Rockin’ the Rockies
Exploring the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Grande Prairie
Day Twenty
We updated our dinosaur knowledge, spending the morning at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. Opened in 1985 it is dedicated to dinosaurs and paleontology. It showcased the dinosaur discoveries from the past 30 years mostly unearthed in Dinosaur Provincial Park nearby in southeastern Alberta, also known as the Canadian Badlands.
The museum houses more than 300 complete dinosaur skeletons and had a working lab onsite where you could watch paleontologists cleaning and restoring recent discoveries. The most fascinating piece was a skull of a Tyrannosaurus Rex nicknamed Black Beauty because of the black discoloration from the nearby caches of coal.
JQotD: “It’s 11:15am on Thursday, August 20th. I’m ready to go home.”
CC: Dinosaurs.
LLofD: A number of new dinosaur species have been discovered since I went to elementary school.
Day Nineteen
We dedicated today to spotting a moose. We drove into Elk Island National Park from the rarely used West Gate and traveled down a dirt road for several kilometers until we reached the north-south road traveling the length of the northern end of the park. Elk Island was established in 1913 to protect the elk and bison that had been hunted nearly to extinction. The park covers almost 48,000 acres, has two roads traveling north-south and east-west respectively, and numerous hiking trails.
Our first trail went up and down through the woods over what is called knob and kettle topography, which basically means you go up and down a lot over smallish hills. The trail also wound through and around marshland on boardwalks. Although there was numerous evidence of moose in the parking lot and at the trail head, the only animal we came across was a sleeping beaver, who totally made up for the lack of moose with her/his total cuteness.
Our second hike started out on a trail in the southern half of the park. The park ranger, when we finally checked into the visitor center, informed us that the northern park moose had contracted some kind of liver disease and their numbers were severely depleted. The southern park moose were more numerous and so we started out on a trail again through woods and around ponds. About 10 minutes into the hike we saw a bison lope across the top of the trail several hundred yards distant and as we got closer we could see a herd of wood bison (slightly larger than the plains bison common to the U.S.) grazing through the underbrush some distance from us. We kept quiet and continued walking and after another 10 minutes of hiking rounded a curve and came upon the alpha male of the herd grazing less than 30 feet from us. I tried to quietly take his photo but he heard us, looked up, seemed very startled to see us, and thundered off. Fortunately he chose to stampede in the direction opposite of us but we decided that this was just a little too close to nature and decided to turn around and head back to the car.
Our next stop was another living history park, this one recreating a Ukrainian village from the early 1900s.
These living history parks are really fun because you’re allowed to wander around an area restored with historical accuracy, enter houses, barns, stores, and churches filled with authentic period pieces, and converse with park staff in historical dress performing tasks that they would have been usually engaged in during that time.
The people we spoke with at this park spoke Ukrainian as well as English. They were celebrating a holiday, essentially the last full day of summer before the cold of fall and winter might descend.
We had an authentic Ukrainian plate meal of pyrohy and cabbage rolls that was delicious!
JQotD: “We’re all out of coke. We may need to trade with the natives for more.”
CC: Goats, pigs, chickens, sheep, horses, cows, beaver, golden eagles, plains and wood bison.
LLofD: Never sleep wearing your earrings.
Day Eighteen
An easy day today, we left Jasper and drove the approximately 250 kilometers to Edmonton. We drove around downtown and along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. We spent several hours in Fort Edmonton Park.
The historic park accurately recreates four time periods in Edmonton history; the years 1846, 1885, 1905, and 1920, or the Fur Trading, Settlement, Municipal, and Metropolitan Eras respectively.
We added to our Canadian province license plate collection with a camper from the Yukon.
Not to be confused with a McDonald’s McLobster sandwich, we learned that a lobstick is a traditional trail marker created by cutting off most of the lower branches of tall pine or spruce trees. The remaining tuft on the top would make the tree conspicuous from a distance.
JQotD: “’There’s Alberta beef in every bite,’ try saying that drunk!”
CC: Goats, pigs, chickens, horses, cows, and buffalo.
LLofD: More people live in the state of California than in the entire country of Canada.
Day Seventeen
Last day of Jasper before we head to Edmonton and city living. We walked around the town of Jasper, visited the local museum to learn more about the history of Canada. In a nutshell it’s First Nations, Fur Trading, the Railroad, and current day. Since we stuck close to town, we saw quite a few animals. A black bear was dining on berries in the woods just above town and we caught him dashing back into the woods.
The elk were grazing along the roadside as usual.
