A wandering Canadian: Jasper: Maligne Canyon, Pyramid Island, & Athabasca Falls (Day 6)

Early in the morning, we set off for Maligne Canyon. This stunning canyon has been created by the force of the Maligne River. There are incredible caverns, potholes, and other rock formations that you can view as you hike along the canyon. There was one informational sign that referred to the process as "liquid sandpaper", which captures the effect very well. The sheer power of water to smooth and cut through rock like that - it's hard to wrap one's mind around.

Maligne Canyon

There are a variety of hikes and loops you can do here, but the most popular are the ones to the 6 bridges built above various parts of the canyon. We hiked the loop that brings us to bridge 1-4, and then drove around afterwards for the view at Bridge 5 (you can also drive to Bridge 6). R, in true fashion, hiked the 2.6km entirely on his own, delighting in finding each new bridge and pointing out the marvels of the different parts of the canyon, river, or waterfalls to us.

(In case you're wondering, the name of the canyon comes from the French word "maligne", meaning evil. It was named by a 19th century missionary who had an unfortunate experience trying to cross its rushing waters, that resulted in 6 of his horses being carried away by their powerful forces).

Pyramid Island

After this hike, and stopping for the Maligne Overlook viewpoint, we headed to Pyramid Island. This island is located on Pyramid Lake, and has a picturesque footbridge connecting it to the mainland. R enjoyed walking across it, and we even viewed a pair of Loons and their 2 little babies from the bridge. Once on the island, we sat down for lunch, but were quickly blown away (literally) by the strong gusts of wind coming off the lake, so we headed over to the historic gazebo to finish our picnic, before taking the short walk down to the end of the island. From here you can view the beautiful Pyramid Mountains. R enjoyed this spot to play with rocks and sticks in the water.

A tourist used her Polaroid camera to take his photo and gave him the "magic paper" so he could watch the image come to life. The vintage look of the photo, as well as the tangible nature of it, gave me goosebumps for some reason. There is something about physically printed images, especially Polaroid ones, that carry with them some kind of inexplicable eeriness. I can understand why some cultures feel like having their photo taken is like someone capturing their soul. Staring at this light-imprinted image of my son and holding the fragile paper in my hands, felt almost as though I was holding him, somehow - a version of him that I would never see again; as fleeting as any other image of him we have, but somehow different, more salient and precious, being in this format.

Pyramid Mountains

The digital world has taken over everything we do and how we record and store information, but I believe the tangible analog can never be replaced. Perhaps this is why Polaroids have made a comeback - it's more than a kitschy vintage thing, there is something about its tactile tangibleness that cannot be replaced by the thousands of digital images we have, even of the same moments.

Athabasca Falls

Our last stop of the day was Athabasca Falls, a stop we hadn't had time for on the Icefields Parkway. This location is fairly close to Jasper and so it was easy to backtrack. There are multiple viewpoints of the falls here, and the roar of the water is incredible. R had finished cooperating for the day, so we took turns exploring the different viewpoints, though he did finally agree to come check out one of them when we said he could get very close up, and we gave him some sticks to throw into the swirling madness, which has always been a favourite activity. The wild power of water was present here in a way I haven't seen at many falls, and this place is definitely worth a visit. No hike is required, only a short walk, and you can even walk down to the bottom of the river and see the beautiful view from down there.