I was hoping to catch a dawn photo of Cameron Lake in the process. The morning was a bit overcast & very windy. We didn't see any animals on the way to Cameron Lake, but took a nice photo of Mt Rowe (above) lit up with the early morning sun.
Cameron Lake itself wasn't quite as spectacular as I was hoping thanks to the wind & cloud but the photo above didn't come out too bad.
As we were leaving the Cameron Lake car park we saw a black bear sow with her two cubs crossing the road. They scurried into the brush beside the road before we could get a photo but we followed them down a small service track. Unfortunately the photo above was as good as we could get. Mother bears can be very protective about their cubs at times & this one lead hers away as quickly as she could.
Strangely, as soon as the bears went away all sorts of animals & birds appeared like the ptarmigan (above) that was starting to grow it's white winter feathers, and a couple of mule deer. When we arrived back at our room, the mule deer had set up camp across the road from us as well (below). The deer are very comfortable in the town site because the predators stay away from the humans. The lush lawns are much tastier than the natural grasslands.
Back in the township we grabbed some breakfast from our favourite shop (Zum's) & ordered a hiker's lunch while we were at it. We loaded up our backpacks for a day's hiking & set off for the lake ferry. We had planned to do the Crypt Lake hike that day but the howling wind had put the boat that takes hikers to the trail head out of action. We were disappointed at the time but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Time for the backup plan. There were a couple of other hikes we'd planed to do the next day. The one we decided to do was to Forum & Wall Lakes. The trail head is near Cameron Lake & heads West out of the national park & into B.C. & the adjoining provincial park. As we stepped out of the car a Steller's Jay (above) made a pest of itself. We set off along the trail which is more of an old fire track than anything. 30 mins later & we were at the border! The sign below was a bit of a dead giveaway.
Half a kilometre later we were at a crossroads. We had decided initially to only hike to Wall Lake which is slightly further but a flatter trail than the Forum Lake trail. Forum Falls (below) lies 200m from the cross road so we decided to take the short detour. It was a pleasant reward for such a short walk. 
After stopping at the falls, things started to unravel a little. We decided that since we were diverting, why not hike up to Forum Lake. After all, it's only a couple of k's. How hard can it be? The trail became very steep almost immediately which was expected beside a waterfall. Little did we know, it would continue nearly all the way to the lake. At the top of the waterfall, there was another shorter waterfall (below) that was almost as pretty was the main cascade.
The steep trail continued its steep ascent until it finally leveled out into open forest. We were up high near the tree line made evident by the golden needles Larch trees (below). These are the ones I spoke of in my post from Lake Louise.
From up close you can see how the yellow needles are a photographer's dream in the fall.
Finally we reached Forum Lake (below). The photo shows a pretty little blue lake with surrounding cliffs, but it doesn't show the howling icy winds that were cutting holes through us. I was so glad at that point that we weren't hanging off a ledge at Crypt Lake in those winds (I'll explain that comment later).
We didn't stay long at Forum Lake & started the decent through the forest. We had lunch at the campsite at the bottom & decided what to do next.
After some deliberation we made the call to walk the extra 5 km round trip to Wall Lake (above). Besides, we were already half way there. Kerri wasn't completely pleased about it but we went anyway. It turned out to be the right call because it was by far the more picturesque of the two lakes & also protected from the harsh winds. In hindsight we should have turned around at the falls & gone straight to Wall Lake.
An added bonus was that there were a couple of Mountain Goats (above & below) on the cliffs above the lake. They were a long way off, but they were definitely goats.
I wanted to follow the trail further around to get closer to the goats, but Kerri started heading back having had enough walking. I continued a little way around before turning around. I was a little nervous having seen some fresh "signs" of grizzly bear activity in the area (below). Hiking alone is a bad idea at the best of times in North America. This was asking for trouble.
I caught up with Kerri eventually after what seemed like hours. The wander back to the car park along the mainly downhill track was uneventful. We were very glad to get back to the room & put our feet up for the afternoon.
Later that afternoon we set off animal spotting again. The cloud had turned to spots of rain, but we were in luck. A black bear with 3 cubs were eating berries next to the red Rock Parkway. These bears were of the cinnamon persuasion. The ones that morning were at the dark end of the colour variants & these ones were the light end.
Unfortunately the light was very poor so the photos came out quite grainy, but they were quite comfortable going about their business while everyone sat & watched them.
Finally we reached Forum Lake (below). The photo shows a pretty little blue lake with surrounding cliffs, but it doesn't show the howling icy winds that were cutting holes through us. I was so glad at that point that we weren't hanging off a ledge at Crypt Lake in those winds (I'll explain that comment later). 
We didn't stay long at Forum Lake & started the decent through the forest. We had lunch at the campsite at the bottom & decided what to do next. 
