This day we explored the valley of Maligne River. First we drove to Malign Canyon, which was amazingly deep (over 50 meters)! Some people tossed stones into it and they took a long time to hit the bottom. We didn't spend too much time there, because we already saw 3 canyons that week (Stewart Canyon, Johnston Canyon and Athabasca Canyon) %)

Then we drove along the river to Medicine Lake, which is famous for disappearing mysteriously during winter months . Actually, the lake is not a lake at all, it's just a place where Maligne River disappears underground and when glaciers melt too fast for it to drain, a lake forms. In winter the flow of water is reduced, so it goes underground without forming a lake. We walked to the lake's shore, took some photos there, saw some brutal but happy bikers and then drove further up the river.

After driving a narrow winding road along a steep mountain side, we arrived to Maligne Lake. There was several hikes starting from that area, we picked an easy 1-2 hour loop around Moose Lake and took off. After a nice and easy walk through coniferous forest, we saw a glimpse of a small lake through the trees. A couple of hikers were walking towards us and they said quietly that there's a caribou further ahead. In a few more steps we had a clearer look of the lake and saw a bunch of people sitting there staring in the same direction. Finally, we saw a large animal, not a caribou, but a moose! It was a female moose with a small calf standing in the water. We sat on a log and observed them for a while. The animals didn't seem to care about a bunch of hikers staring at them and proceeded to calmly chew cud. After a while the calf disappeared into the forest and the mother started eating something from the bottom of the lake. She put her huge head underwater for a while, probably to grab some aquatic plants. Later we read that pregnant and nursing female moose need more salt, so they eat salt-rich aquatic plants . I took a bunch of photos of the animals and after some time we moved on. We completed the loop and made it back to the parking without encountering any more wildlife.

We drove to another parking next to historic Maligne Lake Chalet and had some hot food in there. Then we walked another loop named after Mary Shaffer, an early explorer of Rocky Mountains. During the second hike we only encountered a bunch of red squirrels and a ton of mushrooms.

Then we drove back to Medicine Lake, found a trailhead near it and hiked towards Beaver Lake. That was the final hike of the day and of the trip as well.

This is our final day in the Rockies, but this place is definitely worth many more visits. There is a ton of hidden treasures in the parks, plenty of new places to explore and majestic views to enjoy. This is a great place to spend a week or two in the wilderness and get out of a stuffy boiling city during summer months.