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Saturday, July 08, 2017

Canada 2017

18 May 2017 ~ 2 Jun 2017

It was an epic and memorable trip in May’17, which was originally intended for WL and her friend CY to attend their friend’s wedding in Vancouver. It eventually panned out to be a partial road trip for the 3 of us, and then slowly evolved to be an activities-filled 16-day YOLO trip. Follow the entries to read about the daily happenings!

Day 9: Banff to Calgary

Lake-hopping continues today, with a trip to the must-visit Lake Louise. This is the postcard landmark of Canada, and probably one of the most photographed lakes in the world. Hence it is no wonder that it wasn’t easy to secure a parking lot there, and certainly a challenge to snap a photograph without at least a stranger’s arms in it. Lake Louise IS gorgeous. It is a turquoise lake with a backdrop of mountains and glaciers, but at the time when we were there in late May, the lake was still partially frozen. A tip for photographers is to just walk a little distance down the path, where you’d realize there are fewer people, and the view is still as great.

We did not have enough time here, so a hike plan was forgone. I can imagine how picturesque it would have been, to hike to a higher spot that overlooked the lake and the surrounding Rockies. We did have some fun camwhoring just at the lake, and savouring the feeling of being “inside” a real-life postcard.

Very near to Lake Louise, is another well-known lake – Moraine Lake. I read that Moraine Lake is not as frequently visited by tourists, and is hence an underrated place. I have to agree – personally I think Moraine Lake is as beautiful as her better-known cousin Lake Louise, and minus the huge crowds! It was frozen over, so we could all walk on the lake. It was the first time that I walked on a frozen lake -- the feeling was unnerving but surreal.

We drove ourselves back into Banff town, to head the other way to go to Sulphur Mountain. This was another popular tourist attraction, where a 8-minute Banff Gondola ride would take you up to the summit ridge of Sulphur Mountain, offering GREAT 360-degree views of the surrounding Rocky mountains. We had lunch at the top of the mountain ridge, with unblocked views of the landscape around. You get to eat and gaze at the faraway towns, rivers and valleys far below. It was as if you were at the top of the world, and everything was calm, revitalizing and vast below you. It was pretty shiok!

Still at the top, we followed the path to reach the highest point at the other end, Sanson’s Peak, where a meteorological observatory building still stood. We began to feel a little unwilling to leave as the time brought us closer and closer to evening. This was the last stop of our road trip segment, and we would be leaving the postcard-perfect Canadian Rockies for good. It had been such a pleasure driving in this part of the country, and I secretly wished that I would be back here again.

It was a 1.5-hour drive to Calgary, where we would fly out of Alberta. We had really good Japanese food at a restaurant nearby the airport, before reluctantly returning the trustworthy Dodge SUV. WL and I would be flying to the nation’s capital Ottawa, and CY to London, a city in Ontario.

人生是黑白的.
4:48 PM <3

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Canada 2017

18 May 2017 ~ 2 Jun 2017

Day 8: Jasper to Banff

We woke up from the cosy and comfy accommodation at Jasper, and headed for breakfast at Wicked Cup. It’s a breakfast place recommended by the Airbnb owner, with what they thought was the ‘best coffee in town’. We went and verified that view – they served really nice mocha and probably other specialty coffee!

We visited a number of lakes today. The first 2 were nearby lakes, easily done with a 10-minute drive from town. We first went to Pyramid Lake, then to Patricia Lake. Both lakes were pretty quiet and offered a good alternative to travellers who did not want to venture too far from town, or who would like to hike (walk) there from town. We visited these 2 lakes mainly due to their proximity, so we did not spend too much time here.

Our target lake for the day was Maligne Lake, a rather well-known lake for anyone who’s visiting Jasper National Park. It’s roughly around 1-1.5 hours drive from Jasper. Along the way from Jasper to the lake, we were awed by the great views around. We heard that Jasper snowed really hard the day before (just before we arrived Jasper at night), and so the entire area was covered with fresh white snow. That gave a really different view to the scenery. Both sides of the roads were white, and the mountain tops and sides were all covered in white too. It was as if we were in Winter, just without the freezing temperatures!

