2015 Summer Roadtrip: Day 34–Friday—7/17: Jasper: Maligne Canyon, Elk. We met Denise at 5:30 and ate/drank at Jasper Brewery Co. Then we drove to see beavers again.

The highlight of Jasper is supposed to be Maligne Lake but it is still closed due to the forest fire that has been burning right next to it for about 10 days now. The road was open to Maligne Canyon so we went there. Wow, over thousands of years, the river here has cut away at the rock. Today, in a narrow canyon that is only about 5 feet across in places, the river flows over 120 feet straight down in the canyon. This is incredible geology and impressive to see. The walk/hike here crosses a series of 6 bridges over the canyon where we marveled at the waterfalls and the force of the river and what it has created over time. We then drove to Jasper and met our friend Denise who flew up from La Crescenta to stay with us in the RV and explore the Canadian Rockies. She rented a car from the Calgary airport and drove up to Jasper and dropped off the car there. We met her and had dinner at the Jasper Brewery Co. There was a gorgeous double rainbow in the sky as we were walking around Jasper as well. Earlier in the day we had seen a herd of elk on the Maligne Canyon road so we drove there and enjoyed getting close in our car to the female elk and 3 babies (surprisingly, with no other cars nearby). Denise told us that she really wanted to see a beaver so we drove to show her the beaver lodge and dam that we saw the night before. We arrived as the sun was setting and Sarah led us quickly to the same spot we had seen the big one the night before. Sure enough he was almost in the exact spot. We got to within 5-10 feet of him and enjoyed watching him gnaw more branches and haul them off with him through the water back to his lodge. It was great. We then went home and went to bed for the 2^nd night in a row around midnight.