Two Great Days at Jasper National Park

Even with fire in 2024 the views everywhere here are like picture postcards. I just took this picture from inside the camper sitting in my recliner. I may live in a trailer but you just can’t beat my yard.

Yesterday we drove a couple of miles to hike up Old Fort Hill.

The trail starts up these steps.

At the top you get a nice view of the Athabasca River.

And then you start up.

And the views get better.

Bud kept thinking he was going to stop.

But then hiked on up to the next level.

And in the end he hiked the half mile to the top for some very nice views…

of mountains and the river…

and the town.

It was a lot easier walking back down.

When we were almost down some rafters came by.

Bud drove back, but I decided to hike back. Notice that the trees right here hadn’t burned;

but this resort was not so lucky.

The trail followed the river.

It crossed the little Miette River…

at the point where it flowed into the Athabasca River. I looked up why the river from glacier melt was so white and cloudy. It’s because the glacier has ground the rocks beneath it to a powder. When it melts that very fine powder is suspended in the water and flows for miles and miles with the river.

The trail system around here is very well marked.

There are still trails closed from the fire, I think mostly where there are banks destabilized because the trees burned off them.

Today we drove up along the Maligne (muh LENE) River to Maligne Lake. We stopped here and I got to take a couple of pictures, I was driving so no pictures along the way.

There are signs everywhere saying not to feed the wildlife, but obviously not everyone heeds them.

I must admit, this little guy was hard to turn down.

When we got to Maligne Lake we took the Moose Lake Loop. According to the Jasper National Park Visitor Guide this is a “forested trail to a peaceful lake, where moose are often seen.”

This is Moose Lake.

This is the moose.

We weren’t the only ones watching her.

She didn’t seem at all fazed by her admirers.

We walked across the end of the lake from one moose viewing area to another. The moose was now quite close to where we had been.

Obviously not everyone had read the sign.

Admittedly she almost acted like she was on the park payroll. I half expected her to clock out and have a second shift moose come to pose for the crowds.

After about 15 minutes and 50 photos we moved along to the shore of Maligne Lake and the end of our walk.

The water from Lake Maligne flows down the Maligne River…

to Medicine Lake.

The outflow of Medicine Lake is dry unless there is an unusually large snowmelt. Otherwise, all the water drains through gravel strewn openings in the bottom of the lake. In summer these are covered with water, but by winter the lake consists of just a few frozen ponds over these openings.

The water reappears miles below in Maligne Canyon; unfortunately that is an area still closed from the fire.

I was able to take this video that seems to show the water running into and out of the rocks.

I was far above on the overlook, so I’m not exactly sure of the way the water flowed.

I needed to do more walking so in the afternoon I had Bud drop me off in town.

I visited the park store…

and got a magnet for our collection. We have US National Parks on the freezer door of our refrigerator and Canadian parks below.

I walked back…

through this pretty town.

They are still rebuilding the west end of town.

The pedestrian walkway…

under the railroad tracks was either unharmed or repaired,

and the trail markers were still there, even if the tree was all but gone. Notice the nearby tree, unscathed for some reason.

Everything is well marked and easy to follow.

I was soon back to the part of the path I had taken the day before, but today I chose to take a side trail…

that led closer to the river.

I was impressed by the power of the current. This is a lot of water just fifty miles from its source.

I then came to a section of the trail that was a causeway. I love the money that is invested to facilitate foot and bike traffic here.

A great ending to a great couple of days was coming back to camp to find mule deer hanging out in the campground. I took these photos without any zoom.

One of the deer stayed right at the edge of the road and watched me as I walked by.

This is another corner of this gorgeous earth we have been privileged to visit.