Day 12 - Lots of mountains

Today is Alan's blog day, provided that my fingers have thawed out sufficiently to type. Sarah's ramblings are in red.

 

We had a nice sleep in this morning since the weather forecast was for wet and icky today. We could see squirrels playing on the grass just across from the hotel carpark. They're so cute the way they chase each other around. There are plenty of sights to see around here, but with the weather looking ominous, we weren't particularly confident as we headed out at around 11am. Before we left the hotel we had a few flurries of snow so we were hopeful of a bit more.

 

We decided to take a drive the short distance to Maligne Canyon. It was only a short walk from the carpark to the canyon, which was quite impressive. We took some photos on the bridge over the canyon and then managed to find a waterfall a little further upstream. After leaving the canyon we made the decision to take the 38 kilometre drive to Maligne Lake, despite the low cloud looking like it could rain at any minute.

 

After driving for a short time, we started to come across trees covered with snow and it actually started to snow lightly. When we came across a rest area on the side of the road we pulled in there to take some photos. I convinced Alan to shake a tree branch while just wearing his jumper.  That was funny. Back on the road again and before long we came to Medicine Lake. We stopped at the viewing area once again to take photos. There was a couple of wooden tables and chairs which were covered in about 2 inches of snow which we threw at each other. More like you drowned me in snow. Someone had previously built an adorable little snowman there. Medicine Lake is very strange. During their summer and autumn, it's a perfectly normal lake, around 20 metres deep. But during winter and spring almost all of the water disappears, leaving sodden mud flats. Nobody knows where the water goes because the lake has no outlet for water.

 

A short way further up the road and we came to Maligne Lake. There was a heck of a lot of snow around this area and it was absolutely no surprise to us when we saw that the lake was completely frozen. We parked in the designated parking area and walked down the icy path to the lake. Unlike the frozen lakes we had seen in the last few days which were unsafe to walk on, this one was solid and we were able to take a walk out onto it. Yes, I can walk on water. Even I can walk on water. We ran into a guy from Brisbane there and he's doing a similar trip to us except in reverse, so we were telling each other what to expect in the days ahead. More photos were taken before we decided that it was time to leave and head back into Jasper.

 

It was around 2.30 by now and the weather had cleared up nicely. There was even some blue sky trying hard to poke through the clouds. So we thought we wouldn't have a better time than now to give the Jasper Tramway a go and we headed straight over there. The tramway is a gondola thingy which takes you up a very steep mountainside almost to the top of the mountain. The view on the way up was amazing. We had a great view of Jasper, plus the nearby lakes and all the surrounding mountain ranges. I think it's the first time that we haven't had cloud covering the top of the mountains. We got out at the top of the tramway and took a walk around the little boardwalk area they have there. The snow up there is so soft. It's like nothing we've ever experienced before. It's like touching cotton wool except a little colder. After about 5 or 10 minutes outside I was ready to get back inside and out of the cold. It was minus 2 up there and that's far too cold for me. One long sleeve shirt, a jumper, leather jacket  a beanie and with his hands in his pockets and yes, he was still complaining.  .It actually wasn't that bad if you were out of the wind. We caught the tramway back down the mountain and then headed across town to check out some of the lakes.

 

Lake Annette and Lake Edith are both light blue lakes, just like Seton Lake which we saw a few days ago. I was actually surprised that the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I mean it was cold, but not freezing. But after taking a few photos in front of the lakes, I was absolutely frozen solid so I just couldn't stay out there any longer and we made our way back to our hotel room. It's lovely and warm in here because we have the heater on. We'll have to go out to find some dinner soon, but I think we'll probably eat in the hotel like we did last night because it's going to get down as low as minus 4 here in Jasper tonight so I don't think we'll be going outside.

 

We did manage to see deer and elk today, but still no moose or bears unfortunately. We're still hopeful.

We did have dinner in the hotel again.  Tonight they are having a special all you can eat chocolate buffet for $7.95 to raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation.  We are heading back down there shortly. It is for charity. Chocolate overload.  Chocolate fountain with strawberries, rockmelon, honeydew and pineapple. There were banana and chocolate crepes which we thought we were putting custard on but was actually white chocolate. Then there were various spoons with stuff, like dark chocolate squares, a brownie, chocolate and nuts.  Then there was chocolate mousse and chocolate tarts. Of course there were chocolate easter eggs too.