We soaked in the Miette hot springs and watched another flock of bighorn sheep stroll through the parking lot posing for selfies with tourists.
Best of all, we strolled around a pond a few blocks from our hotel and got an up close view of a beaver.
JQotD: “We never pass up an opportunity to take the waters.
CC: Black bear, elk, Canada geese, bighorn sheep, and beaver.
LLofD: Awe inspiring.
Day Sixteen
We’ve decided that Parcs Canada secretly trucks in their wildlife and places them strategically for optimal tourist viewing. We’ve seen signs of supposed wildlife in remote areas, but all of the actual wildlife viewing occurs either close to town or along the roadside.
We saw numerous elk out grazing alongside the road and watched a black bear sprint across the highway heading into the town of Jasper. Otherwise we didn’t saw any wildlife, not even deer.
Big news of the day though, we finally managed to stop in a town with a Tim Hortons. Woo hoo! So yes, that’s exactly how we started our day!
We drove up to Mont Edith Cavell and hiked along a trail for a spectacular view of Angel Glacier. The meltwaters formed waterfalls and a glacial pond at its base with small floating icebergs.
We drove out to Lac Maligne, the largest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies and walked along the shore. Unfortunately we missed the last boat and had to be content to photograph from the shore.
Other fun Canadian discoveries…the license plates for the Northwest Territories are shaped like a polar bear. We’ve actually seen three along with a license plate from Alaska. The doors on the pit toilets at the park rest areas have latches on the outside that I guess keep the wildlife out of the toilets. It would probably be an ugly scenario to surprise a bear in an outhouse. Also, fishing happens not only from fishing boats and pontoon boats but also kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards.
JQotD: “How many Canadians does it take to change a light bulb? Only one if they’ve had their Tim Hortons!”
CC: Loon, chipmunk, elk, and a black bear.
LLofD: I definitely prefer Tim Hortons to Starbucks.
Day Fifteen
Today was an education in geology terms, moraines both terminal and lateral, alluvial fans, crevasses, glaciers and snowfields. We traveled the Icefields Parkway north from Banff to Jasper, stopping many times along the way. The Parkway parallels the Continental Divide and today was rainy so we traveled the Icefields Parkway in the mist. We decided this was fitting since we’d traveled the Going-to-the-Sun road in a haze of smoke.
The first hike was in Banff at Moraine Lake along with what seemed like hundreds of busloads of other tourists. A truly gorgeous spot even though it was rainy and overcast.
We hiked up to an observation point overlooking Peyto Lake (pronounced Pee-Toe…Canada, you are hysterical!) but all we saw was a bowl of mist with a few Englemann spruce sticking up like umbrella in a pina colada.
Glaciers are in continuous motion and a moraine is the accumulation of earth and stones it leaves behind. We stopped at the Columbia Icefield and hiked across lateral and terminal moraines to the foot of the Athabasca Glacier.
The Athabasca Glacier has been receding or melting for the last 125 years and as we traversed the moraine, we passed signposts indicating where the glacier had been in years past. There was all manner of inappropriate footwear hiking out to the glacier including sneakers, wedge sandals, crocs, flip-flops, and ballet flats.
We stopped next at Athabasca Falls and walked through the limestone and quartzite canyons and bridges over the falls and river. The water flow was astonishing and powerful.
The day ended with elk eating the foliage along the road leading out of the park.
Jeff and I managed to dress alike through all phases of layering today. We started out in khaki shorts and shirts, added tan hiking boots, blue wool socks, and red raincoats at our first stop, and changed into a pair of blue jeans and added a navy hooded sweatshirt underneath the raincoat by the time we hiked the glacier.
JQotD: “I can survive almost anything with my vest.”
CC: Eagles, chipmunk, great blue heron, elk, loon
LLofD: It could snow anywhere in Canada at anytime.
Day Fourteen
Today we walked around the town of Banff, had lunch in a legitimate Irish pub, visited some of the museums and historic spots around town, and took a chairlift up Mount Norquay and rode a chairlift up to the top.
There was another flock of bighorn sheep at the top of the mountain, several ewes and their young.
We continued on to Lake Minnewanka and took a short stroll along the lakefront.
JQotD: “I am a content generation machine.”
CC: Bighorn sheep, wild turkeys, and a Clark’s nutcracker (it’s a bird.)
LLofD: I don’t understand littering.
