FRIDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2026

(Jasper, AB)

You’ve just read the title and you’re already singing it, aren’t you? And it’s only October. If it’s stuck in your head all day I apologise but hopefully, when you see the photos, you’ll forgive me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first…

I woke up and noted the presence of sleety snow on the skylight. Not too much, but it had clearly snowed in the last few hours. I got up to make coffee and looked out of the window. It was just getting light, and the mountains were just coming out of the clouds, but they were definitely whiter than yesterday. Luckily, the parking area and roads looked clear.

After coffee, and putting on big coats, we made our way into town for breakfast, this time going to Papa George’s, encountering elk grazing along the way. We could see the mountains through the window while we had breakfast, which was more of a brunch. The day was slowly warming up. Well. Slightly.

We got ready and set off for Maligne (pronounced Ma-leen) Lake. Our first stop was a viewpoint, which gave a look down into the Jasper valley, surrounded by mountains.

After that, it was roughly half way and twenty minutes down the road before we got to the next stop. However, s as we progressed, the snow got noticeably heavier in the roadside trees. Luckily the road soared to have been cleared or treated, and it was clear for driving. Our stop was at Medicine Lake, a strange lake which has sink holes in it, with water feeding the Maligne River, and a couple of other lakes some 20 km away. This means that it fills up in spring and slowly drains throughout summer, until by late autumn (now) it is very shallow water and mud flats.

We drive from there to Maligne Lake which is at the end of road. We passed a herd of something on the lake, but only briefly saw them before they were obscured by trees. I wondered if they were elk, or caribou, but on further study of animal characteristics I think they were moose. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t possible to get a photo. However, on arrival at the lake, the first thing we had to do to park was negotiate around a couple of moose in the roadway and car park. 

We got kitted up and put on all available layers. It was cold. With the snow being fresh we thought we’d be ok with the micro spikes, but I packed them in my rucksack, just in case conditions were different around the route. 

We chose the Moose Lake loop trail, and skirted the southern end of Maligne Lake to reach the trailhead, passing another moose as we did so. 

The trail went skiing the shoreline for a short way, before turning into woods which were, to use today’s headline, a winter wonderland. With no wind to speak of the snow was just resting on all the tree branches, creating a magical atmosphere. After half a mile (800m, as the local would have it) we reached Moose Lake, as small but pretty lake with a view of Samson Peak.

After that we climbed up a bit and took a different route back, again through beautiful woods, before returning to the Maligne Lake shoreline, and passing (possibly the same) moose again, followed by a squirrel.

After that we drove back, passing mountain goats. We had to u-turn and pass them three times for me to get the photo. For the first pass they were running alongside us, and Andrew swears he and a goat were eye balling each other! Then there were more elk.  Eventually we made a final stop at the Fifth Bridge across the Maligne River in the late afternoon sunshine.

Back in the town there were many more elk wandering around as we drove to our hotel. We had coffee and warmed up a bit before going out for dinner, back to Papa George’s where we had breakfast this morning.

And that brings to an end our couple of days in Jasper. Road trip photos from Maligne Road are [Editor’s note: or will be…] below, and hopefully all of this has got the Winter Wonderland tune out of your head. What? Oh, sorry. Did I just put it back?!