If you’re visiting Jasper National Park in Alberta, be sure not to overlook the mysterious legends behind its lakes. If you’re adventurous enough, take a boat trip to these idyllic locales set against the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies.
Ancient in nature and passed down amongst native tribes for centuries, there is more to Maligne Lake & Medicine Lake than meets the eye.
Spirit Island & Maligne Lake
We first heard the story of Spirit Island, located in the middle of Maligne Lake, arguably the most famous view of the Canadian Rockies. This fragile wisp of pines and grass, framed by calm azure waters, thick forests and rugged granite peaks, has adorned countless postcards and coffee table book covers.
According to an ancient First Nations myth, young lovers from two warring tribes secretly met on Spirit Island once a week. But when the girl eventually confessed their forbidden tryst to her father, one of the warring chiefs, he banned her from ever returning to the island. Her heartbroken lover continued to return, hoping that he would one day see her again. But she never came and he eventually died on the island where his spirit still resides. Shades of Romeo and Julet, thousands of years before the Bard would write the story.
Stunning Maligne Lake, where Spirit Island is located, is the second largest glacier-fed lake in the world. Maligne, which means malignant or wicked in French, was the rather blunt term 19th century missionary Father Pierre-Jean de Smett first used to describe the treacherous river that flows from the lake. The name stuck and also came to refer to the lake, canyon, pass, mountain and range.
The disapearing Medicine Lake
It was the strange story of Medicine Lake that we found most intriguing.
Another source of mystery and native legend, the lake got its name from its unique underground drainage system that makes its water level vary from season to season, sometimes actually draining it completely. First Nations peoples called the lake Medicine because of its seemingly magical powers, and the United Nations created the Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site partly because of this unique drainage system.
Learn more about Medicine Lake & Maligne Lake in tripatlas.com/new’s 10 Best of Jasper, Alberta.
For more on visiting Jasper, go to: www.jasper.travel or www.travelalberta.com.