Icefields Parkway AB, Canada (06-06-14)

I really wanted to title this post “CLOSED” because that seemed to be the theme of the day.  We knew that spring can be an iffy time in this part of the country, but we were passing so close by, it was worth the risk.

We entered the Icefields Parkway near Lake Louise, where the ice is just beginning to melt off the lake. That’s Victoria Glacier in the background.

Where the ice had melted we could see how pretty the water is- I’m sure in a month or so it will be gorgeous!

This parkway connects Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, and is home to over a hundred glaciers. We stopped at the Visitor Center and had most of our hopes and plans for the next two days dashed.

Most of the trails are closed- if they aren’t snow covered, they are closed due to high grizzly bear activity- the bears are usually at a higher elevation but the late spring has caused them to stay at the lower altitudes. We decided that we were ok with the closed trails, due to the fact that it was in the 30s and windy.  We are definitely fair weather hikers.

Most of the campgrounds are closed too- some due to bear activity, some due to snow, and some due to avalanche damage. 

The drive was still beautiful, with snow covered mountains and beautiful lakes everywhere we looked.  We stopped at the Columbia Icefield Visitor Center where you can take a stroll on the Athabasca Glacier.

If you enlarge this picture of the glacier you’ll see the tiny busses headed up the glacier. We decided to save our bucks and visit a glacier in Alaska. A snow squall arrived soon after we were at the visitor center, reducing visibility to the point that we were glad we chose to skip it.

We were in and out of snow squalls while we were on the parkway and were lucky there was no major accumulation. 

We were also lucky enough to see a lot of wildlife. Here’s my two day wildlife count- and it will probably be my last count, since I imagine we will see so much. Many I couldn't get pictures of, for one reason or another.

We’ve seen 5 black bears and one grizzly bear.

We’ve seen 4 bald eagles.

 

We’ve seen 7 mountain goats and about the same amount of elk. 

There was a cow elk and two babies very close to our campsite one night.

We’ve seen one bighorn sheep and two moose- a cow and her calf crossed the road in front of us.









We also saw one deer, and its a good thing we did.  He came very close to becoming a hood ornament on our truck, but when Paul blasted the horn, luckily the trotting deer bolted like someone had lit his butt on fire.

Run Off by Spiders (Jasper TX 11/13/11)

If yesterday had been a football game it would have been Spiders: 6, Us:0. I had done some research and found a nearby trail- I had even downloaded trail info onto my GPS. After packing up our lunch and backpacks, we headed out on a beautiful day, with temps in the high 70s, and drove 15 miles to get to the trailhead. After about 30 seconds on the trail, Paul commented that he had run into a really strong spider web. I replied that that's why I let him lead(not kidding). Another 30 seconds passed and he ran into another web, but this one had a big juicy spider hanging around in it. We started looking to the sides of the trail and could see quite a few spiders in the bushes along the side. At this point I was trying to think of a good way to let Paul know that I, for one, would be turning around. Before I could form a coherent thought in my head, he had run into yet another spider web, complete with spider resident. By this time we had discovered a secondary use for our hiking sticks, and were waving them in front of our heads while we walked. That was enough for Paul, and we turned around and headed Back the way we came.
For the last few days we've been staying at a campground on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, TX. The reservoir is down 14 feet from the level it should be at, which makes most of boat ramps high and dry, completely unusable. I have a picture, but I am posting from my Ipad and I haven't figured out how to post pictures from it.
When we got back from the abandoned hike there were some kind of flying ants all over the trailer, trying to get inside with us every time we opened the door. Eeeew. This morning, we decided to wash the trailer, since most RV parks have rules against that, but this one does not. About halfway through I started feeling something biting my ankle. Turns out I stepped on an anthill full of red ants. I am ready to leave here!
Tomorrow we head to Houston. We've been having unusual tire wear, so Lippert, the manufacturer of the axles, is sending new ones to put on. Its very frustrating, all the issues we've had with the trailer. We're hoping once we get it finally totally fixed that we won't have further issues, but at this point I am getting a little discouraged.