Canyon Beauty

We started our Maligne Canyon hike at the Fifth Bridge.  The original bridge was barricaded off.  A temporary one was constructed a short distance away.  Reading the warning sign about having only 3 people on the bridge at a time made me wonder exactly how sturdy it was.

We witnessed winter beauty at it's finest throughout the canyon.  It began at the halfway point across the bridge.  Snow covered the canyon walls. The soothing sound of water running under the bridge was music to my ears.

There were so many things to see and photograph; beautiful snow covered trees, huge icicles, running falls and frozen falls.  There were many things to hear as well.  The chickadees were singing in the evergreens and the squirrels were nattering at us as we passed by.

Bridal Veil Falls is always a must see in the canyon; the water cascading gently over the wall to the rock bed below.  It was so peaceful.  We ventured over the rocks for a closer look at the falls.  

The further in that we hiked, the more ice we saw.  There was not too much running water anymore.  In certain places, the ice took on a pale blue tinge.

We were hoping to find some ice climbers on the bigger frozen falls but we were out of luck.  There was not another soul on the trail until we were almost back to the parking lot where we saw a guided group going down into the canyon. 

It was a great way to start the day;  fresh air, sunshine and a beautiful mountain view.