Lucky Day Thirteen
We’ve finally got this bighorn sheep sighting nailed. Forget National Parks and wilderness areas. They prefer to hang out in town. We saw two flocks today, along the side of Trans-Canada Highway 1 in the morning and munching their way through the yards around the town we stopped in for dinner. Dinner (for us) was authentic schnitzel, spaetzle, red cabbage and strudel, yum!
We started the morning at Lake Louise in Banff and managed to hike a trail backwards with an unmaintained trek up the mountain. Fabulous views of the lake and the lodge so it was probably worth it. Jeff’s taken to whistling while we hike to make sure the wildlife hears us coming.
Cattle guards are called Texas gates here. We also explored Kootenay National Park and hiked Marble Canyon.
We finished the day alternating between the hot and cold geothermal pools in Radium Hot Springs, taking the waters.
JQotD: “A chalet is better than a bungalow because it’s French.”
CC: Bighorn sheep.
LLofD: Apparently huckleberry fudge needs to be refrigerated.
Day Twelve
Our first restaurant meal in Canada included Alberta beef burgers, fries served with gravy, and dill pickle soup. Enough said.
We toured the Columbia Valley on the British Columbia side of the Canadian Rockies. We spent a few hours exploring Ft. Steele, an historic recreation of a heritage town established in the 1890s. Ft. Steele has 89 restored buildings, a working steam locomotive, a stagecoach pulled by draft horses, and tradesmen and women working the blacksmith shop, bakery, theatre, etc. In the schoolhouse, the third grade spelling list included the words rhubarb, Esquimaux, gamble, czar, maize, squall, and verdure. Written in cursive on the blackboard in front of the room next to the Union Jack were the words and music to “God Save the Queen.”
After many days and many parks of not being able to spot a bighorn sheep up close much to Jeff’s disappointment, we found a flock of them wandering around downtown Radium Hot Springs. Again, enough said.
JQotD: “This is the shower equivalent of an airline toilet.”
CC: Wild turkeys, a golden eagle, fledgling eagles in a nest, bighorn sheep.
LLofD: God save the Queen.
Day Eleven
The fires are not making for good viewing or hiking in Glacier so we visited Waterton, the Canadian side of Glacier. On our way north we watched helicopters dipping water out of the Kootenay River and heading over the mountain ranges to drop on the fire.
We toured the bison paddock just outside of Waterton.
We hiked the Red Rock Canyon and Blakiston Falls.
We stopped to ogle the views at the Prince of Wales Hotel.
And of course we stopped for the world’s biggest dump truck.
JQotD: “You don’t have any Internet, prove me wrong!”
CC: Bison, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep.
LLofD: Try something new everyday.
Day Ten
A new fire has broken out in the park and unfortunately the park is covered in a smoke-filled haze. We rented an aluminum fishing boat with a small motor at the Lake McDonald Lodge and took a spin around the lake. Even though it was smoky we managed to spy a bald eagle high in the trees on the opposite shore and got a great view of him with our binoculars. Lake McDonald is 10 miles long and 500 feet deep with crystal clear water that normally shines with stunning hues of blue and green.
When we returned to the dock sometime later we were waved into the dock by a couple of park rangers to avoid a swimming bear. Approaching the dock we saw a funky black shape bobbing around in the water directly in our navigational path. We thought it might be a log or a raft at first and then thought maybe someone’s black lab was out for a swim. As we got closer we realized that the head was way too big and round to be a lab and realized that a black bear was out for a swim 15 feet from the dock. The rangers waved us into the dock sideways and helped us ashore, making sure we avoided the path of the swimming bear. A couple waiting on shore told us that an adolescent black bear had wandered down from the mountain, crossed the road, walked through the lodge cabins, down to the beach, into the water, and started swimming towards the north end of the lake!
We lunched in the Lodge on bison meatloaf and summer elk sausage sandwiches and “huck tea” (iced tea made with local huckleberries.) After lunch Jeff headed off on a hike to Fish Lake and Lynne went for a swim in Lake McDonald.
JQotD: “Lakes are for fishing not swimming”
CC: Bald eagle and a swimming black bear.
LLofD: Parents should teach their children to be respectful of the earth and its inhabitants.
Day Nine
We spent a comfortable night in Billings at the Northern Hotel downtown and took the back roads up the east side of Glacier National Park. If you ever get to Billings I recommend the Northern (northernhotel.com.) Montana elegance at it’s finest! Over a breakfast of spicy bison sausage and eggs over easy, we read through the local paper, catching up on the Glacier fire. One of the articles that we found interesting captured the pros and cons of a naturalist program to re-introduce bison onto the plains. Local ranchers were concerned that the bison might follow the antelope and deer, developing a habit of wandering into town during the harsh winter months. They claimed not to be “anti-bison” at all but wanted a more complete plan by the parks department before re-introducing bison to areas outside of parks department control. Definitely makes you think…I’m not sure what would happen if bison suddenly started wandering around the streets of Great Falls.