Somewhere past the half-way of the journey, we saw cars stopping by the side of the road. We didn’t know or cared about what’s happening, until we passed the line of cars – they were looking at a bear just beside the highway! It was too late for us to pull over, but we caught a glimpse of the bear, foraging for fruits beside the cars. This was the first time that we realized that stories or pictures about bears appearing just beside the highways were TRUE. I later read that bear sightings along the roads were pretty common in Spring/Summer, when they were out looking and digging for food in the ground.

We decided that if we saw cars stopping at the side of the highways again, we would also slow down and check what they were looking at.

It wasn’t a short distance after, when we passed by a really gorgeous lake. The highway suddenly opened up to a view of a vast lake, with pretty snow-covered mountain sides. The entire postcard view was just WHITE and BRIGHT and GLARING, but it was so beautiful that I just told the girls “I don’t care, I’m just gonna stop here.” I pulled into a small parking area for vehicles.

This was Medicine Lake. The origin of the name was somehow because this lake was ‘magical’ because during parts of the year, it would disappear to be just a small river. I couldn’t emphasize how awesome the view was. We spent quite some time here photographing (of ourselves and of the landscape), and climbed down the slippery stairs (due to melting snow) and went near to the lake. The snow cover made it really necessary for you to put on your shades to protect yourself from the reflections of the sun.

We proceeded on to Maligne Lake. It was yet another postcard-perfect landscape here. It seemed that the Maligne Lake Cruise was not in operation (but we didn’t plan on going for it anyway). It was another routine of photographing ourselves and the scenery, and basking ourselves in the air of natural beauty.

We headed back to Jasper town for lunch. Along the way we saw cars stopping by the highway, and we finally did the same. There were 2 deer feeding at the roadside, offering us great photo-taking opportunities. Many cars came, snapped and left trigger-happy as well. It looks like the entire Jasper National Park area is always full of surprises!

Post-lunch was when another big highlight of the day was – driving along the Icefields Parkway towards Banff. Icefields Parkway is a 232km-long highway that brings people to the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and offers easy access to a vast wilderness of pristine mountain lakes, ancient glaciers and broad sweeping valleys. It winds through Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, which are 2 of the must-visit places in Canada, and the highway is frequently said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world.

I was honoured and very glad to be able to drive through the entire stretch of the Icefields Parkway, taking in the sights at the same time while maintaining at a good speed. There weren’t many vehicles along the way, and at times, entire stretches of the highway was empty too. The great weather – blue skies and sunny – made it a delightful drive and we were pretty energized by the beauty.

One interesting place was when we were driving along a vast area of ice – Columbia Icefield. It is the largest ice field in the Rockies, about 325 sq km huge and between 100 and 365m deep. It is an ancient icefield that feeds 8 major glaciers in the area. From the highway, we were just seeing part of the icefield, but it was already SO stunning. There are icefield exploring tours that were probably not in operation due to the heavy snowfall the night before. We did not explore at all, as we just had a brief stop (ON the empty highway itself). It would have been exciting if we had the time to do an icefield tour there.

Driving along the Icefields Parkway can take about 3 hours one-way. You can choose to do it in minimal time, but that would mean potentially missing the sights. We moved at a moderate speed, good enough to drive and enjoy the scenery at the same time, and also making brief stops along the way. It was pure fun.

We reached Banff before it got too dark. But dinner options within walking distance to the hotel that we stayed at were limited, so we ended up having a nice pizza meal at the hotel’s restaurant. Tired after a day of lake-hopping, and eyes-feasting, we didn’t explore Banff town.

