Evelyn Creek

There is clearly no rest for the wicked and we were up bright and early to set off on a small local tour, as we have no car until tomorrow. The sun is shining and the sky a brilliant blue. It looks like being a hot one!
Maligne Canyon was our first call. Geologically and geographically this is a fascinating area. It is partly limestone country, so there are lots of mysterious waterways, due to the solubility of the rock and its faults and weaknesses. It is thought that during the last Ice Age the whole area was covered by a huge ice sheet 200-300 meters thick and this rock canyon was originally a cave carved out by water that flowed under the glacier. The weight of the ice collapsed the roof of the cave along its weakest fault line and when the ice eventually retreated the canyon was very much as we see it today. Rushing streams continue the erosion today and the topography is changing all the time. There is a ‘chock block’ erratic wedged at the head of the canyon, which will gradually be eroded until it is small enough to fall to the canyon floor. Amazingly, fossils are clearly to be seen in the bed rock we were walking over. It was a drool worthy scene for sad creatures like me and was only to get better.
Our next call was Medicine Lake, a most unusual feature. At the moment the lake is quite low and would normally be a lot higher, but whatever the level, come the winter the water will disappear, often completely. The indigenous Stoney people who have lived in the area for thousands of years christened this the Medicine lake because of what they thought were it’s supernatural powers to rejuvenate and heal itself annually. We now know that the lake bed is riddled with sink holes and underground waterways that drain the water away during the dry season and feed lakes further downstream that seemingly have no river supplying them. It is the most beautiful sight as you will see from the photos. Pale blue in colour and surrounded by low peaks. There were catastrophic forest fires in 2016 that devastated the trees all around and they are only now staring to regrow. A bald eagles nest is perched high on a tree by the water and at the time it had a eaglet in the nest, which astonishingly survived the intense heat and conflagration.
Our final call is at Maligne Lake itself, where we are to take a cruise. You arrive at the bridge and have your first glimpse of this most magnificent lake. This is the most dramatic of them all and you will see why from the photos. Again created by glaciation it is a deep turquoise blue lake because of the glacial silt held suspended in the water, which refracts the sunlight to a glorious shade of blue. It only got better. We set off on the Mary Schaffer, named for a local lady who studied and wrote a book on the flora and fauna of the region. I went to stand out on the deck at the back of the boat as we zipped along, the better to see the fantastic scenery all around. As we approached the far end, the peaks were even more dramatic, sharp arêtes cutting the sky, rock scoured and polished by glaciation and glaciers hanging down from the peaks. Only three weeks ago a sudden fall of 3ft of snow paralysed the area and if we had visited then, none of this would have been possible. Gliding round the final corner of Maligne Lake we drifted to a stop to disembark and admire this patch of paradise. The sun shone glinting off the turquoise water. The peaks soared all around and in front of us was Spirit Island. All was still and silent and like the Stoney people before us, I think everyone was captured by the special atmosphere of this place. A small boardwalk has been constructed to allow for better viewing. The photos will tell the story.
Wild flowers grew all around, right to the waters edge. You can imagine my reaction - heaven on earth.
Spirit Island is sacred to the Stoney people. After many years of separation, they now return to perform their annual ceremony and there is a real attempt to rebuild the relationship between peoples. Their ethos of life is that all natural things have a spirit
and that you should introduce yourself to a piece of nature to make your peace with it, usually by a laying on of hands.
The definition of home is that wherever the light touches your skin, be it sunlight, moonlight or starlight, this is your home. Life in the moment.
I cannot imagine a more perfect day.Read more