Rocky Mountain Retreat 2008
Sometimes opportunity knocks, when Norine's work shut down their office, it coincided with my end of term at work. So we packed up the camper, set the iPod radio to 88.3, plugged in my birthday-present-to-myself TomTom GPS unit, and headed for the hills... literally.
Our ultimate destination would be the National Parks of the Canadian Rockies, an area we had been to before, but an amazing natural getaway with many sights we haven't seen yet. With the voice of our GPS, Austin Powers guided us on one of the true wilderness adventures. Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park on the Alberta-Montana border is also designated a World Heritage Site.
(click image to view National Parks)
Lac Le Jeune
Aug 15 - Our first stop for a sunny weekend would be Lac Le Jeune, a pair of small lakes past Merritt on the Coquihalla Hwy. We head out of Friday night after work, and enroute we would discover just how expensive this trip may be, when we stopped in Chilliwack and Merritt to fill up both of the gas tanks on our 1975 Ford Pickup. It would have been well over $100 if there wasn't some strange limit on the credit card system of the gas pump. The logo below will appear every time we filled up, and should help me figure costs based on $100 - $150 a fill.
We arrived at Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park around 10pm, the plan was to meet Norine's sister and her family, and spend a few days with them. When we arrived the ranger tells us the site is full, after a lengthy explanation that we are meeting someone there, he finally lets us drive around tech campsite to find them. We wind our way through one lane after another, looking for a mini-van and a tent. When we finally say "OK, last lane, if they aren't here we leave.", we spot them. We quickly level our camper, and sit around the campfire. Our Niece and Nephew will be very surprised when they wake up and find out that we are here... sadly, they wake up early.
We do have a nice view of the lake, from the campsite, you don't have to look over the outhouse to see it. The water isn't the warmest, but we have a great day floating and splashing in the sun.
After a campfire night of Hot Dogs, Popcorn and Marshmallows, we wake up and take the short hike over to the small lake to check out the area where Norine's uncle had a cabin all through their childhood, a regular stop for the Zapf clan... the Schnaps house.
The Schnaps house is still there, even though it has been sold, but the area has been decimated by the Pine beetle. Even though there seems to be more browns and reds instead of greens in the trees, the quirky cabin crowd still has fun in their little getaway.
There is plenty of flora and fauna in this area, with Chipmunks and Squirrels scurrying around, Beavers have created a big dam on the lake, and the woodpeckers have made sure the holes in the birdhouses provide equal opportunity access.
As we are walking back, my B-I-L notices a kid riding a scooter down a steep hill and says "That's an accident waiting to happen"... we are all watching as seconds later the steering bar starts to wobble and he is flung face first into the pavement with his legs flying up in the air. Maybe it was the timing of the statement, maybe it was the dramatic/acrobatic nature of his wipe-out, but it was hard not to laugh. Of course only after we saw him get up... a good lesson in Road Rash. 
That night the weather changed from beautiful sunshine to strong winds, our nephew was nearly carried away by hanging onto a blowing tarp, and we were treated to a rather exciting thunder and lightning show through the night. A good time to think about moving on.
Aug 18 - On Monday morning we got up early (not by choice), had breakfast, and left Samson and his clan in the campsite and made our way East towards Kamloops and the Shushwap lakes area.
Since we had to stop for gas in the Shushwap area anyways, we decided to pay a visit to Norine's brother who was living a hermit lifestyle with his wife in the hills above Celista. Their home is a small, very small, very very small cabin with collected rain water, battery and propane power, and a lovely outhouse/shower combo. After finally finding them, we visited for a while, and decided to move on to Revelstoke. It was good to put images to the place we had heard of... yoiks.
With the theme to 'Deliverance' playing in our heads we head past Revelstoke and into the National Parks. Between Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park lies Canyon Hot Springs. Our first of many Hot Spring stops, a great place to relax, and use the showers.
It's a nice privately owned campsite, more like a provincial park with large treed sites. A river runs behind our campsite, and we would also discover the bane of a campers existence... why do they always build campsites right beside train tracks? At least they were quiet from midnight to 7am.
After a refreshing hot dip, and cleansing shower we make our way in the dark to our campsite. After enjoying our $7 bundle of wood, it was time to crash. We were very happy to have the foresight to put up a tarp, as we woke up to torrential rain. So much for dry towels.
Aug 19 - We tried to outrun the rain and headed through Glacier National Park, and as tempted as we were, we skipped the 'Skunk Cabbage Trail' and drove on towards Golden, with a short stop at the 1323 Meter (4340 foot) elevation of Rogers Pass for some gas and a break.
Whenever we drive through Rogers Pass, we have to stop and say 'Hi' to our old friends the Ground Squirrels. They seem to love this little park area at the summit. We wouldn't give them nuts or sunflower seeds because that would be wrong, but it's ok to watch other travelers do it. Realistically they just did it before we had a chance, so we'll buy Sunflower seeds soon.
From the altitudes of Rogers Pass we moved on to the altitudes of the ski resort above the town of Golden. The Kicking Horse Resort is a relatively new destination based ski town, with a fancy collection of shops, restaurants, and condos... mostly empty in August. The main activity here seems to be action oriented downhill bike riders. Covered in mud they arrive at the wash station after taking the lift to the top and proceeding down a series of winding trails, ramps, jumps and interesting slopes and rails. Interesting to us, cause we weren't on our bikes.
The real reason we decided to come here was to check out the Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge. We have to take an open chairlift up to the refuge in the pouring rain, completely soaked by the time we get to an electrically enclosed habitat.
