First we got up early to leave Banff to a rainy day. My thought was that this was going to be a nothing day as far as pictures and blogging goes. (Did you notice that I DIDN'T blog last night? I know my dear friend Geri noticed and will no doubt scold me for that...) So I took a couple 'rain on the road' pictures to show you what a disappointing trip we were having on the drive from Banff to Jasper.
However, the rain and cold brought the snow level down low on the mountains and also spit at us as we drove into high elevations. We were driving the Icefields Highway, and eventually the clouds began to lift and the scenery improved...a lot!!
...And then came the glaciers...lots and lots of amazing glaciers in the mountains easily visable from the highway.
There are a lot more I could show you and I may, as we go back down this highway in a couple days. Hopefully it will again be a blue-sky day to make it even more spectacular.
We didn't do much last night except deal with Don's lost cell phone (Complicated, especially when in another country!) This morning broke again cold, damp and cloudy.
We went out for breakfast and this day quickly became our wildlife day. Right after leaving the RV park, we came across a couple of elk.
One was a huge bull who had eyes only for the cow elk that was several yards further into the woods. Because it is rut season, these big guys can be kind of crazy so we stopped the car, but I was not going to try to get close to this one.
He didn't much like the cars so he had his back end toward us most of the time, however, at one point he turned around and bugled for his intended bride.
It was a spectacular moment to see and hear. He extended his neck and let out this high pitched, "Oh Eee eeeeee!" (That's probably not an exact translation, but it's the best I can do!) Unfortunately he was moving and the picture is a bit out of focus, but I wanted to share it anyway.
After a breakfast which overlooked a river, where we watched several deer coming down to eat and drink, we headed off in a drive to Maligne Lake. (Pronounced Mal-een.)
On the way we saw a turnoff for Maligne Canyon. We really hadn't planned a hike for today, just sort of left that option open. Well, Maligne Canyon was a hike...and then some.
An incredible place. Best described, I believe, as a deep crack in the ground (actually in the rock) with a fast moving stream flowing through it. It was very deep and very, very narrow, like nothing I have ever seen.
It was hard to photograph to get a picture that looked anything like what it really was, and it involved a hike going seriously downhill. There were even stairs on several parts of it.
Of course, then there was the inevitable return trip, U-P H-I-L-L. Suffice it to say it was a brutal hike, not long, but quite vertical.
Then we drove on and eventually come to Medicine Lake and later on to Malgine Lake.
On the way back we came across a "Bear Jam." That's where traffic is stopped, clogging the road because a tourist saw a bear.
When we got there, there were only a couple cars and I wasn't about to get too close to a hungry bear, so once again, the picture isn't great. He was just below the edge of the road. But it's a bear eating berries. Thankfully for some of the people who got quite close, he was pretty interested in his berries.
There is another high end lodge here, the Jasper Park Lodge. We enjoy seeing great lodges, and since we had visited the ones in Banff and Lake Louise, we went to this one as well. It was on a beautiful lake but I was not as impressed with it as with the other two. I did get a nice picture of a bear family there.
We were ready to call it a day, still recuperating from our 'hike,' so headed back toward the RV.
It was then we came across two groups of big horn sheep with eleven in each group along side the highway.
There was a rock outcropping and they blended in so well, it made it really hard to get good pictures. It is no wonder they like to hang out there as it provides good cover for them.
Within moments we had a 'Sheep Jam' going, but we did get some pictures anyway.
Don wanted me to tell you we climbed a mountain to get these pictures, instead of seeing them on the side of the road. Unfortunately the picture with the road sign was a dead give away. Sorry, Don.
Two baby big horn sheep on the hillside. All together now, say, "Awwww!"
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