Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta

I was sad to leave Jasper, it was such a nice quiet township and there was a lot to explore — a 21st century Hobbiton I reckon, populated by humans, and delicious dwarvish beer. But alas, I've now set off 232 kilometres south to Lake Louise; my first stop in Banff National Park. The bus was supposed to pick me up outside my accommodation at 06:30-06:45am, so I was outside ready at quarter past in what must have been -9°C, however it didn't arrive until after 07:30 much to my discomfort. It worked out for the best however, as the 3 hour drive through the Icefields Parkway was the best stretch of road I have ever travelled, and with the delayed departure time, it meant we had much more use of the morning light. There was no need for a lookout along the way, as the entire stretch of highway fulfilled that purpose — it was like taking a trip through a postcard. There had been a decent snowfall the night before and the morning was crisp without a cloud in the sky, giving us a clear view of the mountain range. The highway hadn't been cleared by snow-plow, but we were still speeding through snow at 80-100 km/h, leaving a massive wake as if an outboard motor had been strapped to the back. Just past mid-way we stopped at the 360 metre high Weeping Wall, a top ice climbing spot in Canada, and from the road you could make out a small speck, which was a climber making his way up.

Arriving in Lake Louise was quite a spectacle, and very unlike what I'd seen in Jasper so far. The entire place is a tourist mecca, and nothing here exists that isn't geared toward visitors. There was a 50 metre line of people waiting to take the bus up to the chateau (and lake itself) — but I had a better idea, renting snowshoes and making my way up on foot, collecting photos as I climbed. Lake Louise has a dense population of Grizzly bears, and although they should all be hibernating, it was spooky walking alongside sections of electrified fence which is used to deter the bears from the tiny village. Once I made it to the top I was awestruck — the lake has to be seen in person, it simply is incredible. I spent a couple of hours just snowshoeing around the frozen, snow covered surface, and once I distanced myself from the bustling chateau, it was quite an experience.

Over the last couple of days, I've ticked off most of the winter-accessible hikes in the area. Much of the summer trails sit in avalanche zones with some I'm told run regularly enough to warrant concern. In researching the different hikes and trail conditions, I came across dozens of stories involving tourists caught in places they shouldn't be. On my hike up to Mirror lake, I saw a few touristy-looking groups returning from Lake Agnes, with a couple in jeans even, which sits in a dangerous avalanche zone. I read 3 people died last winter season, just 400 metres from where I hiked to the "safe-zone" as they were ill prepared, equipped and triggered an avalanche. I was quite content making the trip just to where I did, and made a couple of bird-friends. After an extensive session of Googling, I found my first friend Artemis is a Clark's Nutcracker, and he was carrying more than a dozen seeds in his sublingual pouch (which I also had to Google — confused watching this bird seemingly regurgitate and re-arrange a collection of seeds every so often). I stole a couple of his seeds (they looked tasty), and had him hop up onto my hand without any sort of further encouragement. I haven't figured out what kind of bird my second friend Ron is, but my best guess is a Mountain Chickadee — he too was rather friendly.

I also made the trek out to an Ice Climbing spot, which required some extensive (snow) climbing on my part to reach the base. Despite being sensibly geared, it was rather hairy in parts — I went for a weeee bit of a unintended trip thanks to gravity... sliced open my hand on the hard snow? but didn't do any serious damage. Like the sensible cookie I am, I got to break out the first aid kit for the first time this trip, so I can tick that off as well. Once at the top I met with some climbers and safely watched them ascend behind some large boulders as the ice chunks came flying down. Apparently the large ice stalagmites occasionally break off unexpectedly and hurtle down, killing anyone underneath, so I thought it best to keep a fair distance and not hang around for too long...

I'm heading off to the main town of Banff, a further 50 kilometres SE tomorrow afternoon which is my final and longest stop in the Canadian Rockies. So there is more adventure to come.

