Maligne Lake and Stag Do

Another 1/2 hour drive or so later, we landed at Maligne Lake. This is a comparatively busy place, with fishing boats, touring boats and so on. We didn't stop long, as after Medicine Lake it had a bustley feeling about it. Nevertheless it is a lovely spot and the drive alone makes the trip worthwhile. We then drove slowly back towards Jasper Town, stopping here and there. Nozomi took a turn at driving, and discovered she enjoyed driving the SUV. Something about that makes my wallet twitch alarmingly. (No way!) Along the way, we got caught in an elk Jam. Naturally we stopped to take some photos. This time it was a small herd of female elk and a lone stag who was steadfastly guarding and shepherding his harem. Got some great pictures. However, the stag was obviously becoming agitated; aggressively herding the females away from the rapidly growing crowd of people and the coaches that were slowing down for photo opportunities.

A Taste of Medicine

Medicine Lake
Next stop of the day was Medicine Lake. So called by the native people due to the fact that in the fall (autumn) the water disappears, and then in the spring it reappears, allegedly giving it supernatural powers. Maybe there is something to the story, as we both felt very peaceful and content whilst we were there. It is a beautiful place, as I hope you can see from the photo.

Moose Jam

Upon opening the curtains this morning we discovered that the mountains were sprinkled with a dusting of snow. I had heard some thunder in the night but wasn't expecting snow. Yesterday it was 25C (80F). This morning it was 3C (36F). Who would have thunk it?! We wandered into town and had some breakfast and did a spot of shopping. I bought a new fleece. (It was chilly after all). After a couple of hours ambling about and spot of lunch at a pizza joint, we drove up to the Sulphur Mountain Gondolar. The weather was just starting to clear up and we were one step ahead of the crowds. We rode the gondolar up to the mountain. Words cannot describe the panoroma. Suffice to say that it is breathtaking in its scale and beauty. The snow frosting on top only adding to its granduer. It absolutely has to be experienced. I don't think I could ever tire of the view. After a couple of hours ambling about at the top of the mountain, we descended via the gondolar and then drove on to Cave and Basin. To be honest, it was a touch disappointing. It is the site of a hot spring and historically was the reason that the Banff National Park exists, but compared to Japanese onsen, it is not much to look at. The smell is however sulphurously impressive. phew! On the way back to town, we hit a Moose Jam.
A moose (or is that an elk?) had decided to invade a local resident's front garden for a snack and pretty soon a minor traffic jam built up as people stopped to take photos. Actually, we started the jam.. However, everyone was good natured about it, taking the opportunity to snap the greedy moose. Anyway, we drove back to town then had a couple of drinks at Wild Bill's whilst enjoying the sunset. Then it was on to a Japanese restaurant called Sukiyaki where we had some delicious sushi and yakitori. The food was fabulous. The tuna especially so. The view of the mountains must placate the very busy sushi chefs somewhat. Then it was back to the hotel, and so ended another great day in the big C.