"......And The 3 Bears"

Road Trip Through the Canadian Rockies + More (6th - 16th August, 2006)

Toronto to Vancouver to Revelstoke (Lake Williamson Campground)
An early morning flight out of Toronto to Vancouver. After picking up a car at the airport we headed for Revelstoke. It was certainly a very scenic drive with snow on the mountaintops.

Revelstoke to Yoho NP (Takakkaw Falls)
Drove up to Mt. Revelstoke. Spectacular mountain views. Fantastic wildflowers and firs. Very, very pretty. We drove on through the Glacier National Park, over Rogers Pass (1327 metres) and through the towns of Golden and Field. We were given a recommendation in Field to camp at Takakkaw Falls. Sensational campsite. Set on the river, beneath the falls. We saw some columbian ground squirrels around the campsite. Had a great fire that night and watched the moon come up behind the mountains. Our campsites didn't get any better than that!

Yoho NP to Lake Louise to Banf NP (Mosquito Creek)
Early morning wildlife spotting drive. A couple of deer across the other side of the river. When we turned around and drove back we slowed up behind another car. There was an elk with massive antlers eating by the side of the road. Bern didn't see this huge animal at first, obviously looking for something much smaller and then got quite a shock when she saw the antlers moving. I know who would come off second best if you collided with one of these!
We did a lovely walk along part of the Iceline Trail to Emerald Glacier. Visited my lake (Lake Louise) and Morraine Lake.

Banf NP to Jasper NP (Snaring River Campground x 2 nights)
From Mosquito Creek Campground in Banf NP we started driving through the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. A very scenic drive with loads of stops along the way. A couple of highlights - Peyto Lake and the glaciers at Mt. Edith Cavell. In Jasper that evening we tested out the famous Alberta steak which was very good.
Eager to find moose we asked a Ranger where he recommended we should look. He suggested that we drive out to Lake Maligne from Jasper early in the morning. So we were up at 5.30am and headed out to the lake. We never thought for a minute that we would see bears! Then along the roadside we saw a black bear and watched it head deeper in to the woods. Not long after that we saw another black bear with its 2 cubs. We sat in the car, ate breakfast and watched them for close to 2 hours. They too were eating breakfast, berries from the bushes along the roadside. The cubs both climbed trees, had a nap and then came down again. It was very exciting and just so special to watch them. When we first saw them there was just our car and a couple in another car. Lots of other people then stopped to look and some idiot got out of his car to get closer. The black bear mum growled telling her cubs to get up the tree which they did and they didn't come back down. A Ranger then came along and moved everyone on, saying that the cubs wouldn't come down from the tree now until people left.
Eventually we made it to the lake. No moose but the bears did make up for it! We then enjoyed the Miette Hot Springs. And it may have been our first shower in a few days. Most of the campsites didn't have showers.

Jasper to Clearwater (North Thompson River Provincial Park)
Up at 5.30am again to head out towards Lake Maligne. We still hadn't seen moose! We saw the 3 bears again and watched them all cross the road safely. Just before the lake we spotted our first moose. It was a cow moose without antlers. Bern thought it was a horse! We could now leave Canada - we'd seen bears and moose!
We thought it couldn't get any better until we were driving out of Jasper and spotted a moose (antlers and all) across the other side of Yellowhead Lake. The moose walked in to the lake, had a swim/wash and then headed back in to the woods. Another very special wildlife experience!

Clearwater to Whistler (Calcheak Camping Ground)
Drove through prairie land via Little Fort, Bridge Lake and Lone Butte to Whistler. Lots of ranches and we spotted some baby deer. More snow capped mountains as we got closer to Whistler. Apparently the ski season had only officially ended the weekend before. Mountain biking was very popular in Whistler at this time. Watched some live music in the village before making Smores (chocolate biscuits with a toasted marshmallow squished between them) at the campsite.

Whistler to Vancouver Island (Mussell Beach x 2 nights)
Caught the ferry from Horseshoe Bay across to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. We then drove across to the west coast of the island and set up camp at Mussell Beach (30km out of Tofino). They even had showers for $2. Apparently the owners said they have recently seen a bear and its cub come down to the beach and turn over rocks looking for crabs to eat. We didn't see the bears here but we were on the lookout. We did spot 2 black bears while we were on the island while driving.
Did a couple of walks through parts of the Pacific Rim National Park. I'm convinced we heard a bear in the bushes but we never actually saw it. It was making a lot of noise tearing branches. Went out on a whale watching boat tour but unfortunately didn't see any whales. It was so rough though that Bern and Elizabeth simultaneously hurt themselves when the boat went over a huge wave and we became airborne.
We did see bald headed eagles from the boat which was a first.

Vancouver Island to Vancouver (Cambie International Hostel x 2 nights)
In Vancouver we had a great afternoon/evening rollerblading around the seawall at Stanley Park. Another first - we saw racoons and a skunk in the park. A Canadian yelled out to us not to get to close to the skunk because it could spray us! Sushi is very popular in Vancouver - we had a massive all you can eat feast at Robson's Sushi.
Spent the morning wandering in and out of every camping store on Broadway Street.
In the afternoon we hiked the Grouse Grind (the track up Grouse Mountain) in 1 hour and 20 mins. The time is very important when you are a Canadian living in Vancouver. There is an annual race up the mountain and throughout the year people try and better their times.
There was lots to do on the mountain. We watched the world famous Lumberjack Show, Birds In Motion Show and watched 2 orphaned Grizzley Bears who live permanently on the mountain. There was even a wild black bear that we saw from a distance. The 2 Grizzley bears were both cubs when they lost their mums in road accidents. The cubs would have died if they had not been rescued by Rangers. The cubs have been raised on Grouse Mountain with a lot of study going in to setting up a system of being able to keep orphaned cubs in the wild in the future without them being eaten by other animals. The cubs were filmed while they were hibernating in a manmade cave on the mountain. It was discovered that they don't sleep the entire time they are hibernating. They don't eat but they do seem to sluggishly walk around almost like they are sleep walking which partly explains why they don't lose muscle tone during hibernation.

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