Canada Adventure Part 6

Well...we made it home safely from Canada. I promised some pictures back in my first post about the trip so I decided to write just a short post with some of my favorite, amusing pictures from the trip...(and by amusing, I mean pictures of things that I am not used to seeing from my apparent sheltered upbringing...)

(the snow at the Roger's Pass Visitor Centre in Revelstoke, BC - that's a lot of snow!)

(an avalanche tunnel covered by an avalanche - guess its a good thing the tunnel is there!)

(another view of the avalanche tunnel covered by an avalanche - this may actually be a completely different tunnel but I can't remember...)

(Avalanche Area - Do Not Stop! Oh...except to put chains on your tires...)

(over turned tractor trailer on the side of the highway)

(don't feed the mountain goats! - at the top of Sulpher Mountain in Banff)

(an overpass for wildlife to walk across the road)

(Did I mention we were in avalanche country?)

(just in case you are a stupid tourist - ALL bears are dangerous)

(a card left in our hotel room in Jasper...if you click on it to blow it up, you'll see that we were kindly asked to keep the door to our room shut so wildlife won't come in...)

(a small avalanche right next to some ski tracks - apparently people in Canada love heli-skiing, which involves a helicopter dropping them off at the top of a mountain and then skiing down the mountain - not in an actual ski resort. Heli-skiing comes with warnings about avalanches - which should probably be taken seriously as this picture shows...)

(Lake Louise - note the people walking across the thin ice)

(In case there was any doubt...rescues take time...so please don't fall into a crack on the glacier [you may need to blow this picture up too])

(crevass warning - don't fall into the glacier!)

(caribou crossing)

(for some reason I can't get this picture to upload in the right direction...but just in case you weren't aware of this - icy rocks can be slippery and parents should hold their children's hand.)

(an ice climber at Maligne Canyon. I think ice climbing is crazy to begin with, but what this picture doesn't show is that this is the day it started to warm up. As this guy is climbing, you can hear water running down behind the ice and small pieces of ice across the whole canyon were melting and falling off. So...who wants to climb up a melting waterfall? With no saftey rope?)

(our poor car at the end of the trip)

(another caribou crossing sign on the highway)

(watch out for caribou, bears and wolves crossing the road)

(I just thought the cartoon thief on this sign was funny)

(just in case the other signs didn't teach you a lesson, please don't approach the glacier - you may fall into it and die before someone can rescue you.)

I'll be creating a google photo album of all of our pictures within the next few days so I'll post a link to that when I have it.

Canada Adventure Part 5

Its our last night in Canada and I have some catching up to do. Tonight we are back in Banff, staying at the Buffalo Mountain Lodge this time around. So far this is my favorite hotel. The first one in Banff was great because it was a historic resort and the history nerd in me kicked in big time while we were there. This time around I love this place because its the first hotel I've ever stayed in that has a real working fireplace. As soon as we got here we tried to start a fire, only to be interrupted by Mr. V looking out the window and getting excited. Directly behind our room were some mule deer hanging out. I grew up in the pine barrens of New Jersey so seeing deer in my backyard is nothing new to me, but there is something about staying in an old rustic hotel that resembles a mountain cabin, and looking outside to see deer right in your face, that made this place seem really neat to me :-).





Now backing up a few days...

The day after our insane hike up the mountain in Lake Louise, we went dog sledding! It was soooo much fun. Originally when Mr. V brought up the idea of dog sledding I was a little apprehensive, but he lured me in by showing me pictures of the cute puppies on the website for the dog sledding company. I wasn't really sure what to expect, other than the fact that we'd obviously be riding in a sled while a team of dogs pulled us. We got there early Friday morning and were greeted by several people and LOTS of dogs. I am not sure how many teams were there but there were lots and lots and lots of dogs. We were allowed to hang out and pet the dogs before leaving on our trip, and I've now decided that I want an Alaskan Husky dog. Each sled carried 2 or 3 people (2 adults or 2 adults and a child) and was driven by a professional "musher". Our guide wrapped us up into the sled (we had a fluffy blanket wrapped around us and then we were zipped up with velcro into the sled) and we took off. A friend of mine told me that these dogs were really happy to do what they do, and she was right. As the different mushers/guides started assembling their teams the dogs started going nuts. They were barking and jumping up and down all excited until they were finally strapped together. We took off pretty fast and the ride was pretty bumpy, but it was so much fun. Our guide talked to us the entire way. He told us about the breed of dog and its history. He told us about each dog on his team and how he trains them and how he picks out the team leaders. It was all really interesting. The ride itself was neat because first of all, we were dog sledding, and second, the route took us along the continental divide. We've been in Alberta for most of this trip and towards the end of the ride, we crossed the continental divde back into British Columbia, where we stopped to let the dogs rest and take pictures. Our guide asked us if we were interested in driving the sled, and of course Mr. V volunteered. I opted to stay nice and cozy in the sled. I have horrible balance and since good balance is key to staying on the sled when you're driving it, I decided that being a passenger was what was best for me. (this picture is small, but its the British Columbia/Alberta border right on the Great Divide)


