Yoho National Park and Golden

Day 2 of our whirlwind mountain visit took us across the border into beautiful British Columbia. The weather wasn't exactly brilliant, but with such a short time, we had no choice but to continue. It was beautiful and fine through all of August last summer but not today.

Kicking Horse Alpine Resort

We drove into Golden and out to the Kicking Horse Alpine Resort (ski village) to check out the Grizzly Bear Refuge. Grizzlies had proven so hard to find in the wild during our 18 month stay in Canada so we figured we'd try a sure thing. Of course there was the obligatory tourist shot at the resort.

The bear habitat was part the way up the mountain and the best way to get there was on the chair lift. There was a dismount off the chair about 2/3 of the way up and without snow, skis or snowboards, it was more than a bit tricky. Of course the further up we got the colder it got. We were glad we bought our cold weather gear with us that's for sure. The girls made sure they had hot drinks with them for extra warmth. Of course having a hot drink in your hand while trying to get off a ski lift that was going straight on while on foot just added to the degree of difficulty.

Meet Boo. He's the resident male grizzly at the Kicking Horse bear refuge. The refuge is the biggest bear habitat going around and he has no contact with people at all (other than those of us gawking at him from over the fence). I was really concerned that he'd be hiding under a bush and we wouldn't get to see him. Fortunately he was out and about and very close to our vantage point.

I'm kicking myself for not being quick enough with the camera to take a photo, but they feed Boo by dropping food from the ski gondola that runs right above the middle of his enclosure. There's a little pond under the gondola and a couple of apples ended up in it. Boo knew what was going on and went right after them. I never thought I'd see a full grown grizzly bear bobbing for apples. He seemed to enjoy the challenge.

The keepers throw all manner of food into Boo's enclosure and make sure they scatter it to make him work for it. The problem for Boo is that birds don't have to worry about the multi-strand electric fence, so they think the food's being provided for their benefit. Boo took great offense to this murder of crows and chased them off. It suddenly became apparent that grizzly bears aren't as slow as they look. We gained a new respect for them and will be making sure that we keep our distance when we see them in the wild.

It wasn't just the ravens stealing boo's food. There were lots of smaller birds picking off the peanuts and other little snacks. This one is a Steller's Jay. They have incredible vibrant blue feathers. They're cheeky little sots and very difficult to photograph because they simply won't sit still.

This is the view from Boo's enclosure. It looks back toward Golden and the Kicking Horse Valley. As you can see, the weather had turned down right dodgy. Early August is not meant to bring snow clouds. I guess that's Canada for you.

After the bear habitat, we scrambled onto the chair lift again and headed down to the resort, only to board the gondola to the top of the ski area. As we stepped out of the gondola we were greeted by light snow! (The locals call light snow 'Flurries".) There's a restaurant at the top and more importantly a toilet.

After the toilet stop we had a bit of a look around, but there's not much of interest. It really is just a step off point for some great ski runs. The most interesting thing was the crazy downhill mountain bikers. They used the gondolas for the up hill and then go nuts on the way down following the ski runs.

I'm kicking myself that I couldn't get organized enough to snowboard this resort last season because there is some awesome terrain on that mountain.

Wolf Discovery Centre

After visiting Boo, we headed back to Golden an then on to the Wolf Discovery Centre. Kerri and I had been there before, but it was more about showing our visitor the Rocky Mountains. We were more fortunate than last time because then we only saw two of the wolves. This time we were lucky enough to see four of the six. We even saw Tuck and Aspen go for a walk (above), Tuck is the grey male. Well sort of..... they were on a lead for a short time before being bundled into a 4x4 and taken elsewhere for a walk.

Meet Aspen. She's actually what they call a wolf dog; half dog, half wolf. She was introduced to the centre early on to help settle the full blood wolves. She is much more placid being half domestic dog. She's a bit more like a husky or malamute than a wolf.

This is Maya. She's Tuk's sister and was in the front enclosure with Wylie who's we saw last time. Maya and Aspen are permanently separated because the two are competing for the alpha female role in the pack and the risk of serious injury are too much in the confined spaces. This photo was taken while the pack were howling (obviously).

Some of you will remember Wylie from previous blog entries. He's a magnificent animal and very photogenic.

Here's Wylie hard at work. It's a tough job...

