Icefields Parkway: Arrival day at Lake Louise

After our morning hike at Parker Ridge we continued our drive south on the Icefields Parkway. It is not an exaggeration when people say that this is one of the most beautiful and scenic drives you could ever take. The mountains, lakes and waterfalls, all so beautiful.

We pulled over at Mistaya Lake, it was gorgeous, especially with the clouds obscuring the mountains. 

Mistaya Lake

Mistaya Lake

Mistaya Lake

Mistaya Lake

Mistaya Lake

The dogs were all tuckered out from the morning hike and slept for pretty much the whole drive. 

We pulled over to have lunch at Bow Lake, yet another beautiful mountain lake! 

Bow Lake

Bow Lake

Bow Lake

Bow Lake

Bow Lake

We also saw two bears along the side of the parkway munching on berries. There were the typical "bear jams" with silly people getting out of their cars, so dangerous!

Only about an hour or two later we arrived at the Lake Louise Campground which would be our homebase for the rest of the trip. There are two sections to this campground. There is a fenced in section for tent camping (keeps the bears out) and an unfenced area for those with trailers. Since we had our little trailer we would be staying in the unfenced section.

I really like the Lake Louise Campground. It is well maintained and offers shower facilities which is a bonus when you are on a two week hiking trip. The first thing we did after setting up the trailer at our campsite was to grab the soup and shampoo and head over to the showers. It felt so nice to wash the dirt and grim of the past few days off (there were no showers at the Wabasso Campground in Jasper).

Another nice thing about this campground is the nightly entertainment. There is a a stage in the fenced in section of the campground where nightly talks are hosted by Parks Canada staff to teach the campers about the wildlife in Banff.

 Since we had arrived in the early afternoon we didn't have time for a hike. I suggested that we head up to Lake Louise and walk around the lake.

Unfortunately it had become overcast and the lake was not looking as beautiful as it does when the sunlight is reflecting off the water.

Since my brothers weren't on the trip I decided to take the opportunity to explore the Chateau (they get far too bored and impatient for me to do this when they are around). The stepmother and my dad waited outside with the dogs while I explored. It is a gorgeous hotel, I would love to stay here someday.

I also think the Chateau would be an amazing wedding venue. I fell in love with some wedding photos I saw on a bog a few years ago. http://blog.carmichaelphoto.com/2010/07/lake-louise-wedding-photographer-kirbie.html

While exploring the area I found a stand that provided free plastic dog poop bags. We were running low since dad and the stepmother forgot to pack extras. Since it was their anniversary I grabbed about a dozen, I couldn't think of a more fitting anniversary present! Hahaha

They were very grateful for the "gift". I don't think the stepmother got the "hidden" meaning behind the gift.

After I finished my exploring of the hotel we decided to go on a "chichi" drive. The stepmother is Italian and calls all animals "chichi". The Bow Valley Parkway is a common place to spot wildlife, especially in the early morning or in the evening. The Parkway is an alternate route between Lake Louise and Banff.

As we were driving along we saw a few cars pulled over on the side of the road, we couldn't get a good view of what was there. I did catch a glimpse of the colour of the fur and said "Holy "Moly" Dad! I think those are grizzly bears!"

We drove past and then turned the car around so we would be on the correct side of the road. Sure enough, I was right!!! There was a mother Grizzly and her three cubs eating berries in the shrubs on the side of the road. We were so excited! Dad has been in the mountains many times and has seen tons of black bears but had never seen a Grizzly and now here was not one but four, and cubs too!

We couldn't get very good pictures as it was raining and my dad's camera battery had died so all we had was my little point and shoot with 3x zoom. We were pretty sure they were grizzlies because of the back hump and the shape of the ears as well as the fur colour.

Here are two short video clips of the Grizzlies

Grizzlies on the Bow Valley Parkway

Grizzlies

Unfortunately, a park warden arrived on the scene and asked us all to leave. We had only been there a few minutes. We understand why they do this though, it is for the safety of the bears and for people traveling on the road. It was just disappointing that we didn't get to watch them longer or get better pictures and video.

