollow underneath creating additional collapse hazards. I'm no ice expert and it's been a relatively mild winter for the most part, it was time to get some knowledge from the pros at Pursuit if we were going to get inside the canyon before we went exploring on our own. The Ice walk tour can be booked online (I will provide a link below the post) or can be booked in person at the Wilderness Kitchen building at the gift shop section. During busier times, advanced booking may be required but we had no issues getting on the next tour just a few hours in advance since we are visiting during low season.
Helmet, waterproof boots and cleats are provided by the tour. Dress warm enough because it does get a little bit cooler than on the ridge and this tour can take up to 3 hours. The tour begins with a brief explanation of the area, the route that will be taken and precautions. As we make our way along the ridge, our guide and new friend Ankit explains the different types of ice, how they are formed and gets in better details about the underground water drainage system on the way to the safe access point to get inside the canyon...turns out ice does go bad...who knew! We learned how to differentiate the preferred ice for climbers, the blue ice or referred to as plastic ice is structurally sound and safer/easier to climb and the brown ice, called rotten ice is contaminated and looks brownish, good to know since we plan on giving ice climbing a go next year. Parts of the walls can get as deep as 51 meters in some sections making it Jasper's deepest canyon.
Rockaboo Ice climbing tour have a class for the first timer. Shot 1/200 sec. f/7.1 18 mm, ISO 200
After learning all about the formation of ice structures, we had reached the safe access point and it was time to get a closer look at the natural marvels and learn how to safely select a path around the river and frozen structures. The group got schooled on other smaller ice formations and special features from the canyon like hidden caves only accessible during winter and waterfalls that continue to flow no matter how cold it gets. The tour includes a lot of photo breaks and time to explore on our own a little as the features get pointed out, it turns out Ankit is also a photographer and takes everyone's picture wherever we want, just ask and he will gladly jump to the occasion.
Of course, the water that comes strait out of the rock is safe to drink and we love glacier water, we had to indulge and refill our water bottles! The best tasting water anyone can ever drink, so pure. As mentioned above, the water continues to flow no matter how frozen things get, when you stand close enough you can see and hear the water flowing either under or over the ice continuing the build-up over the cold season. I'm sure by now you may have figured out what my unicorn was by my photos ...the ice cave...but unfortunately, the shelf ice to get there had collapsed and it wasn't safe to bring a tour thru it was time to head back up and out stopping by 1st Bridge to view the bigger waterfall in it's frozen glory( the identifying markers on the trail are numbered bridges). We can hear the water flowing heavily under the ice, kind of a reminder of the dangers below when exploring on our own. This was an informative tour with an excellent guide and we definitely enjoyed ourselves learning about ice, way worth the inhumane cold required to build such a landscape...as odd as it may sound!
When there is a will, there is a way, we came back the next day to eat at the Wilderness Kitchen and saw the ice climbing tour van so we headed strait into the trail to take pictures of the climbers and since we made it that far and were now educated on how to safely get around we headed back down. The climbers and other activities happening near my unicorn so there was obviously an alternate off the beaten path there and the ice was at least safe enough to explore at our own risk up to that point as long as we followed the fresh footsteps on the edges of the shelf ice, having our cleats we headed strait for the ice cave. For the third time in 2 days, we met the same couple exploring the canyon so we became temporary friends for the rest our walk, it was perfect to give you perspective of how big the ice towers really are. Truth be told, we should have been wearing helmets in there, just about anywhere inside the canyon, there is a lot of overhead hazards. When exploring, look up before stopping, there are fallen trees resting at the top, might not want to stand underneath them.
Now that my ice explorations felt complete, the Maligne experience was far from over. At the main entrance to the canyon, aka 1st Bridge and secluded away from town is the perfect place to warm up and refuel before continuing on our journey to the warm rustic-chic atmosphere at the Maligne Canyon Wilderness Kitchen for a coffee and an early dinner. During low season, open for lunch until the last guests are received at 4 pm for dinner service with longer hours on Saturdays. The dinning room is welcoming with large windows and natural sunlight, plenty of fireplaces both indoor and outdoor and the large rows of comfy sofa type seating lined with enough pillows to get lost in to lounge around or regular tables for more formal seating are available. The decor was a mix of modern art and various historical pieces that shaped Jasper and it's local people's contributions in the last 100+ years.
The restaurant and chef take pride in serving Alberta's best local ingredients in each of their hand-crafted dishes that represent our past and present traditional foods. I found this place online and almost instantly knew looking at the menu this would be perfect place to eat with my life threatening food allergies. A small simple well executed menu of the best local cuts like wild boar, bison and Alberta beef paired with choice of sides and local craft brews from the Jasper Brewing Co. We tried the 16 hour slow cooked beef brisket & oka cheese sandwich and the bison burger with wild boar bacon and blueberry chutney, as our sides we both went with the creamy oka mac & cheese and the garlic & parsley fries paired with the Trail Session IPA.
I couldn't have the maple bbq sauce because of my allergies, I'm sure I was missing out a little but the food was so flavorful, I hardly noticed anything was missing from my dish. The smoked flavors in the brisket was amazing and perfectly balanced with the birch scented coleslaw. We went halfsies and split the sandwich and the burger so we could go on a taste test of as much as we could. The creamy goat cheese and blueberry chutney was the perfect addition to keep the taste of the bison as the star in a soft home made brioche. Both the fries and the mac&cheese were out of this world I couldn't get enough of either one. The simple ingredients and knowledgeable chef made it easy to identify and avoid my allergens for a safe dinning experience, most of you take that for granted, I don't have many places I can eat. The food is the best I ever had and fast service in a cozy atmosphere makes it our go to place to eat in Jasper from now on. You can't come here and not try this place, this is truly Alberta on a plate.
As any other developed tourist destination, there is also a gift shop to load up on Maligne Canyon swag and other canadiana trinkets where everyone is happy to point out their favorite resident, " The million dollar bear" carved out of the prized Canadian jade. Being a central location with tour bookings & shuttle pick-ups , store and restaurant, there is a wealth of information to learn about the area, must see landscapes or other available tours even current wildlife spotting. The joys of going off season, it's nice and quiet for photography and the guides and locals have time and are happy to divulge their secret knowledge and experiences if asked. Everything about this place was a notch above, from the tours to the food, they really go out of their way to make everything come together like a dream. If you are going to explore Jasper in the winter, this is a must have experience...all of it.
I see your prized 12 point Mr. , we found a 15 point as well, not at the same time but at the same location.
Like a bad late night infomercial...But wait, there is more!! haha. We caught wind from a local that there was a prized 12 point elk to be had right on the side of the road one the way off the mountain and of course we had our next destination chosen for us, just like that. We were too full to move or hike anywhere so animal search it is. I mentioned in one of my recent posts that Maligne Lake road is a mecca for wildlife, well going from the entrance all the way to Medicine Lake and back, there is almost a certainty to see a large animal and the road is relatively safe and maintained year round. In the winter moose, elk and mountain sheep can often be found blocking the road or close to the sides for easy photography especially about an hour before sundown. With hardly any traffic, it makes it easy to just admire nature at it's finest for long periods for precious memories. We took our time and part of 2 days to do but to book a 9 am tour, all of this is possible for one day's worth of fun. There you have it my friends, the ultimate winter Maligne experience!
Mountain sheep aka Ram.
A mother moose and her baby having a moment, probably my
favorite picture from this trip, I plan to post more pictures of
them in the rest of my trip details.
Here are the links as promised:
https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/dining/maligne-canyon-wilderness-kitchen/
https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/canadian-rockies/jasper/maligne-canyon-icewalks/
All images taken with Nikon D7000.