The Wolf Discovery Centre has three Karelian Bear Dogs. These are a domestic dog breed from Russia that were once used to hunt bears. In these days of wildlife conservation, they now use them on the fringes of cities and towns to intimidate bears back into the wild. It means that the bears go back to living their lives normally instead of trying to pick up easy snacks in towns because of human stupidity. It's a great concept and beats the hell out of shooting 100s of 'Problem Bears' each year.

Golden

I may have mentioned once or twice about the North American obsession with RV's. It probably started from people being afraid to camp in tents because of the bears and cougars. They instead opted for a campavan. Unfortunately the obsession with having something bigger and better than the Jones's has resulted in this. It's ridiculous! I dread to think what they have in the trailer. The money these clowns pour into these things would buy some serious airline tickets, hire cars and really flash accommodation for quite some time. It kind if defeats the purpose a bit. This wasn't even the craziest one we saw!

Yoho National Park

Natural Bridge

The afternoon was directed more at scenery than animals. We headed back toward Field and Lake Louise. Our first point on interest was Natural Bridge. Having been there a few times trying to get a decent photo (with no luck due to weather issues) we managed to hit it at the right time. The dodgy weather of the morning gave way to some sunshine for a short while.

Emerald Lake

By the time we arrived at Emerald Lake, the weather had closed in. (This photo was taken by Julie).

Takakkaw Falls

Of course, no trip into Yoho National Park is complete without a trip to Takakkaw Falls. It still impresses me even though I've seen it a few times now.

The Spiral Tunnels

Being an engineer, we thought Julie would be interested in the Spiral Tunnel. We were lucky to get there right when a train was descending the pass.
We had a pretty good day despite the weather doing its best to make a mess of it. We're looking forward to heading north to Jasper tomorrow.

Banff and Johnston Canyon

After the epic lap around the Southern half of Utah we had a rest day in Calgary yesterday. This morning we set off for the mountains early. Our plan is to make the most of four days to show Julie our favourite spots in the mountain parks. Today we concentrated our efforts around Banff. It was a serious contrast to the red rocks and bone dry dessert of Utah. Utah was a fantastic experience but it was kind of comforting to be back in the green forest & snow capped mountains.

The Three Sisters

As always, the road to Banff includes passing through Canmore, the gateway to the Mountains. With clear skies, we made a small detour so we could get a nice view of The Three Sisters. Notice that there's absolutely no snow on the peaks in this shot. More on that later.

Johnston Canyon

Initially we bypassed Banff and continued along the Bow Valley Parkway as far as Castle Junction. In the shadow of Castle Mountain is one of our favourite short waterfall walks, Johnston Canyon.

We arrived at Johnston Canyon early which is always a good idea because it gets overrun most days. I had been back there with the DSLR camera a couple of times with mixed results, but usually the ice and snow combined with poor weather made it impossible to get the postcard shots I was after. Today, the conditions were perfect. We were even able to capture rainbows in a few of them, including Lower Falls (above).

This is one of my favourite waterfalls in Johnston Canyon. I like the hole in the rock that the left rapid runs through.

The photos I took this time around with the DSLR were so much clearer and the colours much more vibrant than previous efforts. The conditions helped but I think the better camera and a better understanding of photography definitely had as much impact.

Got it! The Upper Falls, on a clear day with a rainbow! 4th time lucky...

And the last of the falls. This one is just above the Upper Falls.

Vermilion Lakes

From Johnston Canyon we went back to Banff for lunch but not before a divert to nearby Vermilion Lakes (with Rundle mountain in the background). It was still quite a clear enough day and the breeze stayed away as well.

Banff

Of course we had to do the main street of Banff and the merchandising shops. Not my favourite past time, but I do these things to humour women when I have to.Below is Julie doing the inevitable tourist thing and having her photo taken with a stuffed moose.

Castle Mountain

We've booked a couple of nights at Lake Louise, so we set off from the Banff area and headed out along the Trans-Canada. We managed to catch a clear view of Castle Mountain in the process.

Osprey at Castle Junction

At Castle Junction, we crossed over to the Bow Valley Parkway. The short road crosses the Bow River with the bridge pictured. I've become pretty accustomed to spotting animals and this was no exception. If you look at the top of the bridge close enough, you'll see a big bird's nest.

In the nest was a pair of Osprey. Osprey are a bit scarce the world over, so this was a real treat.

