Banff: Consolation Lakes Trail, Moraine Lake with wildlife!

Banff: Consolation Lakes Trail and Moraine Lake with lots of wildlife spottings

On our August 2013 trip we revisited a trail that I wrote about previously, the Consolation Lakes Trail at Moraine Lake. You may wonder why I am writing about this trail again, had that much really changed? Not really, however, the weather, the company and some of the sights were very different on this most recent hike.

The morning started off with our packing up from our camping site near Glacier National Park and driving a few hours east to the Lake Louise campground. Along the way we saw the traditional mountain sheep along the highway near Golden. They love to hang out here and we see them almost every time we drive through the area.

Mountain Sheep in Golden, British Columbia

Once we arrived in Lake Louise we set up the trailer and our camp site and all made our way to the showers. It had been a few days without a shower and we were all feeling the need for one desperately. I highly recommend the Lake Louise campground if you plan on tent camping or using a trailer. It is in a fantastic location, offers warm showers and clean bathrooms and has some great Parks Canada programming in the evening. It is a great place to stay and see this beautiful area for a very decent price.

All washed up it was time to go meet some of my dad's hiking club friends at Moraine Lake as the club had arranged to do the Consolation Lakes Trail. My brothers opted to stay behind at the campground as the weather wasn't looking all that great and they had done this easy trail in the past.

When we arrived at Moraine Lake and met up with the group it was starting to rain so we all pulled on our rain gear. This group doesn't mind the rain and the trail  is fairly flat and safe.

I didn't take too many pictures along the way as  most of the trail is through the woods and I had hiked this trail in the past. It starts off at the rockpile at Moraine Lake and you have to cross some scrambly rocks at the beginning but after that it is a wide and fairly flat dirt path to the lakes. It is about 3 km to the lakes, a very easy hike.

It rained off and on for most of the hike but none of us were too bothered by it. In fact, I liked the effect that the clouds had on the scenery, very beautiful.

When you get to the end of the trail you have to clamber over some rocks to get a good view of the lake. Due to the rain the rocks were fairly slippery and none of us were willing to risk injury. I did not take any pictures of Consolation Lake itself but I did take some in the general area. You can read my previous report about this trail to see more pictures of the area and the lake: http://cdnwanderlust.blogspot.ca/2013/05/moraine-lake-and-consolation-lakes.html

Once we got back to the trailhead I had to go up the rockpile to get a view of Moraine Lake, one of the best views in the Rockies! I saw some cute wildelife in the area as well.

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

Pika

Pika

 My previous visits to Moraine Lake had been on relatively sunny days and the lake was spectacular as the sunlight causes the water to reflect the most amazing colour. However, the lake is still magnificent even in overcast and rainy weather.

There were very few people at the lake as it was around dinner time but the few who were there were fixated on the mountainside nearby. I looked over to see what the fuss was and there was a Grizzly Bear! We were all very excited at the sighting and I had to laugh because this was now the second time that we had spotted a Grizzly and my brothers had missed out yet again. The first time had been on our trip last year when we spotted a mother grizzly with her cubs.

My dinky camera did not get very good photos. My dad got some that were slightly better. I was happy just to see this magnificent creature in the wild and at a safe distance!

Grizzly Bear at Moraine Lake

 Here are two shots from my dad's camera. I am sure that the people who were there with professional cameras got some amazing shots and footage. The Parks Canada guides who were there were encouraging people to put their cameras down and just enjoy seeing this bear in its natural habitat.

Grizzly Bear at Moraine Lake

Grizzly Bear at Moraine Lake

 My group was starting to get restless and hungry for dinner so I got a few last shots of the lake in as some cloud cover came in. Sunny or cloudy, Moraine Lake is worth a visit!

Back at the campsite I bragged to my brothers about my good luck with bear sightings - I have seen many bears in the parks now and they have only had a very brief glimpse of a cub scampering across the road in the distance.

After dinner my family decided to take a drive down the Bow Valley Parkway. It was on a rainy evening just like this one the previous year in which we saw  the mother grizzly and her cubs so we thought we would try our luck again.

Well, no grizzly sightings for the boys but we did see this fellow loping through the fields and down the highway. My brothers thought it was a stray dog but my dad told them it was definitely a wolf. Another animal to check off our wildlife sighting list.

The drive back to the campground turned out to be rather frightening as a torrential downpour started and it was now dark out and there were no lights. We had to pull over to the side of the road because we literally could not see anything as it was raining so hard. Luckily we arrived back at the campground alive and satisfied with our day and thankful for our lives!

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.