Yesterday we left Banff and drove into Jasper National Park. We drove on the Icefields Parkway and saw tons and tons of large glaciers on the way. Our reason for going to Jasper in the first place was to see the Athabasca Glacier. Its the only glacier in the area that you can actually walk up to. In the spring and summer you are able to take a tour on a large truck/bus thing that drives you right onto the glacier. Unfortunately, the Icefields Centre tours don't open until a few days after our trip is over. So of course, Mr. V wanted to be dangerous and adventurous as usual and wanted to walk right onto the glacier. He chose to ignore all the warnings in every guidebook about how walking onto the glacier is dangerous and deadly. So we had to compromise again. He agreed to talk to a park ranger and only walk in the areas that were deemed safe. Once again, I was right and the glacier itself was not considered safe. However, the moraine (dirt and rocks carried by the glacier) in front of the glacier is safe to walk on so we decided to walk there instead, much to Mr. V's disappointment. I have to admit that this was even a little scary. There is a trail that you can walk on over the moraine that takes you to the toe of the glacier, but not any father. Because of all the snow in the area, the trail was partly covered so there were points where we were sinking into pretty deep snow. The signs all over the place warning everyone about falling into crevasses and dying weren't helping me as we hiked along. We did make it to the very top of the largest morain pile right at the toe of the glacier. Thankfully there were ropes at that point and signs warning people to not walk any further. Mr. V wasn't happy about that (I think he was going to attempt to make me walk on the glacier regardless of all the written warnings and the park ranger warnings.) This was a pretty rough hike for me too because the moraine isn't even, and between the snow and mud, there was lots of sinking and lots of panicking about falling into one of the deadly crevasses. I knew that we wouldn't actually fall into a glacier crevasse if we stayed in the moraine area, but there was also a stream running under the snow nearby that was worrying me a little bit (we never did find the actual steam so I think at one point we walked over it without realizing it).

In high school I actually did a science fair project about glaciers. I hated science in school and chose the topic half heartedly at the time. When I was all finished I realized that glaciers were actually pretty interesting things, so my nerdiness kicked in again and I thought that seeing an actual glacier (a life sized version of my science fair project) was pretty cool. The sad thing is that this particular glacier is melting fast. It is already at least 300 yards smaller than it was in 1992, which means that in a few years it may not even be something you can walk up to anymore. Knowing that fact, makes me happy that we saw it now. The first picture is Mr. V and me in front of the glacier from the middle of the moraine field. The second is us at the top of the largest pile of moraine right at the toe of the glacier. The third picture is a view of the moraine in front of the glacier. The glacier is behind it and not visible from this angle.








I'm somewhat sad to say that tomorrow morning we are leaving Banff, and driving straight back to Whidbey. I'm not so sure that I am ready to return to the reality of the real world yet....

Canada Adventure Part 3

I think I deserve a "Wife of the Year" award after this trip is over. First, I should probably clarify that the cold weather and the snow isn't the problem up here. I'm from New Jersey. It snows in New Jersey. It also gets cold. However, apparently the snow and cold I have experienced throughout my entire life doesn't compare at all to what is up here in the Canadian Rockies. I feel like a person from Florida who can't handle a few snow flurries without freaking out! But again, the problem isn't the snow. The problem is my lack of energy and enthusiasm when it comes to doing outdoor things. I used to work at a camp so I thought I was outdoorsy. I have camped and canoed along the Delaware River and hiked the Appalachian Trail. Those adventures are NOTHING compared to the adventures out here. The Canadian Rockies make the Appalachian mountains look like tiny little hills.

Today I think I officially earned the "Wife of the Year" title, for 2 reasons. 1 - Mr. V has been trying to convince me to become more outdoorsy and today I let him drag me on an INSANE hike up a huge mountain. 2 - I need to pay more attention to what he is dragging me along to do. Lesson learned - a shorter hike, does not mean an easier hike. I should have thought about that before I set foot on the trail today.

We left the town of Banff this morning and headed off to Lake Louise, which is still in the Banff National Park. Mr. V has been dying to hike this trail that takes you around the lake to a point where you can see 6 glaciers in the same area. The trail is called something like "The Trail of 6 Glaciers" so its pretty self explanitory. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, this is avalanche country out here. The radios and parks have warnings all over them about avalanche risks throughout the area. Certain areas are more prone to them, certain areas can be guaranteed that there will be an avalanche and others are considered "safe" - meaning that there most likely won't be an avalanche. We looked at a map yesterday and saw that The 6 Glaciers trail is in an area very prone to avalanches. Since this is prime avalanche season, I promptly declared that there was no way in hell I was hiking on a mountain trail where the danger of avalanches was high. Mr. V wasn't happy about that so we compromised. We agreed that if we asked the park ranger about the danger and we were warned away from an area, we'd pick a safer hike. If the park ranger thought the trail was safe, then I'd suck it up and go with him.