Going-to-the-Sun Road, the road that traverses Glacier had been closed for weeks but we were fortunate that it had just re-opened and we were able to drive across. The fires were still burning and we were given strict instructions not to stop anywhere along the first 19 miles of the road and to keep out of the way of firefighters and their equipment. We saw evidence of the fires everywhere, columns of smoke between the mountains, a smoky haze and smell for miles, and burned trees along the park road.
Once we made it to Logan Pass, the air cleared up and the mountains were green again. We stopped at Logan Pass and hiked up behind the visitor center for a few hundred yards and were greeted with the site of a family of mountain goats trotting along the boardwalk and grazing in the meadows.
JQotD: “Today is a whole new rodeo.”
CC: Antelope, horses, sheep, cows, goats, a flock of wild turkeys, and a family of mountain goats.
LLofD: There are two sides to every story.
Day Eight
We left Colorado and headed north to Glacier, Montana. We crossed pretty quickly into Wyoming on Interstate 25 and traveled north from Cheyenne across the high plains of Wyoming. The high plains are a tapestry of azure blue skies, wheat fields, grazing livestock, rocky buttes, oil wells and pronghorn antelope.
We crossed over the Oregon Trail running along the North Platte River and stopped for a picnic at Glendo State Park.
We detoured 100 miles out of our way to visit Devils Tower National Monument in the far northeast corner of Wyoming, near the borders of South Dakota and Montana. We arrived with a thunderstorm, managed a few pictures between raindrops, and drove north on a dirt road to Montana with a picture show of spectacular lightning strikes through the windshield.
I caught a glimpse of a mountain lion sprinting across the fields headed for a stand of trees or maybe the sheep grazing a short distance farther along the road.
JQotD: “Antelope, camels and llama, oh my!”
CC: Antelope, horses, sheep, cows. including longhorn cattle and a herd of Belted Galloways aka ice cream sandwich cows, llama, prairie dogs, deer, a mountain lion, storks, a heron, and camels.
LLofD: I miss thunderstorms.
Day Seven
We spent today in Ft. Collins lunching in historic downtown, doing laundry, and touring Colorado State. Lynne’s struggling to find the right hiking boot solution so we spent an hour in the Ft. Collins REI getting expert help. We settled on inserts for her current boots and took them out for spin through the Colorado State Environmental Learning Center. We hiked mostly flat terrain through a river meadow preserve along the Cache la Poudre River.
JQotD: “If I owned a septic service I’d call it, ‘Spa de Paris Septic Systems’.”
CC: Steller’s Jays, dragonflies, grasshoppers, butterflies, fuzzy caterpillars, and equally fuzzy bunnies.
LLofD: Don’t forget to check around the drum of the washer/dryer
Day Six
We spent the day exploring Rocky Mountain National Park today, a first for both of us! I now understand the whole Rocky Mountain High Colorado thing. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking but did you know that if you are a Colorado resident and 21 years of age or older you’re allowed to legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana? But our Rocky Mountain High refers to altitude. The park starts at 7800 feet above sea level and takes you up to a surreal section of alpine tundra at 12,183 feet. Neither Jeff nor I could recall ever having driven at a higher elevation.
The wildlife was stunning. We watched a herd of elk frolic (literally) in a patch of snow. They ran up the grass on either side of the snow patch, turned, and hopped down through the snow, again and again. It was like watching a herd of elk toboggan. We also watched a colony of yellow-bellied marmot tear around the tundra, squeaking and chasing the pika and chipmunk. We even saw a mother bear and her cub in the far distance in the middle of an elk herd.
We hiked several trails at the Montane elevation (~8500 ft.) along the Big Thompson River and around Sprague Lake for about 7 miles.
JQotD: “They should crowdsource bighorn sheep spotting.”
CC: Squished snake, hundreds of elk, a peregrine falcon, mother bear and cub, a few deer, chipmunk, magpies and bunnies, and a patch of squeaking marmot.
LLofD: Smile a lot.
