Mina Lakes - Riley Lake Circuit

This hike may turn out to be our Jasper equivalent to Surprise-Corner-to-the-Hoodoos-Trail in Banff - our go-to hike when we don't want to drive very far (maybe there's threatening weather, as there was today) but we still want the exercise of a lovely and somewhat challenging trail. It begins at a back street parking area in downtown Jasper. Its's a hike to three lakes and the "Circuit" equates to "Loop".

First up was Riley Lake, this is the east end. You can see that the sky is still pretty clear.

Half way along the south shore of Riley Lake.

Half way along the shore we noticed three loons in the lake (If you enlarge the picture, you can see them, too!)

There they are together in one picture.

Telephoto lens view.

Leaving lovely Riley Lake.

Lunch spot at Upper Mina Lake. The clouds are fast approaching.

Lunch view.

As we hurried away from Upper Mina Lake it began to sprinkle so we only paused long enough at tiny Lower Mina Lake for a quick picture.

Today's hike:

Length - 5.79 miles (9.4 km)

Duration - 3 hours, 5 minutes (including lunch)

Elevation gain - 782 feet