In the Spirit of Christmas

By Val Shooter

It is snowing, and my bus is waiting for a large herd of elk, including a huge bull with impressive antlers, to cross the road. I take photos from the safety of the bus, but notice a few people hiding behind a bush also taking photos, ignoring warnings to keep their distance from elk during the mating season. Park rangers finally move everyone along and the bus heads in to Jasper.

While the bus takes everyone's luggage to the lodge, I join others exploring the township. Walking along Patricia Street trying to shelter from the icy wind, I find countless warm souvenir shops in which to browse, and the best Laundromat I've seen in my travels. This one has numerous new machines, the best coffee in town (according to locals) and their own fresh baked-on-the-premises cakes and cookies. They even have shower facilities and Internet terminals. Across the road I can download my camera chip onto DVD, a rarity in western Canada where CDs are the norm.

Heather cooking her cakes at the SnowDome Laundromat

After an hour the bus returns to take us to our lodge. I am staying in a log cabin at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge a few kilometres out of town, in a lovely lakeside setting. While the engineers sort out the central heating which hasn't had to be used until the early snowfall today, I stroll past canoes nosed into the shoreline of Lac Beauvert, taking photos and enjoying the parkland and massed displays of flowers.

In the distance Pyramid Mountain's marbled black, grey and umber pattern is visible under a white coating of snow.

The main lodge entrance is beneath geraniums and trailing petunias overflowing from flower boxes along the eaves, and a gardener walks along the roof watering them.

Long passageways lead past the staircase down to the Beauvert Shopping Promenade and Health Spa, finally emerging into a huge open-plan reception area, brasserie and lounge. Sitting on the raised hearth in front of an enormous stone fireplace I warm my hands and back, then move to one of the large comfortable leather lounge chairs to chat while admiring the spectacular lake, park and mountain views through an entire wall of windows. In the background, haunting melodies echo through the vast log-vaulted ceiling. The resident pianist is playing, "Don't cry for me Argentina", and I wish I could sing like Julie Covington.

Snow, fireplaces, deer, northern hemisphere, spruce and fir trees all mean one thing to someone from Australia- traditional Christmas.

On exploring the Shopping Promenade, I find a wonderful Christmas shop. Colourful decorations in every colour combination, size and degree of cuteness wink and flash at me - trinkets I could hang on my tree or festoon around my home. I look for something small or something I could use as an heirloom for my family, but unfortunately, all the gorgeous, fragile decorations would get broken or squashed in my luggage, unless I buy enough to make a consignment to post home. 

As I return to my room, snow is falling again and people are swimming in the outdoor heated pool.  There is undercover access from the lower level Health Spa via a swim way that enters the pool through vinyl strips, similar to fly strips at doorways of cafes back home.

The heating in my room is finally working, so it is cosy and comfortable during the night. When I wake, the ground and cabin rooftops are sprinkled with snow. A couple of elk graze on grass between the cabins.  About thirty Canada geese swim to the bank of the lake and peck their way up the grassy bank towards the lodge. They are handsome black, brown and white creatures, but leave a messy trail.

The 48-kilometre road to Maligne Lake is cut by snow and my trip there is postponed until the afternoon, so it's into town again to try out the coffee and do some shopping. Others from my group play a round of golf or book in to the Health Spa.

By noon the road is clear but there are snowy patches in the hills. The 45min bus trip travels past the turnoff to Maligne Canyon, skirts Medicine Lake, and arrives at the day lodge at Maligne Lake. Snow remains on tree branches, fences, outdoor tables and flowerbeds.

The gift shop and ticket office at Maligne Lake

Day Lodge decks and launches on Maligne Lake

The shores of the lake are outlined in white and the whole scene is impossibly lovely. I check out the Day Lodge souvenir shop and cafeteria then enjoy a warming bowl of chilli con carne, coffee and a freshly baked muffin. A towering toy black bear dressed in a Canadian Mountie costume has tourists posing beside it, while outside, people are having snowball fights and making a snowman. It feels like an early white Christmas.

The Day Lodge at Maligne Lake

Maligne Lake is elongated, 22 km long and up to 97 metres deep. A pontoon at the northern end has several cruise boats moored, including the "Mary Schaffer". It is a thirty-seater launch, named after an adventurous traveller who persisted in attempts to find the legendary Chaba Imne (Beaver Lake) of the Stoney Indians, now known as Maligne Lake. This she explored by raft in 1909, and in 1911 made a detailed survey of the area at the request of the Parks Department.

The "Mary Schaffer" moored at the Day Lodge jetty

A guide speaks about the area and its history as we travel. White avalanche paths scar the mottled grey and white lodgepole pine forests. The mountains look like a watercolour painting of sweeping greys; darker outlining the hilltops and contours, and softer washes across the hillsides where snowy ground can be seen through the trees. In the foreground, solid dark pine trees form a focus delineating the water's edge.

Glaciers dominate in places, and elsewhere peek between the mountains. Walking trails varying from 2.0 to 8.2 km meander through the area. Picnic spots and two camping areas dot the shores of the lake, accessible only by water. A canoe trip to the farthest campsite at Coronet Creek takes almost a whole day's paddling.

The "Mary Schaffer" travels through the narrowest section of the lake before mooring near Spirit Island. The 100 metres wide Samson Narrows was named after Samson Beaver, the Stoney Indian, whose map helped Mary Schaffer find the lake.

The Samson Narrows

Near the jetty and in the middle of the vast wilderness there is a high-tech surprise- a pair of scrupulously clean, solar powered flushing toilets recently installed at a cost of two million dollars.

The high tech loos

I've seen pictures of Spirit Island on anything from calendars to photomurals. It is breathtaking, but even more so under a dusting of snow. Here is this world famous patch of land with its little group of pine trees surrounded by mountains etched in white, contrasting with the opalescent blue of the lake.

Spirit Island dusted with snow in late summer (picture taken from same spot as the original famous photo).

I take photos at every conceivable spot along the track winding around the hill near the jetty. Every photo could make a postcard or Christmas card.

Spirit Island seen from the shore of the lake

What could reflect the spirit of Christmas better than snow covered pine trees in their own pristine setting? What else could better portray the message of "Peace on Earth"?