Another beautiful sunny day awaited us and we were away early, at least compared to our usual relaxed starts. After a brief stop in Jasper to make a few phone calls we found our way to the Jasper Tramway which lifted us up the side of Whistlers Mountain for a panoramic view of Jasper and its surrounds. From the upper station a trail continues a couple of kms and several hundred feet farther up the ridge to the summit of Whistlers. We spent an enjoyable hour hiking up the trail, admiring the scenery and soaking in the atmosphere. We had visited this region in 1976 and had a few adventures on the lower slopes of a couple of the local peaks, so we did more than a little reminiscing also.

We spent a relaxed hour perusing the shops in downtown Jasper before taking the drive to Maligne Canyon. So named because a missionary priest traveling this way in the late 1800 lost all his possessions in the area and in retaliation cursed the area and declared it evil - maligne. The canyon is a very narrow fissure cut in a bed of limestone by the long term action of the waters of Maligne Creek. At its deepest point the canyon is over 150 feet deep and maybe 10 feet wide. It's very spectacular. While hiking the steep trail that gives access to the canyon we came across a Raven nest in a small hole in the wall of the canyon. We spent a good while being entertained by the antics of the ravens and trying to get a good photograph. It is amazing, and perhaps a little embarrassing how obsessed one can get about taking photos rather than just looking. Just to emphasis this point, Nina just informed me that, already she has over 3000 photos on her laptop taken on this trip.

We drove west from Jasper into BC to Lucerne Lake in Mt Robson Provincial Park for our nights camping spot.