Day Five
Another mostly business-focused day today. We met with the Colorado Springs Black Bear Diner owner and he was most helpful. He loves the brand and is opening a second restaurant on the opposite end of town this fall. We drove the infamous Peak-to-Peak Scenic Highway later in the day from Idaho Springs to Estes Park through several historic mining towns and alongside the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
I had an early morning visit from a bat that flew into my hair briefly while I was doing my email, so I took that as a sign that I was done with email. We watched a cowboy ride a horse down the main street of Estes Park, which is a common occurrence in Woodside, California I know, but what made this episode unique was watching him spur his horse from a walk to a gallop to make the light before it changed. First time I’ve ever seen a horse run a red light. We ended the day with a Colorado culinary experience of farm-raised elk chili and black raspberry ice cream for dinner.
JQotD: “I need to recalculate my pancake to square footage ratio.”
CC: Bat, red-light-running horse, and lots of deer with really big antlers.
LLofD: Just close your eyes when he starts driving that way, and I know you know what I mean by that.
Day Four
Not much of interest to report from day four. We met with a commercial real estate broker in Denver and prospects for bringing a Black Bear Diner to the Denver metropolitan area and northern front range corridor look promising. Panera, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, etc. all seem to be expanding here with abandon and doing very well. 35,000 people relocated to Colorado in 2014 and another 50,000 are predicted for 2015!
Most interestingly though we found potentially more evidence that a black bear is habiting the forests above our cabin in this partially eaten meal left on a rock in the stream flowing below our cabin.
Day Three
Most of the day was spent working…traversing the Front Range Corridor looking for potential populations and neighborhoods to place a Black Bear Diner. Prospects are looking good and we’re meeting with a commercial real estate broker tomorrow to get a professional perspective.
Tired of sitting in the truck we opted for a hike to end the day. We chose to be adventurous, clamber over a gate, and hike an old wagon road up the mountainside behind our cabin.
The hike started out with a few switchbacks, climbing steadily up for maybe 500 ft. passing through pine forests, wildflower meadows and even an old wagon.
At the top, landslides had narrowed the road to a single foot trail and we continued hiking along the base of the rock face overlooking the river below. We spotted several caves high up in the rocks and tripped over a fairly fresh mound of black bear scat.
On the way back down, we took a side trail and discovered a horn from a bighorn sheep. That’s a lot of wildlife really close to our cabin. Good thing the neighbors have a dog!
JQotD: “Best hike ever!”
CC: Rabbits, a golden eagle, black bear scat, and the horn of a bighorn sheep.
LLofD: Wear a hat even if you look ridiculous.
Day Two
Heart-stoppingly beautiful. We took the back roads through Medicine Bow National Forest and hiked at the summit of Snowy Range Pass. The wildflowers were stunning, mostly varying shades of purples and yellows with a enough white for contrast.
We also decided to tour the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins, operational from 1901 to 1981. Inmates were allowed to paint their cells whatever color they wished although they had no electricity until 1959 and no hot water until 1978. Visitors were allowed to sit in the gas chamber, which was a decidedly creepy experience.
JQotD: “I’m sure glad we’re not traveling this road at night because you just know this is where aliens hunt their brain dissection subjects.”
CC: Many more antelope, longhorn, 30+ wild horses galloping across the plains, a donkey, and a black lab puppy named Tess.
LLofD: Diversity matters, balance is everything. Ecology and humanity both suffer without it.
Day One
Today was all about getting through the worst parts of the trip…crossing the vast sameness of Nevada and Utah who tries too hard. 911 miles from Menlo Park, California to Little America, Wyoming. We entertained ourselves mostly by reading guide books of the national parks and working on fine tuning our job hunting skills. The high point of the day was spotting a cougar of the four-legged variety somewhere near Battle Mountain. Unfortunately s/he was road kill, most likely hit by one of the endless toy haulers battling their way up and over the summits for the pleasure of destroying more nature with their toys. The low point was wading through a grasshopper infestation to use the restrooms in Imlay.
Rain dotted the windshield while traversing the Sierras, a very welcome event in drought damaged and fire ravaged California.
Much of the Bonneville Salt Flats were filled with a shimmering layer of water.
The sunset in the rear view mirror over the high plains of Wyoming looked like an endless river of rainbow sherbert.
Jeff quote of the day (JQotD): “What is that stuff?” as I was applying crème nutritive to my parched skin. “It smells like a pine tree puked.”
Critter Count (CC): Bison, grasshoppers, a lone llama, the aforementioned cougar, an equally unfortunate porcupine, several pronghorn antelope (one of which Jeff insisted was an emu), and the usual horses, cows, sheep, and skunk.
Lynne’s Lesson of the Day (LLotD): Always use the restroom. No matter what. Grasshoppers be darned.
