We received a surprise when we arrived in Calgary, as the afternoon was very warm at over 30°C. We were even more surprised that it continued to be that hot even up in the Rocky Mountains. We had been expecting cooler days and were looking forward to hiking in a more temperate climate....how wrong we were! It was as hot as it was in Sedona or Joshua Tree, the only difference being it cooled down in those places at nightfall but in The Rockies, the sun doesn't set until about 10.30pm and so it remains warm until then.
The good thing about a late sunset is we have been able to stay out hiking and exploring, and in the evening is the best time to see wildlife. Speaking of which, we have ticked a few off our list. Our first sighting was of a black bear on our way up the Icefield Parkway to Jasper, what a thrill! I saw an elk just standing in the river as we drove by, complete with antlers, but we weren't in a position to safely and easily turn back for a photo, unfortunately. We have seen juvenile males with the antlers just starting to grow and some female elk, and we saw a male with antlers by the side of the road chowing down on a small shrub on our way to Yoho National Park. We have seen a couple of squirrels who either stay perfectly still hoping you will go away, or they scurry away as fast as they can, or they make a little squeaking sound repeatedly, maybe hoping to scare us away. They are incredibly cute!
Another great thrill was seeing a nesting pair of Bald Eagles atop their nest in a grove of trees just near Medicine Lake. We stopped there to eat our very late lunch on our way to Maligne Lake for the Spirit Island cruise. There were signs alerting people to the nest and I went as close as the signs allowed, but the nest at that stage was empty. On returning to Jasper after the cruise, in the rain, there were cars stopped and to our delight, the pair of eagles were there. I only have my phone and a small compact camera with a 15m zoom so my photos are not the best of course, but a very kind and super excited lady showed me what she had captured on her amazing camera with a huge long-range lens and it was an incredible photo.
On our way through to Jasper from Calgary, we had our first glimpse of the much talked about "blue/turquoise" lakes. The dream to come to Canada to see these lakes began when I was given a beautiful coffee table book about the country and within its pages were the most stunning photographs, and I decided one day I would see for myself and I was certainly not disappointed as the lakes really are stunning, especially against the backdrop of the mountains.
We have enjoyed hiking in all kinds of places, including the Valley of The Five Lakes where I was struck by the beauty of the Alberta wild rose which we saw all along the track, so pretty against the backdrop of pine and other trees. We have seen other lovely wildflowers too on our hikes through the Maligne Canyon, alongside the beautiful Athabasca River, up on the mountains at Whistlers Summit and Parker Ridge, at Beauty Creek and Medicine Lake, along the track at Sunwapta Falls, basically every hike we have done we have seen pretty flowers!
We are so enjoying this beautiful place with its towering mountains, some which still have drifts of snow, the lovely lakes, tumbling waterfalls, wild rivers, and the animals who inhabit the forests. We are loving hiking the pretty trails, even the uphill trails which require quite a bit of effort…the reward at the end is the most spectacular views you gain with the increase in elevation.
I don't think I can pick a favourite hike out of the ones we did, they were all really different and all very enjoyable. The experience at the top of Whistler's Summit, where we felt like we were on top of the world and has the 360° view of the mountains, was definitely a highlight though. I also rate at the top the cruise to Spirit Island and seeing the Black Bear and the Bald Eagles on the way back from that. So many wonderful experiences and memories.
We have left Jasper now and are about to begin our adventures in Yoho National Park.