Jasper

Our first full day in Jasper was declared a rest day…except the weather was lovely so we took a raincheck on the rest day and had a full day of adventuring instead! The kids were up for it so we set off for Maligne Lake Road, well-known for having regular moose sightings. We kept a beady-eyed look out all the way to Maligne Lake but were not fortunate enough to spot any moose. In lieu of actual moose, we went for a snowy hike around Moose Lake instead. There are so many beautiful lakes in the Jasper area and much of their beauty comes from the colour of the water. Although temperatures are relatively mild, all of the lakes are at least partially frozen over at the moment so we can’t see the water. Despite that, they are all still so beautiful for other reasons and have something unique if you look close enough. For us, Moose Lake had the most powder snow we’ve encountered on a lake so far. The kids had a great time diving, falling, jumping, and snow angel-ing!

The hike took us back to Maligne Lake, where we spotted more of the Parks Canada “red chairs”. It was interesting to see the boat docks frozen into the lake and the canoes piled up on the shore, signs of the fun to be had in summertime. The kids had fun pretending to leap off the dock, imagining the fresh lake water underneath them.

We drove slowly back down the road past the pretty Medicine Lake to the Maligne Canyon. The canyon has a walkway down beside it with a series of 5 bridges crossing over to allow views into the canyon. Before arriving in Canada, we had hoped to walk amongst the icicles inside the canyon from Bridge 4 back up to Bridge 1 on the frozen river. Unfortunately, the current conditions make this way too dangerous as the water isn’t frozen enough. Lucky for us, earlier in the day we were given some awesome tips from a local about how to make the most of the canyon in its current state by walking downstream from Bridge 4 instead. The canyon opens up at this point and the water is much shallower, making it a much safer option. When we arrived at the carpark at Bridge 1 however, the kids and I were feeling pretty tired (roll on rest day!). Logan jollied us along and said we should just do the 30 minute loop to take in the top 3 bridges. So we all rallied and set off (once again thankful for our microspikes – it was sliiiiippery!). It was getting late in the day so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

As we neared Bridge 3, I found a second wind and convinced the others we should at least check out Bridge 4. Once we arrived at Bridge 4, it seemed only logical to go into the canyon! As we made our way through the gate warning us of all the dangers below, Zara was a little skeptical but tucked in with Logan and she was off. WOW! It was such a wonderful feeling to be down in the canyon! So pretty and so quiet – it felt really magical! The local had told us about a cool natural twisty rock slide towards the end, which we were super grateful for as we couldn’t see the bottom from the top and likely wouldn’t have risked going down an unknown feature. It was a great adventure!

Walking back up to the carpark, tired bodies were motivated by the promise of a Beaver Tail! A Beaver Tail is a Canadian pastry that is shaped like an actual beaver’s tail, deep fried, and slathered with your choice of super-sweet toppings! Yum! Despite tired bodies, the kids amazingly still found fun along the trail, making the most of the slick ice!

New Year’s Eve day was DEFINITELY a much needed rest day – no alarm and no agenda. We played Bananagrams, Dutch Blitz and pool, watched TV in the media room, admired the herd of elk right outside, caught up with correspondence, ate when and whatever we felt like – the size, space and amenities of Jasper Hostel were perfect for us all to rest, recharge and re-calibrate. We’d promised the kids a walk around the shops to search for small souvenirs so that filled in the late afternoon. Although from the outside it looks like Jasper is full of neat little shops bursting at the seams with knick knacks, it didn’t take long to work out that they all stocked pretty much identical items and we could live without almost all of them! We had our last dinner for 2023 at a recommended Italian place, followed up back at the hostel with huge helpings of Smarties ice cream and more Dutch Blitz. We still haven’t fully adjusted to the time zone change so it was easy for us all to stay up until midnight to see in 2024 – our year of adventure!

On New Year’s Day and the following 2 days, we skied at Marmot Basin in Jasper. Like Castle Mountain, Marmot Basin is a part of the “Powder Alliance”, so our Ruapehu Life/Season passes allowed us complimentary skiing for 3 days. Whilst we couldn’t help but think what it might be like with more snow, we made the most of zero lift lines, found our favourite runs, and had an absolute blast! The sun was shining and the views were stunning! Logan and the kids mixed it up by finding hidden powder, paths through the trees, and anything they could jump off! Lucas, Zara and I did some of the best skiing we’ve ever done, and Zara in particular became a speedy pocket-rocket! She also built up the courage to hit some big jumps in the terrain park (check out Zara’s blog for the video). We had an exciting mid-run squirrel experience too! The kids blew us away with their stamina for run after run after run. After skiing all day, 2 of the days we raced the clock to have one last ride up the chairlift before the lifts closed at 4pm – the lifties were literally folding up the chairs behind us as we skied off at the top. We felt privileged to be there and we were grateful for the awesome staff.

It felt like we had been in Jasper for ages and it was hard to believe we only had 5 days left in Canada! We were looking forward to our journey back down the Icefields Parkway and on to Lake Louise, Banff, and back to Calgary.