Well, it’s back to reality… as in, we’ve made it back home safely from Canada. However, I still have a week’s worth of our trip to catch you up on! Please enjoy these next few posts and allow me to indulge in the wonderful, not-so-distant memories.

For our first day in Jasper National Park, we booked an evening cruise at Maligne Lake to Spirit Island (aka heaven). On the way to the lake, we stopped by Maligne Canyon for a short hike. Maligne Canyon is the deepest canyon in the park, with many beautiful waterfalls.

We enjoyed viewing the canyon from the many bridges built throughout. If you find yourselves in Jasper, I would definitely stop to visit Maligne Canyon. The hike is easy to moderate and well worth the effort.

Next, we made our way to Maligne Lake which is about a 30 minute drive beyond the canyon. The road boasts many animal sightings, but we didn’t see a one on the way there.

Even so, that didn’t take away from the stunning Maligne Lake views. We were lucky to land a perfectly clear night. Before boarding the boat, we sampled some delicious homemade waffles at a local vendor and then we were off!

The cruise guide filled us in on the history and geological features of Maligne Lake as we made our way to Spirit Island. We saw three different glaciers on the way.

Spirit Island and the views while looking out drop the island are iconic to Jasper National Park and have been featured in several major ad campaigns, including one for Apple and Kodak. Another interesting fact is that Spirit Island is not actually a true island most of the time. In spring, the melting snow and heavy rains increase the water levels enough to cut it off from the shore. The rest of the year, it’s connected to shore.

We docked at Spirit Island for about 15 minutes – just enough time for a short stroll and to snap a few pictures.

Back on the road to Jasper for dinner, we kept our eyes peeled for wildlife. And this time we were lucky – we saw a giant Golden Eagle and its nest right by Medicine Lake and a lone elk grazing by the road.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Jasper Pizza Place before trekking back to our cabin in the woods.

Again, we were on the lookout for animals and we scored with a black bear sighting along the road to the hot springs – our first of the trip. Not bad for our first day in Jasper!