We continued to drive south on the parkway as we thought we might get lucky again with no wildlife, no wildlife presented itself although we did see people leaving flowers behind at this memorial for the prisoners of the Castle Mountain internment camp which operated during WWI.

Since we did not want to drive all the way to Banff we turned around here and made our way back. We drove past the spot where the bears had been located and they were still there but it was now too dark and rainy to even attempt any sort of photo.

Back at the trailer I called my brother to brag about seeing the bears, he was jealous. His bad luck for not coming out on vacation with me! 

Wildlife Count: 5 Black Bears, 4 Grizzly Bears, 2 marmots and a gazillion mountain sheep.

Banff: Parker Ridge and the Saskatchewan Glacier

It was another very early morning. We were leaving Jasper and making our way to Banff. We had done most of the necessary packing the night before so it was just a matter of hitching the trailer to the car. Luckily this went smoothly unlike when we unhitched it a few days beforehand!

The early start was necessary as we were going to be hiking Parker Ridge that morning and the light is best for optimal glacier viewing in the morning. The trail was just about two hours south on the Icefields Parkway, very close to the Wilcox Pass trail that Dad and I had hiked the day before.

We had red skies that morning, what would that portend? 

It was an uneventful drive down the parkway and we made good time and got to the trail before any other hikers. It took a little time to get ready in the parking lot as we would all be doing this hike so we had to leash the dogs and fit Tilly with her hiking pack (carries the dog food and water; when people ask about the pack Dad likes to say they are carrying our beer, don't ask).  I think the dogs were excited to be going on the hike, they had spent the past few days hanging out at the campground with the stepmother, not very exciting.

There was this sign at the start of the trail, beware! Luckily we did not come across any unexploded devices on our hike!

This trail is not too difficult, there is even a bench to take a rest on halfway up! You will see several pictures of the same thing as the light and weather kept changing while we were hiking which of course changes how everything looks. Typical mountain weather, completely unpredictable.

Marcus ready for the hike

Tilly and her hiking pack

Marcus wants to know why we stopped to sit on the bench

I spotted some marmots on the climb up, luckily the dogs did not or they would have been pulling us all over the place to try and get to them.

Once we reached the top the path flattens out and you walk across a large meadow until the  Saskatchewan Glacier comes into view. The trail then follows along the ridge for more views of the glacier and the valley.

Saskatchewan Glacier

 Maria was too scared to walk along the path on the ridge so she found a spot to sit and wait with Tilly while Dad, Marcus and I continued to explore. Tilly was rather distressed seeing us walking away and we could hear her whining despite the fact that we were never out of sight.

There was a pretty waterfall on the other side of the valley.

I loved how this sunbeam seemed to shine down directly on the small pond/lake in the valley.

Dad had me pose for a picture. I felt as though I was very close to the edge and was very nervous although when I look at the picture I wasn't that close to the edge at all. Hahaha

After Dad and I got our fill of picture taking we went back and rejoined the stepmother. As we started back Dad voiced his interest in exploring an offshoot of the trail the goes further up the mountain. Maria and I weren't interested so we waited while he went up the trail.While Dad was gone it started to get colder and colder and we could see a bank of rain clouds coming our way. I thought for sure we were going to get drenched. In preparation we put on our rain gear. My rain coat is a bright pink. The only other hiker out on the ridge with us was a photographer and he asked to take my picture with the dogs as he said the colour of my coat, combined with the two dogs and the background of the mountains in the rain was perfect. He then gave me his card so I could get the picture. I did get it eventually but I won't post it since it is not my photo.

The picture below is one that Dad took while up on the trail. You can't really tell but there are some specks that are the stepmother and myself while we wait. What you can see is the rain heading straight for us.

Luckily Dad rejoined us in good time and we were able to barely escape the deluge.

Overall this was a good hike and not too long. Dad says the glacier would have been more spectacular if we had been there on a sunny day. Next time!