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