Recuperating from last weekend took a good few days. The heat, the distance and the camping all took a toll on my body. I was go, go, go for 3.5 days.
Funny story. I actually forgot I booked the Monday off. Crazy because these days I live for the weekends. My boss had to remind me that I wasn’t scheduled to work. I had booked it off because I expected to do Blackfoot Ultra 100K but the race was cancelled so it totally slipped my mind.
So here I was on Friday morning trying to quickly put together some plans. I went up Prairie that afternoon and did my 25K loop around West Bragg.
This summer I am going to camp and backpack a lot more. Camping has really fallen off my radar in recent years. This may be my last summer in Alberta so I really want to spend as much time as possible in the mountains. Over the winter I picked up a new ultralight sleeping bag and backpack. I can’t wait to use them.
Another reason that I want to camp more is because of all the driving. In the summer, I am usually in the mountains at least three days a week (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). I don’t like using all the gas and the associated emissions that come with the driving.
I spent about six hours on Wasootch Ridge on Sunday. The day was glorious. The sun was shining and there was barely any wind. My camera fit perfectly in my new 20L Osprey bag. It was so lovely to stroll around without any place to be.
The parking lot was half full when I arrived around 7:30 a.m. Most of the vehicles, I learned belonged to people that were hiking the pass nearby or rock climbing. At the summit, I was joined with three others. There’s still a lot of snow on the peaks. Lovely to see since last year I think they were dry when I went up later in the summer.
I talked to a lot of people on the mountain on my way down and at the summit. I love how friendly and happy people are when they are in the mountains. How can you be in a bad mood with such beauty before you? Sometimes I wish I had someone to share these moments. Then I remember I have you so thank you for reading.
I booked a spot at Bow Valley Campground that night. I had considered camping on crown land but I knew there would be random spots available at campgrounds on a Sunday night. Besides I didn’t have all my stuff together for random camping.
My spot pretty much sucked. I chose a basic no frills site with no services along a road with no tree coverage. The prices have gone up at campsites over the last year. Pretty soon the price will be as high as a stay at a hotel. There was nobody on either side of me. A couple spots over, a woman had set up while I was walking around. She was staying at the site for three nights.
Setting up my tent took me longer than usual. It was so windy. I had put rocks down near the stakes to steady the poles. That night the wind shook my tent so hard that I thought it was going to blow away. It was awful. Throw in the train that went by every three hours, I didn’t sleep well. But I have to say my new sleeping bag was amazing.
I talked to my neighbour who took shelter in her vehicle to avoid the wind. We agreed we had the worst sites in the campground. She was hoping to change sites so I hope the campground was able to accommodate.
For the first part of the morning, it was again super windy and chilly. I managed to make some coffee out of the trunk of my car before I set off for a walk around Middle Lake. I had did a short walk the night before and i wanted to explore more of the area.
I still was undecided for the rest of the day so I felt a nice walk would be a great way to start my day. Besides I needed to warm up. I headed back to the lake where I was the night before. I circled around the lake when something caught my eye about 500 metres away from me across the lake. At first I thought it was a cow or something.
Then I realized it was a bear.
Immediately my old reporter/photographer instinct kicked in and I started to get closer when I realized this was likely not a good idea. I had camera but not my long lens. I am still kicking myself today. I knew I should have taken it with me.
I took a couple crappy photos with my iPhone and my camera. Nothing really worked but I was happy to have some sort of evidence. I texted a few friends right away because I was so excited. My responses ranged from the OMG are you okay? to Ohhh cool.
So I stood where still and watched the bear (I think it was a grizzly) drink some water before disappearing into the woods. Thankfully he took no notice of me. Man I was so thrilled. I never see any wild animals (other than deer, coyotes, the odd goat or cows) in the mountains. Again I wish I brought my big lens. I am definitely going to start bringing it on longer days out.
I walked around the lake a bit before I headed back to my campsite. I wanted to charge my iPhone and get on the road. I decided to head to Banff for a quick jaunt up Tunnel Mountain. It was so freaking hot. I went through a drive through for coffee before I headed to Barrier Lake. By the time I parked my Qashqai, I was beginning to fade.
I put on my hydration pack and readied myself for the loop. But I only made it as far as the waterfront where I dipped my feet into the lake. It was a refreshing way to end my long weekend.
How was your weekend? Do you like to plan or do you like to be spontaneous? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Wait—you’re thinking about leaving Alberta??
Absolutely loved the pics—was that an Elixir tent? Kinda cool seeing a bear far enough away that it probably won’t eat you, and agrizzly at that!
Yes Elixir 2, I believe. I am always thinking about places beyond Alberta – one day. Thanks for reading 🙂