Winter Wonderland - Jasper in February

We started our adventure with a quick hike near Pyramid Lake. This area was incredibly scenic with the frozen lake and Pyramid Mountain looming over it. February appeared to be perfect time to visit Jasper as we very rarely came across any other tourists at all during our hikes. Just peaceful bliss.

The Red Chairs were placed at scenic areas around Jasper when Canada turned 150 and 'treasure maps' are available to help you find them.

Although it was cold in the morning, around -30, it warmed up in the afternoon to a balmy -10 degrees. When hiking and skiing the weather was actually perfect.

The big highlight of the trip was undoubtedly Maligne Canyon. Although it is greatly discouraged to go alone (many signs and travel blogs recommending tour groups for safety reasons). Tom and I decided to attempt the excursion on our own. We had Yak Tracks on our feet to walk on the ice, and helmets on our head in case of falling icicles and rocks. If you decide to go on you own I would recommend getting actual spikes on your shoes as opposed to just yak tracks, but we managed (barely) to get across the ice fall-free.

Maligne Canyon takes you along a frozen river. At times you can hear the water rushing under your feet. We made sure to follow tracks of previous tours that had gone through and refrained from exploring off the main path too much.

A really cool phenomenon we saw was frozen waterfalls that had created a sort of frozen-shield on the outside and allowing plants to grow and water to fall behind it.

 Another cool site was watching people ice-climb up the frozen waterfalls.

The photo below is where our adventure came to an end. We were considering trying to climb the 6 foot waterfall in front of us, but we were worried that if we fell, the ice at the bottom might not be strong enough and we could break though and fall into a river of unknown depth. As we were trying to asses the thickness of the ice we heard the rumble of water rushing below and then a small opening in the ice just near the base of the waterfall opened up and clear water bubbled through. Yeah, we decided not to attempt the waterfall after that.

The rest of Maligne Canyon can be seen from above via a trail that snakes back and forth over the canyon with 5 separate bridges.

After the canyon we drove down Maligne Road and came across not one, not two, but six(!) separate mooses. My first moose sightings ever! I am a true Canadian girl now. 

On our third day we went cross country skiing and toured a waterfall just outside of town. The whole four days were filled with beauty, serenity and just simple, outdoor enjoyment. The perfect mid winter holiday to help us appreciate our beautiful country.