Let's just say that I was ECSTATIC when the park ranger said that the 6 Glaciers Trail was almost 90% in a high warning avalanche zone and it wouldn't be a good idea to hike it. Mr. V pounted but I skipped out of that visitor center happy that I wouldn't have to hike this insane hike. The ranger did tell us about another trail that is popular and only had a small little section in an avalanche zone. The hike time was shorter and she assured us that the avalanche danger was very, very minimal because of the small area. So stupid me, I assumed that a shorter hike would be an easier hike. If I had paid attention and asked more questions I would have learned that the shorter hike was actually a more difficult hike because it was MUCH steeper. It sounded interesting though because my history nerdiness kicked in. This whole area is a historic area and back when the resorts here first opened, tea houses were built along the mountain trails. The second hike would take us to one of these tea houses and even though its closed for the winter, we'd be able to see what they were like. I thought that was pretty neat. So we set off on the hike. About 30 minutes into it, I realized that I was waaaayyy out of shape. I pushed on and felt like dying about an hour into it. At about an hour and 15 minutes we came across the avalanche zone.

This is the part where you can tell the difference between Mr. V and me. Mr. V got excited because the trail opened up to an amazing view of the mountains and glaciers around us. i got excited for about 5 seconds. The view was beautiful, but reality set in quickly when I realized that we could see the view, because avalanches had knocked down every single tree in the way. This was also a point where the trail sharply curved up and around a bend (I guess to avoid the avalanche area). First I freaked out when I saw the remnants of an avalanche. Here's a picture to show that...this is taken looking up the trail from where we were standing...

Once I convinced myself to not freak out about the avalanche that I could see right in front of me, I then proceeded to freak out because the sharp turn of the trail was completely icy and one bad step could send me sliding backwards. If I didn't catch myself in time I could have slid down the entire mountain. So of course that scared me and I had to literally crawl up the trail at that point, completely ignoring the fact that snow and jeans don't mix well. Now my hands and knees were freezing, but I was on a stable path again.

We continued hiking steeply up. By this point I just sucked it up, pushed forward and moved as quickly as I could. Everything was fine until we came across some animal tracks. Thankfully (and not thankfully) we saw a great display of all the local animal tracks a few days ago. Thanks to that display I was educated enough to know that these were grizzly bear tracks!!! When I worked up at my camp, we had black bears all around, but black bears typically eat berries and ignore humans. I know that they CAN harm humans but they usually don't. I could handle seeing a black bear in the wild, but not so much a grizzly bear. Here are those tracks. If you look closer you can see the long sharp claws at the top of the footprint...


By this point, I'm cold and achy. I can barely breathe and now there are grizzly bear tracks around. Mr. V pointed out that we were pretty close to the tea house, so between him nagging and my stubbornness (I came this far, there was no way I was turning back now), I pushed on.

We finally got to the tea house and we were treated to an amazing view of Lake Agnes frozen over, with mountains and glaciers behind it. But first, we had to hike up the steps of the tea house which were completely covered in snow and ice. I had to literally get on my hands and knees again to make it up the first few stairs before they turned into something that actually resembled stairs. The first few were so covered in snow and ice that they looked like a slippery, steep ramp). At that point I did have a slight panic attack so when we did get to the top, the view was beautiful but I was soooo ready to go back down that I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. Looking at pictures now though, I think I look miserable but the view really is beautiful.

I think the point when I completely lost my composure was on the way back down. That slippery ramp part of the tea house steps was hard to get up, and even harder to get down. I had a quick real anxiety attack at this point. This time Mr. V had to attach some ice clamps onto my shoes to prevent me from slipping, but I still had to resort to sliding on my butt to a point where I could stand safely. So now my hands, knees and butt were snow covered and freezing. Thankfully the hike down was much shorter and I was even brave enough to pose for a quick picture by the avalanche...


Now that I am all thawed out, I've informed Mr. V that our hiking adventures better be over for the duration of the trip! Tonight we are staying at an adorable lodge in Lake Louise. This place was built in the 1920's and there are no TVs in any of the rooms. At first I thought that was strange but we wandered around, touring the hotel and the history nerd side of me kicked in again. The hotel is still set up the way it was originally. So no TVs means that people have to sit in the reading rooms playing cards, playing the piano, reading books, etc. The front desk also gives you games to take up to your room or into their game room. I thought it was odd at first, but its kind of neat to be forced to entertain yourself the way people would have done it almost 100 years ago. Mr. V and I played a board game for a while after exploring the hotel (we thought it was neat, but took the game back to our room instead of socializing in the game room like we were probably supposed to do), and now I'm writing this blog.

Tomorrow we are leaving this hotel and then going dog sledding! I have to admit that I am very excited about that, especially since I don't have to do any of the work. We get to sit in the sled while a guide takes us on a trail along the Continental Divide. Then afterwards we are leaving Lake Louise and the Banff National Park and heading to Jasper National Park for the final days of our trip. Now that I have pictures on the computer, I will work on uploading some from my previous days adventures.