Osprey are almost exclusive fish eaters. This pair had a trout up in the nest and you may see one of them with the tail in its mouth (above).

Bow Valley Wildlife Spotting

After our Osprey sighting we headed along the Bow Valley Parkway to look for more animals. We weren't disappointed. This black bear was grazing on a clearing just off the side of the road. It may not look like it, but this one is definitely a black bear. Its coat looks a lot like a grizzly, but the black bears have a significant range of colour variants. It was good that our visitor was able to see a bear regardless of what type.
It was getting late so it was off to the hotel to check in and have dinner. It was a decent start to our trip.

We're staying at one of the hotels up near Lake Louise itself so we took some time to check out the lake before to light finally disappeared. The evening has become overcast and cold. I hope these aren't ominous signs.

Bryce Canyon

We stayed in Cedar City over night (not too much of note there), and with another long day on the road, we set off early. This morning the main focus was Bryce Canyon.

Red Rock Canyon.

After an hour and a half of driving we came upon this sight. It was the first inkling of what Bryce Canyon was going to be like. This is Red Rock Canyon just outside Bryce Canyon National Park. The bright blue skies, dark green trees & red-orange rock formations make for a nice setting. I even managed to get a shot with a bright red Mustang.

Bryce Canyon

The photo above shows what Bryce Canyon is about. Multiple amphitheaters with 1000s of limestone spires. The limestone in the area is very soft and the elements are working very hard to tear them apart leaving an amazing array of strange shapes. This photo was taken from Bryce Point, which is one of many lookout points in the park. It looks back to Sunrise Point, Sunset Point and Inspiration Point. Bryce Canyon is the top tier of the Grand Staircase at 2900m above sea level, and the all lookout points look out over the lower plateau.

Thor's Hammer

It may be a little hard to pick out in the photo above but there's a rock spire called Thor's Hammer.

Sunrise Point

Sunrise point was one of the first lookout points we went to. From there you get to see some of the strange formations at close range.

I took the photo above from Sunrise Point with the long lens. The typical colour strata in the rocks were particularly evident here. I like the almost Mars like look to this part of the canyon. The only thing that gives it away is the trees clinging to life in the crevices.

Inspiration Point

Inspiration point definitely follows the amphitheater mold.

Check out the castle like formations in this photo. They are about as big as a castle as well.

The girls didn't look that inspired. I think they were a bit over orange/red rocks after four days of it. Besides, there was no crazy overhang to dangle off.

Bryce Point

Bryce Point is probably the biggest of the spiky amphitheaters. It is also the high point of the park at 8300 ft. At this elevation the trees do it tough. The weather is more brutal than even the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Paria Point

Nothing too much to say about Paria Point other than it's a nice view as are most of the lookout points.

Swamp Canyon

Swamp Canyon was much more heavily vegetated.

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge is yet another arch in Utah. Apparently it's been mis-named and should actually be called an arch, not a bridge.

Agua Canyon

Agua Canyon is one of the prettier outlooks. We all liked the pink panther.

Ponderosa Canyon

Rainbow Point

At the far southern extent of the National Park road is Rainbow Point. It has the widest view of all the lookouts.

Black Birch Canyon

By the time we reached Black Birch Canyon, they were all starting to look the same.

Another Long Drive

We had to leave Bryce Canyon fairly early because we had to drive some five hours north back to Salt Lake City. We stopped for lunch just outside the park gate and pigged out on a smorgasbord (thinking we may not have too many options for dinner, and we turned out to be right).

I had borrowed a GPS off Shane which had proven pretty handy up until that point. I'd studied a local road map pretty carefully and saw a nice direct route back to Salt Lake City. The girl on the GPS didn't agree. She kept telling me to back track and take the long way. It was making me nervous, but I stuck to my guns. I figured that the GPS tries to take you along well maintained roads, not secondary farm access roads. This one was sealed, but we did come across a road block (above). It was a minor inconvenience considering the half hour it saved us on the drive.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful to the point of being dead boring. The land is very flat away from the southern part of Utah. The only point of note was that we were back in the city just in time for peak hour. For god fearing Mormons, they drive more like morons.

We handed back the keys to our trusty 4Runner and caught the evening flight back home. We're only in Calgary tonight and tomorrow night before we are off to the mountains.