Bald Hills Hike, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
View of Maligne Lake
We woke up to a moody morning with low clouds. We didn’t know if it would be a good day to hike or not. Since we were planning to hike with our friends that were only in Canada for a week on vacation, we decided to give it a go since their days were limited. As we were driving to the trailhead, it was raining, but it stopped shortly before we parked. We parked at one of the big parking lots along Maligne Lake with the intention to hike the Bald Hills Trail. The drive to the lake was pretty in itself, and we were surprised at how many other tourists were at the lake when we arrived.
With a break in the rain, we decided to start hiking and hope that the weather held. It did start raining 0.5 miles into our hike and after a few minutes of rain, I decided to stop and put on my shell. Two minutes later it stopped raining, and we wouldn’t see rain again on the hike. The shell very quickly went back in my backpack. We took the “shortcut” trail up to the ridge, which was a trail that was full of rocks and roots. It could use a reroute as it’s quite eroded. We started getting some views of Maligne Lake, which is simply a beautiful lake in a beautiful setting! We made it to the top of a knob and decided to stop there for a break and a snack as it looked like some more weather might be moving in, and we didn’t think we needed to go any higher. After some time taking in the views, we headed back down and took the longer way down so we didn’t have to walk back down the shortcut. I think my knees appreciated it. Overall, I’d highly recommend this hike - it’s popular for a reason!
Total stats: 7.4 miles, 1925 ft of elevation gain