Maligne Canyon & Old Fort Point, Jasper, AB

I nearly missed out on the trip to the ice cavern... At some point in the night, gnomes infiltrated my phone and switched my clock back to Pacific standard, rather than Mountain standard time so I was muddled the morning of. Luckily the tour guide came and found me (and that I was packed and ready an hour "early"). The tour was filled with 5 foot tall women that were basically locals — naturally I stood out and they gave me the moniker "long legs"... It was a very strange outing. The trip through the ice cavern was incredible, there were some difficult sections (particularly for the "short legs") but the cleats we had made them manageable. The river we trailed is both the coldest river in the area in summer, and the warmest in winter as the glacial water source is located only a short distance away. As we descended 50 metres into the canyon floor, it was spooky seeing the water line left in the summer. We had to stop briefly as there were ice climbers above and then we had to turn around and trek back. Beyond a point the ice had become brittle with the warming temperatures and the water had drained beneath leaving a 12 foot cavity that would certainly ruin someones day. On the way back I got the chance to get some more squirrel shots, so I've uploaded those too at popular request.

In the afternoon I made my way up to Old fort point, which is a steep hike up to an area overlooking the town of Jasper. The first half was a leisurely hike on compacted snow to a smaller point which didn't sport much of a view, thereon the footprints essentially stopped, and what followed was a couple kilometres of knee deep powder. There was a section with a steep bank, which I thought might hold a neat view ontop, so I made the trek up off trail. Luckily I did, there was a small plateau that seemed virtually untouched, however there were two large red chairs, just sitting there, looking off into the distance. The weather had become a lot less friendly by this point — it was even raining (for the first time in a month) so I had a quick pit stop, grabbed a few photos and continued onward. By the time I made it to the lookout, cloud had blanketed the town and entire mountainscape, so there wasn't much worth photographing. There were however a few bighorn sheep, sitting next to a sheer cliff face a hundred or so metres down the other side of the mountaintop. So, of course I went and said hello. I couldn't believe how close they let me get — these were wild animals. Up close I realised that I presented absolutely no threat, these things are massive brutes, weighing up to 140 Kg, with 15 Kg horns — I have no idea how cougars hunt these things so successfully. I did get too close at one point, which had me quickly rethink the sensibility of my curiosity, but they soon relaxed again and I spent a good part of the afternoon having a chat, with sheep, on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere. The hike back was then ridiculous... the rain had frozen, leaving the steep decline in pretty poor condition. The journey back was worthy of Go-Pro footage, and I even invented new swear words as I inched my way down, sodden and demoralised. An awesome day hike though, and I'm now fit as a fiddle.

Pyramid Lake, Jasper, AB

I spent much of today on a hike up to Pyramid Lake, and exploring it's surrounds — covering much during the extended morning twilight. It was a nice cool walk without too much of a steep elevation gain on compacted snow, so my regular boots did the trick. I barely saw anyone the entire day, and cautiously went out onto the frozen-snow covered lake with only old footprints to encourage me. Sitting in dead silence, in the literal centre of of a frozen lake was definitely one of my more peculiar undertakings, and was rather magical. I saw the sun rise above the neighbouring mountains onto Pyramid Lake's namesake peak, and what a sign would later inform me was the mountains covering of iron pyrite which would cause it to glow in the suns reflection. As I got up to leave I could hear a number of Nordic skiers making their way toward me across the lake top, and I couldn't believe the distance in which their sound travelled and met me, sitting in the middle of a lake. Now mid afternoon I headed back, quite satisfied with my travelling disposition, as the cross-country skiers sped past in hypnotic unison. I should also note, despite counting 7 different temporary signs along the way warning of a predatory mountain lion hunting in the area (and finding it's footprints below), I have yet to be eaten — but I am still surprised at all the close encounters I've had with Elk, and why they're not sitting in someones freezer. First thing tomorrow I'm heading off on a 3-hour excursion to an ice cavern with a guided tour group, so there should hopefully be some great photos to come — perhaps extending the collection capturing me sitting down in different places.