On the Road Again - Jasper to Banff

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Well this was the best day yet! You never would have guessed it, since it was our long drive south back to Banff and it was grey and rainy almost all day - but maybe this made all the wildlife come out. It started in the morning - Mr Bull Elk had taken up residence outside the campground's toilet complex, blocking the entrance and denying everyone access. No one dared cross his path. He had particularly big antlers and emitted his screeching bellow at regular intervals, an action which one couldn't help but notice made his testicles quiver like an erupting volcano. He was completely oblivious to the fact he was preventing half the campground clientele from completing their morning ablutions. Good old elk.

Then, when we went into Jasper town to pick up breakfast, we met a herd of deer happily wandering right through downtown munching on everyone's garden flowerbeds.

We said a sad goodbye to Jasper and started driving back towards Banff via the Icefields Parkway. We were just north of the Columbia Icefield, lamenting the fact that, despite endless searching and two weeks in the Rockies, we still had not seen the famed mountain goats, when what do we see on the cliff face beside the road, but the little white puffballs themselves! You can imagine how excited I was. They were scampering along these sheer vertical ledges as if it was the easiest thing in the world, dislodging scree with their hooves which promptly tumbled to the ground below. The baby ones were actually *playing* on the cliff face. I don't know how they do it.

As if that wasn't enough, further along the road we saw a bear wandering along the shores of a stream and, on the Bow Field Parkway, a pack of coyotes tearing apart a fresh kill.

This is truly an amazing place.

By the time we reached Banff, it was pitch dark, cold and raining heavily. We were going to treat ourselves to a night in a hostel or B&B but they turned out to be so ridiculously expensive that we opted to go to our old campground and sleep in the car - ahh, a comfortable night for all.

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Photos

Mr Bull Elk Guarding the Toilet Complex
On second thoughts, maybe I don't really need to use the washrooms after all...

Mr Bull Elk Grazing in Front of the Toilet Door
No one at the campground dared use the facilities this morning - would YOU cross his path?

Why Must My Beard Get So Itchy?
Mountain goat scratching his chin

Mountain Goats Balancing Along the Scree Slopes
Their agility was amazing

Another Look at Mr Bull Elk, Lord of the Campground
Why, what mighty antlers you have