Day 3: Poligne Creek-Maligne Pass-Maligne Lake

Avalanche campsite is in a pretty location next to the creek and was deserted so I had a choice of where to pitch my tent.
And how's this for a dunny (toilet)? The high back and sides give you plenty of privacy and they're way better than those shed-type drop toilets where it's pitch dark inside and smelly.

After breakfast, I started towards Maligne Pass where I could see the clouds starting to look threatening. There had been days of rain on the forecast so I wasn't surprised but was hoping that it would blow over.Maligne Pass is another beautiful area but as soon as you head over the other side, you start entering hours and hours of willow meadows and forest trails which becomes very monotonous. The willow bushes vary in height but sometimes I ended up swimming through shoulder height bushes which was quite a slow process. The rain finally came so I put the camera away for the rest of the day and focussed on getting to Maligne Lake. Once I reached Trapper Creek Campsite, there was only another 5 km to go and thankfully, the trail turned into a beautiful forest run which almost looked sub tropical in the rain.

I reached Maligne Lake at 4.00 pm and decided it would be best to skip running the Skyline Trail as originally planned as there was still quite a bit of snow on the Notch and the clouds were low so I wouldn't be able to see anything from up there. It only takes 4 hours to drive to Jasper from Banff so I can head back to do that run some other time.

It was strange popping out at Maligne Lake as it's quite a big tourist attraction and I felt out of place amongst the holiday makers. I felt really pleased with my trip and was already starting to wonder where else I could go - preferably for a lot longer next time.