Our passage through the mountains had been overcast by clouds, but as we neared the island, the sun shone bright to illuminate the lake, a dramatic transformation changing the waters from deep blue to a bright turquoise green.
Transfixed by the tiny strip of land that was no more than 1.2 acres (smaller than a football pitch), I felt the wind stir in my hair and thought of the words that Matricia Brown, a First Nations Cree Knowledge Keeper, had shared just the night before. “Our hair is like an additional sense,” she said. “It keeps us rooted to the Earth.” For me, travel has always been about new sensations, new learnings and new sights. Discovering that I’d been overlooking a sense for almost four decades came as something of a revelation.
Cruise to Spirit Island
Set on Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, 8.7 miles away from the nearest road or footpath, Spirit Island has been a deeply spiritual place for the Stoney Nakoda people for millennia. They believe mountains are physical representations of their ancestors. It’s also one of the most photographed spots in Canada, with Apple even using an image to launch one of its iPad variants in 2014.
© Getty ImagesYet Spirit Island isn’t just beautiful, surrounded by peaks on three sides – it’s also deeply poignant. I had wondered, as we’d made our way up the lake, what made this island so special when so many others along the journey had seemed so impressive in their own right – not to mention far more accessible. But as I stared, the land gave me the answer.
Beyond the obvious natural beauty, there is a deeply sacred sense of peace to be found here: a sense of strength and purpose, as well as a profound sense of being. It is both dreamlike and solidly of the Earth at the same time. It was a remarkable feeling and a rare one to find when surrounded by so many other visitors, as I was.
© Penny WalkerThere are only two ways to get here: by canoe (getting to the island takes about three to four hours – each way) or by cruise (Maligne Lake Boat Cruise has the monopoly, with 1.5 hour journeys including a brief 15 minutes on land – photo spots are hotly contested). Spirit Island is just one of many highlights of Jasper National Park – a destination that is on the up.
Travel to Canada is on the up
According to Journeyscape, Canada is proving to be one of the summer’s hottest destinations for travellers, with searches for travel information having surged by 623% in recent weeks. This has only been stoked by Parks Canada’s initiative to waive entry fees to 37 of their National Parks until 7 September.
Over the course of my five days in the park, we packed in as many adventure-seeking highs and beauty-revealing tours as we could. On Pyramid Lake, we paddled effortlessly over the still, clear waters in the shadow of the namesake mountain in the company of Travis Anderson of Wild Current Outfitters. Swapping an engine for an oar changed the experience completely. As we cruised along, Travis encouraged us to dip our hands into the lake and close our eyes, feeling the exact moment we drifted past a glacial stream that fed the lakewaters from the looming peaks overhead.
Walk on a glacier
At the Athabasca Glacier, we strapped on crampons with Rockaboo Mountain Adventures to walk onto the swiftly retreating ice. Unexpectedly, this was among my favourite activities in the Rockies. The surface of the glacier felt delicate, vast and impermanent, the fast flowing waters that cut through the ice serving as a reminder that in the next 10 years, this iconic spot may no longer be accessible.
I’d been nervous about walking on the ice, it being less than a year since I underwent double hip surgery, but exhilaration, adrenaline and the crisp alpine air fuelled my soul and fed my body. I was worried I’d feel like Bambi on ice, but I soon regained my confidence, springing effortlessly up the surface of the glacier.
A journey through the senses
By day three, we were well on the way in our mission to view the park in as many different ways as possible. In the morning, we embarked on a rip-roaring motorcycle adventure with Jasper Motorcycle Tours before slowing down to see the world through Matricia’s eyes once more as she led us on the Wapakwanis Plant Walk, revealing the secrets of the forest and the medicinal properties of the plants around us in a slow, considered way, encouraging us to take the time to smell the forest, feel the plants and breathe in the life surrounding us.
© Picasa 2.0Our journey through the senses continued with a glacial plunge into Lac Beauvert. This was my first cold-water encounter and the newly refurbished Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge was a suitably luxurious setting to try it. Going from barrel sauna to lake was an experience that I was, once again, trepidatious of. It turned out to be another incredibly exhilarating experience – through harnessing box breathing, it was a joy to push myself to new limits and feel the invigorating sensation of my body at work. I finally believed that some of the much-lauded benefits of cold water plunge might just be true.
From calm waters, we thrown into the rollicking foam of the Athabasca River with Em-J of Athabasca River Rafting. It was yet another stark juxtaposition, allowing us to view the surroundings of Jasper from the water – all while having an incredibly fun time. By the end, we’d seen the park almost every way we could: by boat, raft, motorbike and on crampons. Even driving around with the enigmatic Jeff Morris of SunDog tours was an eye-opener. Not only did he reveal the impact of the fire from the perspective of a local, he was also an expert wildlife spotter: it was from the bus that we spotted elk, moose, marmots and – my personal highlight – a mother bear with two cubs.
A town looking forward, not back
Part of the reason I’d come to Jasper National Park was to discover how the region was faring following the wildfires of summer 2024, which had devastated around 33% of the namesake town. My initial impressions were that the community felt ready for the next chapter; they had been through a lot, they had mourned but they were ready to move on, almost weary of the retrospection.
“We need to look forward, not back” Matricia had stated at our fireside talk. And although it is difficult to travel through a land still so obviously wracked by fire and see the positives, they were definitely there. As our time in Jasper drew to a close, we joined Estelle Blanchette, the founder of Jasper Food Tours, for a Wildfire Peak Nic Tour from the head of the Old Fort Point Trail.
She asked our opinion of the fires, before telling us with certainty that, although devastating for many people, it was exactly what the forest needed. The scorched trunks of lodgepole pine, aspen and Douglas fir stood sentinel as we journeyed through the park immediately surrounding the laidback mountain town of Jasper, providing a stark reminder of the fires.
Yet, according to Estelle, the fires stripped away what was necessary to create more life. Without the evergreen branches to obscure the light, the forest floor was rejuvenating, creating more spaces for elk to graze and allowing sightings of plants that hadn’t been seen in the area for decades. It also allowed us to see views that would have been formerly obscured by branches.
© Getty ImagesMatricia had told a similar story, emphasising that the Native people habitually left campfires burning to allow small fires to run through the forest, returning that which was dead to the Earth and releasing new life.
It’s a tale that many women can relate to – in one way or another. From the ugly scars of a charred forest, new life was beginning to grow; stronger, more abundant and more beautiful than before.
How to book it
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge has just put the finishing touches to its renovations, offering arguably the most luxurious stay in the region. Fine dining, a spa with indoor/outdoor pool, hot tub and barrel sauna, unrivalled lakeside views and comfortable rooms make this a superb base (from £515 per night; fairmont.com).
For a more affordable alternative, check into Bear Hill Lodge in the heart of town. While the vibe is rustic cabin, the finishings are nicely done and there’s an undeniably cosy feel to the rooms. Seven nights with Frontier Canada cost from £2,125pp, including a seven-day car rental and return flights with Air Canada (frontier-canada.co.uk).
Penny Walker was a guest of Tourism Jasper. All hotels and experiences have been independently reviewed by our expert writers, who are usually hosted on a complimentary basis, but this never affects our review process..
