Trip to Maligne Lake

Final stop on the Jasper field trip (more here and here) was a visit to Maligne Lake.  I had never been there before but have of course seen the near iconic photo of  Spirit Island  many times. Chrissy had visited previously but couldn't quite remembered when she had last - needless to say, it had been a while.

The first thing that struck us was the high water levels. Even the Curly Phillips Boathouse, originally built in 1928, was temporarily out of service as it was flooded out. I wonder how many times its been flooded out like this and how much of the building has been replaced due to this type of wear and tear?

Funny enough the boathouse isn't even where the tour boats are docked. As we are both poor and or cheap, we declined taking the boats to Spirit Island. It will have to wait for another trip.

 Instead we decided to walk around and explore the trails and other buildings.

It is a good thing we decided to visit when we did as just a week or so after we left the road to the Lake was shut down with a mudslide. It's something I could definitely see after witnessing just how high the water was.

Bonus:
On the way back from Maligne Lake we stopped at Jasper Park Lodge for a quick drink and upon exiting the resort we witnessed a momma bear and a couple of cubs walking between the road and forest.

Also on the way back to William A Switzer Park we came across this monster along the side of the road.

Overall, it was a great camping trip and I am glad to say that Chrissy and I are still together after the trip.