After some deliberation we made the call to walk the extra 5 km round trip to Wall Lake (above). Besides, we were already half way there. Kerri wasn't completely pleased about it but we went anyway. It turned out to be the right call because it was by far the more picturesque of the two lakes & also protected from the harsh winds. In hindsight we should have turned around at the falls & gone straight to Wall Lake. An added bonus was that there were a couple of Mountain Goats (above & below) on the cliffs above the lake. They were a long way off, but they were definitely goats.
I wanted to follow the trail further around to get closer to the goats, but Kerri started heading back having had enough walking. I continued a little way around before turning around. I was a little nervous having seen some fresh "signs" of grizzly bear activity in the area (below). Hiking alone is a bad idea at the best of times in North America. This was asking for trouble.
I caught up with Kerri eventually after what seemed like hours. The wander back to the car park along the mainly downhill track was uneventful. We were very glad to get back to the room & put our feet up for the afternoon.
Later that afternoon we set off animal spotting again. The cloud had turned to spots of rain, but we were in luck. A black bear with 3 cubs were eating berries next to the red Rock Parkway. These bears were of the cinnamon persuasion. The ones that morning were at the dark end of the colour variants & these ones were the light end.
Unfortunately the light was very poor so the photos came out quite grainy, but they were quite comfortable going about their business while everyone sat & watched them.
I mentioned in an earlier post that we picked up a hire car. What I really meant was the big arsed pick-up truck above. Apparently there had been a serious hail storm some months previous that had all the cars in Calgary booked out. We had a choice between the dodge Ram & the Dodge Ram. It was in fact a pretty good rig & they didn't charge us any extra. It wasn't too hard of fuel considering the size of the thing.
We arrived in Waterton early afternoon & didn't have any luck checking in so we grabbed some lunch & set off on a short hike to Crandell Lake. We took the longer of the two trails from the Red Rock Canyon road. It was longer, but only 2 kms each way along a easy but somewhat nerve racking trail. The nerve racking bit comes from the fields of berries (above) either side of the trail. We were on high alert for both types of bears, but fortunately saw neither. 
When we reached Crandell Lake (above & below) we were nearly blown back into the bush! The lake is exposed to the prevailing winds which are harsh in that corner of Alberta. The trees in the photo above are hammered by the wind so much that they grow on an angle.
It's not the most picturesque lake in the area, but we had to go & see it for ourselves.
We headed back to the hotel & were able to check in. We offloaded our gear & got straight back in the car to go out & find some animals. We tried the Akamina Parkway first without success. Cameron Lake sits at the end of the road (more on that later). We parked up in the car park & took the short walk to Akamina Lake (below). There was some hope that we would spy a moose in the marsh at the edge of the lake. Again, no luck.
We didn't see any bears, but the cloud formations to the east caught my attention (above). The cool winds rush across the mountains & meet the warm air of the prairies causing what the locals call the Chinook. It creates the cloud formations & in the colder months actually warms the air giving the residents some welcome respite from the bitter winter temperatures. 
I only have a few minutes to get organised before the sun started to make its presence known. The pinks & oranges early in the morning help photographers the world over & Lake Louise is no exception. 
Within 20 minutes the show was over (below). It's still pretty spectacular without the pink light.
One last stop for a photo of Castle Mountin (with blue sky behind it at last!) before the hour or so drive back to Cowtown (Calgary).
After a couple of hours of down time at Shane & Laura's place we headed to Limericks to meet up with some of our Canadian friends. There were some missing faces that night, but it was a pretty good turn out considering. There was a lot of catching up done over quite a few drinks. We miss our Canadian friends.
Our drive from Yoho National Park took a detour from Hwy 1 along the Bow Valley Parkway in order to avoid the road works & hopefully spot some animals. We were in luck (I guess). We saw a couple of mule deer buck (above).
Haven't done a couple of the sights it was time to do the oblagitory shopping for souvenirs in Banff's main street. My favourite! 
Sorry. The photo looks better without a box head blocking the view....
From the lookout we drove around beside Vermillion Lakes. It's a shame the weather wasn't a bit clearer because the autumn colours were everywhere. Unfortunately the photos just ended up a bit drab but OK.
The weather was cloudy with a few spots of rain but we were determined to walk around Emerald Lake. En-route to the lake we stopped briefly at Natural Bridge (above). We've been there a few times before & the Kickinghorse River seems to have a different mood each time. We've seen the water anything from milky grey when it's a raging torrent to the blue relative tranquility on this day. Having taken the tourist shot (above) it was time to excercise the arty long exposure settings on the camera (below).
The fall colours were out in a big way in the mountains, but mainly the yellows. The Emerald lake seemed to have more plants with the rich red leaves & berries. 
The quaint town of Field is more a rail head than anything else but also has some craft shops & boutique lunch/coffee shops.
