We woke up from the cosy and comfy accommodation at Jasper, and headed for breakfast at Wicked Cup. It’s a breakfast place recommended by the Airbnb owner, with what they thought was the ‘best coffee in town’. We went and verified that view – they served really nice mocha and probably other specialty coffee!

We visited a number of lakes today. The first 2 were nearby lakes, easily done with a 10-minute drive from town. We first went to Pyramid Lake, then to Patricia Lake. Both lakes were pretty quiet and offered a good alternative to travellers who did not want to venture too far from town, or who would like to hike (walk) there from town. We visited these 2 lakes mainly due to their proximity, so we did not spend too much time here.

Our target lake for the day was Maligne Lake, a rather well-known lake for anyone who’s visiting Jasper National Park. It’s roughly around 1-1.5 hours drive from Jasper. Along the way from Jasper to the lake, we were awed by the great views around. We heard that Jasper snowed really hard the day before (just before we arrived Jasper at night), and so the entire area was covered with fresh white snow. That gave a really different view to the scenery. Both sides of the roads were white, and the mountain tops and sides were all covered in white too. It was as if we were in Winter, just without the freezing temperatures!

Somewhere past the half-way of the journey, we saw cars stopping by the side of the road. We didn’t know or cared about what’s happening, until we passed the line of cars – they were looking at a bear just beside the highway! It was too late for us to pull over, but we caught a glimpse of the bear, foraging for fruits beside the cars. This was the first time that we realized that stories or pictures about bears appearing just beside the highways were TRUE. I later read that bear sightings along the roads were pretty common in Spring/Summer, when they were out looking and digging for food in the ground.

We decided that if we saw cars stopping at the side of the highways again,  we would also slow down and check what they were looking at.

It wasn’t a short distance after, when we passed by a really gorgeous lake. The highway suddenly opened up to a view of a vast lake, with pretty snow-covered mountain sides. The entire postcard view was just WHITE and BRIGHT and GLARING, but it was so beautiful that I just told the girls “I don’t care, I’m just gonna stop here.” I pulled into a small parking area for vehicles.

This was Medicine Lake. The origin of the name was somehow because this lake was ‘magical’ because during parts of the year, it would disappear to be just a small river. I couldn’t emphasize how awesome the view was. We spent quite some time here photographing (of ourselves and of the landscape), and climbed down the slippery stairs (due to melting snow) and went near to the lake. The snow cover made it really necessary for you to put on your shades to protect yourself from the reflections of the sun. 

We proceeded on to Maligne Lake. It was yet another postcard-perfect landscape here. It seemed that the Maligne Lake Cruise was not in operation (but we didn’t plan on going for it anyway). It was another routine of photographing ourselves and the scenery, and basking ourselves in the air of natural beauty. 

We headed back to Jasper town for lunch. Along the way we saw cars stopping by the highway, and we finally did the same. There were 2 deer feeding at the roadside, offering us great photo-taking opportunities. Many cars came, snapped and left trigger-happy as well. It looks like the entire Jasper National Park area is always full of surprises!  

Post-lunch was when another big highlight of the day was – driving along the Icefields Parkway towards Banff. Icefields Parkway is a 232km-long highway that brings people to the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and offers easy access to a vast wilderness of pristine mountain lakes, ancient glaciers and broad sweeping valleys. It winds through Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, which are 2 of the must-visit places in Canada, and the highway is frequently said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world.

I was honoured and very glad to be able to drive through the entire stretch of the Icefields Parkway, taking in the sights at the same time while maintaining at a good speed. There weren’t many vehicles along the way, and at times, entire stretches of the highway was empty too. The great weather – blue skies and sunny – made it a delightful drive and we were pretty energized by the beauty.

One interesting place was when we were driving along a vast area of ice – Columbia Icefield. It is the largest ice field in the Rockies, about 325 sq km huge and between 100 and 365m deep. It is an ancient icefield that feeds 8 major glaciers in the area. From the highway, we were just seeing part of the icefield, but it was already SO stunning. There are icefield exploring tours that were probably not in operation due to the heavy snowfall the night before.  We did not explore at all, as we just had a brief stop (ON the empty highway itself). It would have been exciting if we had the time to do an icefield tour there.

Driving along the Icefields Parkway can take about 3 hours one-way. You can choose to do it in minimal time, but that would mean potentially missing the sights. We moved at a moderate speed, good enough to drive and enjoy the scenery at the same time, and also making brief stops along the way. It was pure fun.

We reached Banff before it got too dark. But dinner options within walking distance to the hotel that we stayed at were limited, so we ended up having a nice pizza meal at the hotel’s restaurant. Tired after a day of lake-hopping, and eyes-feasting, we didn’t explore Banff town.