Banff stuff and Greg Visit

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Bow River in Spring
Here are some more Banff photos of April. April had some really nice Spring days and the mountains and rivers are spectacular as the ice starts to melt. I started to snowboard less now and went hiking and exploring the National Park. The Bow valley falls are just down the road and they make a good afternoon trip. I love the view of the Banff Springs hotel from the bottom of the valley.

Greg came to visit for a week for some boarding and laughs. We never had the best conditions but we did get some powder towards the end of the week. If you are reading this now mate, sorry to tell you we've just had a powder week in May! And the Delerium Dive was absolutely awesome.

One thing you notice more of in Spring are the animals. I went for so long not seeing any elk and now I usually see them on a daily basis on a gentle stroll down the road. Deer are everywhere, Coyote's, and the chipmunks are cool to watch. The moose and wolves are harder to spot. There are lots of cougars too and people do get taken out but its
Banff Springs Hotel
is very rare to see them.

Obviously the one thing I have been looking out for are the bears. They are out and about and I wouls love to see a black bear or grizzly at a distance. They have come out of hibernation now and they are hungry bastards. People get eaten by the grizzlies frequently. As Banff and the ski hills are in the national park, the bears roam around freely. The closest encounter I've had so far is when Greg and I were boarding through the trees at Lake Louise and I stopped to find Greg. I was shouting his name and then I noticed a footprint right next to me which was as wide as two spread hands and even longer. Fuck Greg I thought and I was out of there. We told the lifties and they said "well its the time of year". I can just imagine a grizzly hiding behind a tree waiting to do a WWF close line move.

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Photos

The Delirium Dive
Pretty steep eh?