The Scene: An awesome grade 3-4 run with play spots and one class 5-5+ drop.

To get there: Head east from town on highway 16, then in two or 3 km turn across the bridge on the Athabasca. After the bridge go left towards Maligne Lake, and follow the road until you get to the put-in about 6km above Medicine Lake. A sharp right turn, takes you down a gravel hill, to a small pull-out where you can get on the river which is class 2 at this point. It also provides pretty good shelter from the main road, to help your stealth operation....

Stealth operation??? Be aware of the duck closure on this run. The river is technically closed, but since, for the most part, it’s away from the road, it’s fairly easy to keep from being caught. Also there is no closed sign at the behind the mountain put in (thanks to one of the areas paddling legends.) I'm sure if you’re from out of town you could plead ignorance if you were caught. Either way we do not recommend that you attempt this run until it becomes legal again. Alright then.

There has been one group of paddlers caught on this run, later in the season, and they got off, because the Parks Canada study said there were no ducks at that time of the year anyway. I'm unsure of the exact date, but if I were to paddle the run (not that I would) I would go after July 1st, and preferably towards the end of July. That way, there are no ducks, so they have no case, and you don't even need to worry about them impounding your vehicle, taking your boat, or a big fine, all of which they have threatened in the past. The best policy is to just not get caught, I mean, go down the Maligne at all.

The Fun: Below the put in thing start to build, from class 1-2 then to 3 and occasionally 4. Watch for flagging on river right as it will mark the Staircase, a long grade V rapid. You don't have to hit the first eddy by the markings. Who ever put them up was cautious as if you scout from there it’s a long walk. Sneak your way down the eddies in your boat and use your own judgment of when to get out. The staircase is a bunch of broken ledges, some of which land on rocks. There are some big holes, and waves. It doesn't end until you pass the big boulder at the bottom which gives it its challenge. None of the moves are very hard, but the sequence can be. It has also been rafted numerous times.

Below the Staircase things again get interesting. There is a straight section below the road, you would have seen on your drive. At the end of this there is an awesome play hole/wave. There is also a good spot on the corner of one of the big boulders you pass by. Below here there are a few more good waves and technical rapids. Near the end of the run, you will notice grass along the banks at most levels soon after you enter into Medicine Lake. If it’s high, you will have to paddle across the flats to your car. If its low, you can ride the channels out for a long ways (this lake disappears into the cave system that feeds Maligne Canyon so the level really varies) These days, while it’s closed we usually opt to take out before the lake and make our way through the trees to the side of the road (being very stealth like, especially when loading boats up.)

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