Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022
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Jasper |
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Now we are finally in the Rockies we wanted to get up and out early
for our walk to see if we could see some more of the special Canadian
species we are looking for. We saw a loon last night and decided
that this area - with wetlands and a lake - would be a good spot. So
after a quick breakfast of our very own porridge, we drove up to car park P4
a few kilometers out of Jasper on Pyramid Bench.
We had been filled with bear stories all the way over (particularly about not having food in your yurt so the bears don't smell it) and we have even got ourselves a can of bear spray as recommended at the tourist information office. They very kindly suggested that we rent a can - rather than buying one from them for about $50 - and even told us where to go - the ski shop next to our hotel as it turned out. So, at a cost of $10.50 Hild was kitted out "Say hello to my little friend"! We were ready for every scenario - thinking that bringing bear spray is like bringing an umbrella: you won't need it and you will look like a dork carrying it.... or so we thought... At least the morning looked beautiful and calm over the wetlands. |
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| The path was a bit muddy in places and at first we didn't get to see anything too exciting - some Mallard ducks and Canada geese on the lake, but then across the lake on a grassy slope we saw a black bear. We needed the binoculars to confirm that it was a bear and the photo does not do it any justice, but we were convinced and decided that seeing a bear a hundred meters away over a lake was about the right way to do it! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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But we digress, the black bear on the other side of the lake was
clearly no issue and we planned to come return along a path that was
quite a way past the lake so we didn't think we would worry about
meeting him/her on that way either.
On we went through a clearing and them back into the wooded area and came across another soggy bit that required a decision on which side to pass. Hild was busy applying her risk analysis methodology - the path was a lot wetter on the right hand side, but there was a bigger log to walk on, as opposed to the left hand side that was less muddy, but with a smaller more slippery log. Hild weighed up the higher negative impact of a slip on the right side, verses the higher likelihood of a slip on the left side. |
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The risk assessment lesson is: while you look at the details that were important
to you at the time, something bigger and unexpected sneaks up on you! Today
that was a grizzly bear 10 meters on the other side of the muddy section! The
bear turned around and began walking off as we got our phones out to
grab a quick piccie, only to reconsider his/her options and as Rob
switched to video, the bear turned around and came towards us.
The video shows the rather rapid risk management response we took to this somewhat larger hazard as we turned tail and walked - quickly - away talking loudly. Hild - with her hand on the can of bear spray - looked behind every few seconds and the bear was still following at a leisurely pace with no apparent grumpiness, but we decided to retrace our steps along the path we had just come along - a bit quicker rate than we had walked it the first time, it must be said. |
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Having reached a junction - with the bear not in sight behind us - we
debated a route that would take us round behind the bear, but that
was only if he/she kept on the same path. With that level of
uncertainty, we decided to continue back along the path that would
take us around the lake - where we had seen the black bear
earlier. We were actually a lot less worried about a black bear than
a grizzly and we also figured that since it was a good 40 minutes
since we had seen the black bear, we would be safe.
And so it proved, although once we reached the grassy slope we were constantly looking down towards the lake and then we saw - yes, finally - a beaver swimming along from his lodge on a bit of morning exercise. Now, you don't see much of a beaver when they are swimming, but having seen them in the Rideau river in Ottawa we knew what we were looking at so we (nearly) forgot all about the bears! All in all a very productive morning walk - and back for a cup of tea and "bear paw" bun by 10 am! |
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Our next plan was to drive up to the Wilderness Kitchen restaurant on the other side of
the valley from Jasper where there were some trails around the
Maligne river canoyon. You can walk up to the restaurant from a car
park at the bottom, but since they were only open for lunch, we
decided to drive there, eat and then do the walk later. This turned
out to be a brilliantidea as we got a great table outside before things
got busy and had a really nice early lunch. A bison burger for Rob
and a barbequed brisket sandwich for Hild. Both very good and we got a nice
gossip with the waiter too - who had been at other exotic places all over the World before
coming to Jasper.
We learnt later on that the canyon was named "Maligne" by Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, a Belgian Jesuit missionary, because of all the trouble he went through trying to cross the canyon on his horse in 1846. Poor horsie! |
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We decided to forgo dessert - as incentive to complete the walk and
get back before they closed at 5 - and set off on the gorge
trail. This was impressive. There might not be much water, but this
is a very very deep gorge - so narrow in places you could imagine
jumping it, but so deep (40-50 metres) that you also figured that would be a very
bad idea!.
There were six bridges, allowing for a range of lengths of walk and starting from the upper level at the restaurant we took our time down to bridge 4- it was steep and rocky and we took way too many photos. In many parts of the canyon rocks swirling around in the water have made large and small glacial potholes ("jettegryter" in Norwegian). See photo of 2nd bridge. Some potholes were still submerged in water and others were in the canyon walls. Also flying in and out of holes in the canoyn walls were the rare bird Black Swift. Of course, we did not see one, but people come from all over the world to see them, but we have no patience for that. |
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| Some parts of the canoyon still had quite a bit of snow and ice, while others had beautiful overhangs with trickling waterfalls and the water in the potholes was so clear. For some it may look tempting for a swim. Going for a swim is not allowed, and from all the rockfalls and erosion it didn't look advisable to any sane person anyway. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| From 4 the river widened out a bit and most people seemed to have turned round at 4 or had their cars at 5 (and had walked up earlier). Clear water from underground springs appeared as by magic and almost without any sound. Wonderful and mesmerizing to watch. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| As intrepid explorers (and also looking for an excuse for ice-cream later) Hild and Rob plumped for going all the way to bridge 6 and then take a different route back up - very steep at first (much huffing and puffing) and then along a higher ridge back to the gorge. It was so worth the huffing and puffing and leaving the dry hot canyon below. So, another 7.5 km walk, but with 370 m of climbing which made the time of 2 and a half hours: not as slow as it seemed at first. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| And a well deserved gelato with Coke for Hild and a pils for Rob waiting for them at "their" table when they returned (well, not quite waiting for them, they had to order it when they got there, but it was the same table!). The fellas were there admiring the fire pit and yearning for pils (they couldn't have any because they are Minions and minors as Kristin pointed out). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The trails go further up the Maligne river to a lake which has a special colour, but we didn't have three days to trek that far and we drove instead. Which was probably a good move, seeing as the lake was frozen when we got there. A nice drive though, with some impressive rock formations, strange lakes and a moose happily munching away at the side of the road while a number of cars stopped to take photos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The drive also took us along Medicine Lake which was the site of a large 5,000 ha wildfire
in 2015. We could still see the damage caused. Other more recent damage had also been caused
by an avalanche - one of many aparently as we saw road signs warning us all along the road.
It is a facinating lake because it isn't actually a lake but a space where the Maligne river backs/fills up when there is a lot of water, and then suddenly the water "disappears" underground into many hidden caves and rivers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other fun photos from our day included: deer, deer, and more deer. A Brewer's Black Bird that absolutely wanted to get into our car (front seat, back seat, boot)! Go away! A beautiful butterfly, and someone having painted a dog in the window of their RV. So cute. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coming up: Jasper has been a fun place to stay for a couple of nights and we are happy to see some mountains at last - more of that tomorrow we hope as we drive through the mountains to Prince George. We'll stay an extra day there to do some more work. | Start | Nerdy | The Largest... | Ornaments | Go To Previous Day | Go To Next Day |
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May/June 2022