Jasper

The day broke with rain filled skies. There was an occasional hint of sunshine, but it just teased us into thinking the day would improve. We ventured out anyway and drove to Maligne Lake , the largest lake in Jasper National Park . Had the weather been better, we would have taken a boat trip on the lake. Even standing on the shore, with light rain and mist, one could tell that this was a pretty spectacular place.

On our return from Lake Maligne, we stopped at the Jasper Park Lodge, one of three historic lodges in Jasper and Banff National Parks (the others are in Lake Louise and Banff ). This is supposed to be the least spectacular of the three, but it is impressive (we will let you know our opinion of the ranking when we get to Banff ). Beauvert Lake, which the main lodge overlooks, is a deep emerald green that even on a cloudy day stands out.

Lighting conditions for photography at both our stops were awful so we were very limited in what we can show you.

The weather grew worse so we decided to use the remainder of the day to handle “maintenance” items that none of us particularly want to do such as laundry, cleaning the trailer, particularly a problem on a wet day when the ground is covered in pine needles, and the most beloved job of all, dumping the toilet tank. Unfortunately these must be done and why waste a good day to do them.