Summit Lakes via Jacques Lake Trail
August 26. 2025
I started my day at the trailhead, right beside the mystical Medicine Lake, on the Maligne Lake Road – about 20 km southeast of Jasper. The morning air was fresh, the path soft with dew, and the trail demanded only a short climb of about 200 m at the very beginning. After that, it turned into almost flat, rolling terrain, which I followed at an easy pace (a total of about 12.4 km, with 325 m elevation gain). My eyes often wandered to the gentle contours of the Front Range mountains.
After about 1.6 km I reached Beaver Lake. A small jewel, its glassy surface reflected the surrounding peaks. It was the perfect place for my first rest – to drink some water, sit down, let my gaze travel across the Queen Elizabeth Range, and soak in the calm beauty.
The rest of the way to the Summit Lakes remained flat, only occasionally interrupted by gentle hills. After another 3.2 km I arrived at the first Summit Lake, lying in a quiet clearing surrounded by forest and mountains.
I sat down for a few minutes, breathed deeply, and let the stillness sink in. Before me stretched a panorama that ranged from soft grassy hills to the steep rocky flanks of the Queen Elizabeth Range – mountains that appeared as gentle domes, sharp ridges, or rounded slopes, depending on the perspective.
The second Summit Lake lay only a short distance further, reached by a narrow path. It felt like a secret mirror, hidden away in the forest – an invitation to pause again, to let the silence surround me, and to study the shapes of the mountains one more time.
Medicine Lake
On the drive back toward Jasper I stopped several times at Medicine Lake, capturing the surrounding Rockies in pictures, among them The Watchtower, rising tall and striking in the Maligne River Valley.
At first glance the lake looks ordinary, but in truth it is a geological wonder: a seven-kilometre-long basin that fills with glacial meltwater in summer and then disappears underground – one of the largest “losing stream” systems in the world. Rainbow and brook trout live in its waters, and along the shores I might have spotted moose, grizzlies, ravens, or even eagles.
My journey back to Jasper and beyond
On my way back to Jasper I turned briefly at the junction to the Sixth Bridge, where I took pictures of Cairngorm and the majestic Pyramid Mountain.
Back in Jasper I treated myself to a cappuccino at Starbucks, enjoying the familiar aroma of freshly roasted beans as the day unfolded.
From there I drove southward. The Rockies rose again in dramatic shapes above the rivers – jagged and sharp in some places, rounded in others.
My first stop was the Athabasca Falls, where the water plunged into the canyon with deafening force – loud, powerful, overwhelming in its raw energy. I stopped several times to photograph the cascades, the spray in the sunlight, the water carving its way through the rocks.
Not far from there I reached the Sunwapta Falls. Once again I lingered, letting the camera click as the peaks of the Catacomb Mountains towered above the forest and the foaming river below, a wild contrast of stone, water, and light.
Now quickly to the HI, I thought. But here I couldn’t help but hold on to take pictures of the Endless Chain,
The Mushroom Peak
and the Tangle Ridge.
In the evening I arrived at the HI Beaty Creek Wilderness Hostel, where I would spend the night – perfectly located for my excursion to the Athabasca Glacier tomorrow.
Conclusion
This day felt like a journey in itself: from the mysterious beauty of Medicine Lake, to the quiet reflections of the Summit Lakes, to the lively coffee break in Jasper, and then to the raw power of the waterfalls – ending in peaceful anticipation at the hostel for tomorrow’s glacier adventure. The mountains I passed appeared in many forms – sometimes gentle, sometimes jagged, sometimes rugged, sometimes rounded – a constantly changing landscape that accompanied and inspired me all day long.