We learned a couple of things on this trip. For one thing, if there is curve in the road or the path or the trail, go around it! There's something way cool up ahead. This lesson was repeated over and over - in Johnston Canyon, on the Icefield Parkway, at Emerald Lake to name a few.
We also learned that even if the weather seemed dicey, what the hell - go for it. If it's bad, we could always turn around. So many days we started with so-so weather and wound up with something amazing.
Both of these lessons were repeated at Maligne Canyon.
After our trail ride, we still had time for more sight-seeing. Maligne Canyon is a short distance from our "home" in Jasper so, although it was fairly late in the afternoon, what the hell - go for it.
Oh my god! (again.)
We really had no idea what to expect but whatever we didn't expect, it wasn't this!
The Maligne River flows out of Maligne Lake, through Medicine Lake (more about these in a later post), then goes underground only to emerge just above Maligne Canyon. The river's drop is quite steep so it's waters are very fast, (The river, lake and canyon got their name "maligne" in 1846 when a missionary's horses were swept away in the fast flowing stream. He called it "la travese maligne." The river has carved a deep twisty narrow canyon through the bedrock. In places the canyon is 50 meters (168 feet) deep but so narrow squirrels can jump across it.
Every new turn in the trail revealed some new amazing view. Because it was late in the day, we only planned to do a bit of the trail. We couldn't stop ourselves: we walked the whole trail, downstream and up..
There are more photos of Maligne Canyon here on Flickr. Have a look.
Source: Moon Handbooks The Canadian Rockies
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