人生是黑白的.
4:25 PM <3

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Sunday, July 02, 2017

Canada 2017

18 May 2017 ~ 2 Jun 2017

Day 7: Driving from Clearwater to Jasper

We finally woke up to electricity the next morning, but it doesn't really matter as we were leaving after breakfast. We had initially planned to visit Wells Gray Provincial Park and the popular Helmcken Falls, but was told by the receptionist that some of the roads inside might be closed following the massive storm the night before.

Not wanting to risk a wasted drive up into Wells Gray and end up reaching Jasper late, we decided to drive towards Jasper, with the intention to make a stop at Mount Robson Provincial Park, where we could probably hike.

It wasn't too long a drive when we reached Blue River. Initially we had just wanted a quick toilet break, as we saw there's a river safari facility here. There would definitely be a toilet here, we thought. We went into the facility, and ended up spending 2 hours here and a total of S$320 poorer. That's because we were attracted to the idea of being able to see some wildlife (read: BEARs!) here. Of course, there's no guarantee that the river safari trip will surely involve bear sightings, but it seemed that the probability was high. Plus, we didn't want to leave Canada without seeing any bears.

Off we went, on board a motor boat that could sit around 15 people. Tim, the guide from New Zealand, was so knowledgeable and passionate about bears, that I went TripAdvisor to write a review for him. Over the one-hour river tour, he furnished us with heaps of information about bears and other wildlife, and cautioned us to be dead quiet when we neared the river coastline, so as to increase the chances of seeing bears.

And we were lucky! Not only did we see young bears chasing one another along the river coastline amidst the bushes, we also caught at least 2 bears atop trees. That was when I learnt that bears could climb trees! At a distance on the boat, we also saw one bear slowly climbing down from the tree, and then another going up. Tim mentioned that we were one lucky boat of tourists to catch so much 'action'. Was the $104/pax boat tour worth it? I'd think so, to make sure that you get to see some real wild bears in Canada. Just that we didn't know that we would eventually see more wild bears. Read on for that!

Having done with the River Safari tour, we were 2 hours behind, and so practically just headed straight to Mount Robson Provincial Park. It was around 5:45pm local time, and the park was deserted. The map on the board showed a trail that was about 7km one-way, to reach Kinney Lake. We figured it would take at least an hour of trekking to reach the lake, and then another hour back, which would just be time when the sun set.

The trek started well, with good river views and a relatively easy trek. We were still energetic of course, but soon we had used some energy taking photos, laughing, talking, and joking about seeing a bear here in the woods. We reached Kinney Lake at about 7pm. It was a gorgeous lake, hidden among the woods and the peaks, and very quiet. Wary about the time, we only spent 5 minutes here, before having to turn back.

Walking back, we tried to hasten our footsteps, so we could make it back out of the woods by 8pm. I was preoccupied with looking at my Google map to see if we're on a good pace, when suddenly the 2 girls in front of me froze.

I looked up. I froze too.

200 metres away, a huge fully-grown bear was in front of us, right on the path of the trail. It saw the 3 of us and got startled as well. The next few seconds felt like eternity. We were worried that it might come at us. It didn't help that we didn't know what to do too. Thankfully, the startled bear turned around, and bolted off in the opposite direction.

Recovering from our own shock, we decided to walk slowly and carefully, towards where the bear stood, and along the path where it ran and disappeared. This was the only path in this trail, so we had to cover the same route as it did. We didn't see it anymore, so it must have ran into the woods. Recalling what Tim said earlier in the afternoon about "keeping quiet to spot bears", we had to do the opposite -- stomping our feet and talking out loud, to show that we were here. Bears are naturally solitary mammals and they would generally avoid humans. So it must be a good strategy.

We reached our car at the end of the trail eventually by 8pm. The experience was indescribable. On hindsight, I personally thought that the huge adult bear was cute.

We drove all the way to Jasper safely, and it was pretty late. We really loved the accommodation, but it was too short for us to enjoy. We didn't even have the chance to savour the owner's own restaurant (it was closed by the time we reached), nor even have the chance to meet the owner at all.

人生是黑白的.
5:48 PM <3

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