Jeff Schmerker
Lots of space to roam
In a matter of minutes, it seems, clear skies gave way to thick overcast. There was a pocket of blue to the east but it was obvious that weather was incoming. It was calm but cold, and about 4 feet of snow covered the ground. I changed into my ski gear with the truck idling and heat on, then stepped out quickly and snapped into my cross country skis. It had been a while since the last snow and foot prints and ski tracks made it hard to decide where to go, but eventually I found a gentle down hill track and was on the lake bed. In summer, Maligne Lake is a sparkling blue expanse of water surrounded by the Canadian Rockies; in summer it is a sheet of white snow covering thick ice.
With the white snow of the lake meeting the white snow of the peaks beyond, distance became difficult to measure. Skiing across a lake is an odd sensation, and there is nothing to gauge distance -- only the sudden darkness signaled it was time to turn around. I had to pull out my headlamp and pull on a thicker pair of gloves. From the middle of the lake the shore looked no closer, but in auto-pilot mode I skied back to the truck, still just warm from the earlier idling, packed up and headed back to Jasper.
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