Rocky Mountains Part 1 - Grizzly Country...

---

... We didn't see any. It was only after we finished our back country hike that we found out there were thousands of them lerking around - in fact you are more likely to see a bear than a human. Well we didn't see either. We hiked for 70km without seeing anyone over the first three days - a little disconcerting with the threat of bears (NB. It is high season for bears as the berries are out - in fact bears can eat up to 250,000 berries a day in the summer - they are machines and we know this only because someone has disected their poop) although brilliant that this was true wilderness.

You bear proof your camspite (FYI Tiddy) by storing food, smelly items like aftershave and hair gel (I'm only joking - I was a right scrubber and didn't use anything to alter my smell accept for stream water) in a bag that you hoist 4 m up at least 100m from your tent. Bears have amazing smell and can pinpoint something they fancy, perhaps a pot of honey a la Pooh bear, from miles away. They only hunt/forage at dusk and through the night though so you are fine to carry this with you in the day. Enough of the bear lesson now...

The wilderness was such that we could sit on the toilet (hole in the ground) and have your pants round your ankles as you survey the valley and mountains in front of you without fear of peeping toms. Exhilarating. We would walk through heavily overgrown forrest and wade across rivers, climb barren passes and spot elk, marmots and millions of frogs. We took a few wrong turns etc but all was good.

Naturally, you give details of your trip to Parks Canada before you depart and sign in when you get back so that if something does go wrong they automatically send out a search party for you the next day. On signing in at Lake Louise we found out that I hadn't filled out those forms and so we would have been royally rogered (as it were) had something gone poorly.

Next up is the drive up the Icefields Parkway and such delights as Moraine Lake, the Athabascar Glacier, Mistaya Canyon, Mount Robson, the Columbia Icefield, the Sunwapta Falls and much much more. Photos of all that to follow and I'll upload a few from our trip in a few minutes.

Hope you are well back home - please let us know whats going on (although we really couldn't care less) because we do still remeber you all.

I recommend this travelling thing by the way - unforgetable.

---

Comments

[Tiddy]

Just in case you hadn't heard...
Norwich 1 - 7 Colchester. An excellent start to life in league 1 for you.