The refuge is 22 acres of mixed forest conditions, nestled on the side of the ski hill. Originally it was opened with two Grizzly cubs that were orphaned in 2002, when their mother was shot by a hunter off the side of a highway, in northern BC. The brothers were only 5 months old when they were orphaned; too young to survive on their own. Ironically these are the same two cubs we had seen at the Refuge for Endangered Wildlife on Grouse Mountain, above Vancouver.
One year later the two cubs, given the names of Cari and Boo after the Cariboo Region of the province where they were born, arrived in their new lush habitat. The brothers played, frolicked, foraged and explored within their new home. Sadly Cari died of natural causes the next year.
In the summer of 2006 Boo’s instinctive nature was tested as he pursued a wild female grizzly bear passing nearby. Boo dug under his electrified enclosure fence, doing one of the most important things for grizzly bears as they mature, mating! After 33 days away from the Refuge he returned on his own... tired, malnourished, and dehydrated, to the habitat where he knew food was abundant. That winter Boo slept a solid 4 months and 12 days before poking his head outside to see if spring was approaching. A lot of rowdy behaviour makes for a tired and wary bear!
As we walked over to the refuge area, a guide had already started down the trail just as Boo was walking up, the rainy weather had him quite active, and he eventually came over and sat down right by where we were standing, apparently he has a crush on one of the guides. We watched him as he sniffed out and dug up a vole (a small mouse-like critter), chased it and chowed down.
An english family was with us and the guide as Boo sat by the fence, every once in a while he would stomp his feet and mock charge the fence. Finally the guide told off the youngest, "Stop making faces at the Bear, he doesn't like it." a few minutes later she told him "OK, that's enough, you need to go away, we've asked you several times, stop making fun of the Bear". So our time with Boo ended, and he wandered away up the fence line. Later the pretentious parents would say "I don't think Oliver deserved that", I thought, Boo looks hungry, Oliver would be a good meal.
Finally the rain has slowed a bit as we ride back down to the resort area in the open chair. Included in our admission was a ticket up the enclosed high speed chair to the top of Kicking Horse, it passes directly over Boo chewing on something as we head to the peak of the mountain. As it is late in the day we only have a few minutes to look around, see the sights, but that's fine, it started raining again, so back down we go. Time to find a campsite.
Yoho National Park
It was after 6:30 as we entered Yoho National Park, the main ranger station was closed, as was the Information center, so we couldn't purchase a park pass. Park passes are about $20 and give you the right to be in the park and explore the trails and sights for 24 hours. As we had been to the Kicking Horse Resort, it only made sense to stay at the Kicking Horse Campground just outside Field. When we registered for our campsite, the ranger said "Buy your pass tomorrow morning, that way you'll have it until 4:00pm the next day". OK, she's the ranger.
Camping in the National Parks has changed a little bit, you pay more for the campsite now, you get free firewood, but you also have to pay $8 for a campfire permit. Hmmm, buy the wood, or buy the permit, seems everywhere has the same deal when it comes to campfires. The National parks with their spacious, secluded and well treed sites are still the best we have stayed at.
It was still raining as we setup our campsite, the big blue tarp and tent poles will come in handy on this trip. Our entertainment for the night, two Squirrels doing it in our campsite. Funniest thing I have ever seen, they're on the ground, they're on our truck tire, zoom.. they're on the side of the tree, then on the ground, leap... tree branch. Good stamina in those little guys.
Aug 20 - After the nearby trains stopped running at midnight, we got a good nights sleep and woke up to another cloudy day. Today we would explore the key sights in Yoho, starting with the drive up to the Spiral Tunnels viewpoint. Sound pretty exciting, huh?
Basically it's a "look at the train-tracks on the hill" scenic stop, see the train go in one tunnel, and come out of another, amazing engineering feat, but not so scenic. When we arrive at the scenic viewpoint all we see is clouds, luckily when we came back down the road we could see the mountain, and a long train going in one tunnel and coming out the other... how exciting!!!
Further up this road was Takakkaw Falls, Takakkaw means 'it is magnificent' in Cree, and it is. These falls are one of the highest in Canada, they can be seen from a long distance, and we can hear the thunder as we get closer and closer on the trail. At the base of the falls it sounds like a jet taking off, and you are soaked in the mist/rain that steams from the crashing water.
After staring in wonder at Takakkaw Falls for a while, and then drying off my camera, we head back down the road, past the Spiral Tunnels, to the Natural Bridge. It's a nice hike along the Kicking Horse river to see the natural erosion of the rocks that has created a 'Natural Bridge' over the river. Naturally we were impressed with this wild and natural area of Yoho National Park.
It's a scenic trek along the Emerald river that winds its way up into the hills and ends at Emerald Lake. The lake is an amazing blue/green colour, perhaps that's where it got its name from?
One of the big changes we have noticed in the National Parks is a lot of development focused on the non-campers. Lovely resort style condos and cabins surround one side of the lake, somehow they feel a little out of place, kind of like some of the people that we run into on the hiking trails.
We have learned over the years that when you're hiking, you wear good sturdy walking/hiking shoes, you layer in case of rain or heat, and you certainly don't wear nice clothes down a muddy trail through the forest. It seems that a number of tourists and day-trippers haven't learned that yet, we laugh to ourselves at the heel and sweater crowd as they get angry and turn around after a short distance. Too bad, the wildflowers, lake views and hidden emerald ponds are beautiful.
After a lovely if somewhat drizzly hike around one end of the lake, it was time to pass more of the dress shoes and sweater vests, and make our way to Lake Louise to find a campsite.