A 7 Grizzly Hike

This past summer Ramata and I drove the Mazda to the rockies because that was her dream. The parks Canada reservation system was an absolute nightmare, because all the sites got booked within the first minute of opening. Everybody wanted to hike these trails and due to the internet all the best ones are now famous with people wanting to fill their Instagrams or whatever. We were forced to book our trip during prime bug season - Ramata's worst nightmare. We slept at a roadside stop in Golden because the highway was closed for the night. Then we skipped Yoho and went straight for Wilcox Pass to try and see some Bighorn Sheep. We only saw distant herd about 1 km away. Then we began our 90 km hike of Brazeau Lake loop, which was arduous but spectacular, but devoid of large wildlife. That is another story in it's own right! 

The supercrew of Frenchies

The real climax of the trip was the Tonquin Valley loop. This was a horseshoe, so the trick was hitchhiking back to the car at the end. I chatted up a Québecer at the campground washroom, and pretty soon, we had coordinated a plan over some beers and burgers at the pub. We would all 4 of us hike together, so we could drop their van at the finishing trailhead then we parked our Mazda at the starting trailhead. A couple phone calls and some criminal Parks Canada reservation fees later, and we had synched our itineraries. 

These guys had rented an all black dodge van with no windows from Calgary and were doing like a 1 month roadtrip. We were far from the first travellers that would take a ride in their mysterious black van, affectionately dubbed "Le PedoVan". They had taken a selfie with all the people they'd given a ride and were planning on sticking them all over the van walls. We started at Portal Creek because it's slightly higher than the other one, and cause the sun rises in the East so we would have the sun at our backs in the morning. 

Within only a few hours of meeting Jonathan and Sébastien, we had already formed a supercrew. They pulled up in their black van in the parking lot. Jonathan poked his head out of the window and said in his most exaggerated Québec accent "Do you want Ice Cream?!?"

At Portal Creek, we linked up with 2 Frenchmen by the names of Flo and Flo (affectionately known as Flo 1 and Flo 2 or collectively, Flo²). We were 4 French speaking weirdos going into the wilderness for 4 epic days of shenanigans. It did not take long for said shenanigans to begin. At Maccarib Pass, a sudden onset of impending doom beset my bowels, forcing me to run for the nearest boulder to relieve myself behind. Just as I was finishing expunging my demon, Ramata came sauntering down the hill. "Don't come!" I yelled, as my trousers were still down and there was an unGodly abomination beneath my bottom, with about 1000 bottle flies swarming around it. But she kept coming "Stay away!" I yelled again but she kept coming. "There's a bear!" she said. 

"Where? 

- it's coming this way, get your camera quick."

The Grizzly appeared from the bushes before I could get ready. It literally caught me with my trousers down - I hadn't had time to wipe. I frantically changed the lenses and put the bear spray within arm's reach then I fired the bazooka with abandon, not even checking if the settings were ok. It was walking very fast. I didn't get it quite tack sharp but with a slight adjustment on the computer the bellow show was the best I captured in the nick of time. 

I rejoined the group and we enjoyed prolonged views of the bear as it walked on the other side of the valley, parallel to the main trail. We could see it getting further and further away for about 40 minutes. We hoped it was not headed for our campsite which was in that direction! 

Grizzly on the trail

We reached an epic bridge that I had found with Dom several years ago and had an epic swim in the deep, frigid pool. 

There was an epic photo shoot

At the Maccarib pass campsite we met some interesting Koreans. One lady was wearing booty shorts and a tube top and a full-body bug net and face covered in white paste. The mosquitos were so horrendous that these Koreans were eating their dinner in their tent. We had to advise them to not do that as the skeeters could become the least of their problems. There was also a dude chilling a steak in the river - someone else told him not to do that either! Flo 1 attempted to put a rubber snake in Ramata's tent, but had accidentally put it in the Koreans' tent. He had an awkward interaction to retrieve it! 

Ramata and I got up at like 5 am to go explore the huge boggy meadow on the north side of Amethyst lake, past the horseback riding lodge. It was the single most mosquito-infested nightmare I've ever experienced (and I'd left my bug hood behind by accident). When the sun came up it also got hot and sweaty. Ramata was begging for dear life to turn around but just then I spotted a Grizzly insanely far away on the other side of a strip of woodland. Now we had to plough ahead! I had a rather stupid plan of climbing up a huge ridge of boulders to get a better view from up there but Ramata was suffering badly with the mosquitos and the boulders so we turned around. Luckily the bears were headed into our path anyway so we could watch them from a safe distance. Then they headed for the lakeshore where we were standing. They wanted to walk along the water's edge, which had been our way out. We duly gave them a wide berth so they could pass. They did NOT CARE! When they had passed, we hustled our assess out of the mosquito-infested hell hole! 

At Amethyst Lakes campground we got word of 2 caribou that had just been spotted 15 minutes before. We couldn't find them. We somehow all got separated. Then we caught up with the Flos. They were headed a different route than up via Switchback so we said bye then went for a swim in Amethyst Lake (epic!). 

We had reservations at Sunrise then Clitheroe (which involved some backtracking), but we took a second night at Clitheroe cause a mum and daughter were leaving early. Now we could camp with our friends Jonathan and Sébastien. We enjoyed the mosquito-infested campsite with the help of that mosquito chemical burning device and some candles. We cooked an epic feast of Lipton's and canned fish. 

The mosquitos swarmed our tent by the hundreds

Early in the morning on day 3, we hiked back to Amethyst lake and found 5 caribou there (the same 5 as last year, at the exact same spot). I guess they go up the mountains later in the morning when it gets too hot so they can sit in the snow. We were lucky. We also could spot the 3 Grizzlies across the lake in the binoculars, barely visible. 

We chilled for a couple hours then went for an afternoon walk to check out the Alpine Club of Canada hut at Outpost Lake. I had guided us the wrong way so we hiked almost probably 4km extra because of that. My camera was burdening me and the dead battery light just started to flash so I stashed it in our tent before we continued on our way. This proved to be a fatal mistake! 

The hike to the hut was full of spectacular scenery as the smoke from the forest fires was finally beginning to clear somewhat, revealing the Ramparts mountain range. There were grizzly tracks in the vicinity of the bridge and after Surprise Point campground. 

The hike was quite long but finally we got to the turnoff or the dead-end trail that goes up to the lake. Just before the cabin, there's a huge grassy marsh. There was a moose with 2 calves in there. We checked out inside the hut and played a game of "Farkle" with dice in there, away from the mosquitos. We had a swim in the frigid lake too. The log book was filled with epic sightings of Grizzlies and even a couple of Wolverine sightings. It was time to head back. Just a little ways down the path, a man advised us there was a Grizzly family just up ahead. In the huge grassy marsh, we saw a mum and 2 large cubs foraging and frolicking in there. Of course I didn't have my camera! Well I didn't really care because this was the best bear sighting I've ever had in my life. At least Ramata got a cellphone video. Check out when one of the cubs tries to go for a teat and the mum snarls and takes a grizzy swipe at the cup! She soon relented and lied on her back so the cubs could get a suckle. It was like watching a NatGeo special. You would not believe it unless you were there. 

On the fourth day we smashed the last km's from Clitheroe all the way to the PedoVan at Astoria Parking lot. We took one last ride in the PedoVan then said goodbye to our new Québec friends. Or more accurately, "À la prochaine".