Have you ever be that lucky to see a grizzly bear breastfeeding its three cubs in the middle of a hiking trail? We had! 😎 And it was near Lake Louise, in Banff National Park.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
It’s been raining hard for two days. We spent all days working in Tim Hortons but now that the weather seems to get better, we can’t wait to hit the trails of Banff National Park again. In order to discover the mythic Lake Louise and its spectacular blue color, we needed two things, that we have been waiting for 10 days: the lake has to be completely thawed in, (it’s now the case since a few days), and we needed sun! Today is the day.
The place is very popular, so we arrive on the parking lot at 6:15 am, among the firsts. Let’s go for a big tour!
🥾 Lake Louise Trail, plain of 6 glaciers, Big Beehive point of view - 19km, 800m D+
Do you know why Lake Louise is one of the most popular lakes in Canada? Because its milky blue water becomes turquoise in the sun! Well, its’ currently 6:30am, so that’s not so obvious at the moment! 😅
We walk along the lake for about 1km before going up toward the plain of 6 glaciers. And we spot some mountain goats on the cliffs surrounding the trail.
Soon enough, we meet a quite nervous couple: they had to turn back on the trail because a bear and its cubs are blocking the path. Well, that’s not very convenient, but we would love to see them! 😁 We keep going very cautiously, taking special care around the curves. After 1km, a French couple has stopped on the trail. We come slowly closer: the bear and its cubs seem to be on the curve, out of sight.
All four of us cautiously move forward. A bush quivers. A brown head pops up. A really small bear cub appears on the path. So cute ! 😍 It’s smaller than the ones we saw on Waterton Lakes park, probably one month old. We see a second one, and then a third.
Then the mommy gets out of the bushes. We first see its big head, then its huge body. OMG, she’s soooo huge! We take a few steps back. She is probably 200kg+! It’s not a brown bear, but a grizzly, that we can easily identify with its bump on the back and its massive shape. Our first grizzly! She is impressive. When she turns her big head toward us, we carefully take some steps back. We don’t want such a beast to run toward us!
Luckily, she is more interested in grass and flowers near the trail than four curious humans. Despite her three cubs, she shows no sign of aggressiveness or edginess. On the contrary, she is very calm and not bothered by our presence. The cubs however are more intrigued. When they smell or hear us, they stand on their back legs while looking our way. They even groan at us! We are amazed. What a privilege!
At some point, the mom lays down on the side. We need a few seconds to realize that she is actually breastfeeding her cubs! Wow, no comment here, we are speechless.
We watch them during 45min, until they finally left the trail and go away toward the snowy valley. What a moment! We will always remember it!
The trail is under a risk of avalanche. It’s very steep and very snowy. We have better no to slip when we walk on the side of the cliff!
It ends at the end of the plain of 6 glaciers. We are surrounded by a big circus, cliffs, high mountains and glaciers. Down the valley, we can see the blue water of Lake Louise.
It’s then time to go to Big Beehive point of view, at the top of one of the mountains. We didn’t expect such a ascent! 300m D+ full of snow and huge fallen trees that we have to step over. We make it to the top exhausted but the view is worth the effort (when is it not?)
We hear from other hikers that the South slope of the mountain is still dangerous due to a high amount of snow and steep cliffs. That’s why we carefully decide to go down the same way, which allows us to admire the magnificent milky color of Lake Louise.
On top of everything, the nearest campsite allows us to take a free and hot shower! What else do we need to beautifully end this crazy day?
Thursday, June 16
We feel like we didn’t wake up soon enough yesterday. That’s why we wake up earlier: 4am! Why? We want to admire the sunrise on another emblematic lake of Banff Park: Moraine lake! It’s the one that appeared on the 20$ canadian note. It wasn’t easy to get out of the bed, but it was clearly worth the pain! Simply amazing! 🤩
6 commentaires
Moment magique cette rencontre avec maman grizzli et ses petits ! C’est émouvant….
Et cette eau, quel bleu ! Irréel…
Bisous
Et toujours d’aussi beaux paysages qui vous laisseront des souvenirs inoubliables !
Bisous à vous deux et bonne continuation, Odile
❤️
Si je n’avais pas vu les photos et la vidéo j’aurai du mal à croire cette rencontre avec les ours. Magique ! Incroyable leur tranquillité devant des humains ! Et la tétée….magnifique.
Quant au lever du soleil sur les montagnes glacées …féerique !
J’ai adoré ce reportage .
Bisous.
Mamie
Que increíble experiencia ver mamá Osa tan de cerca! 😊😊
Si ! Tuvimos mucha suerte ! 🙂 Esperamos que disfruten de su nueva tienda 😉