After my
Run the Rockies 5K to kick off my vacation I headed towards Lake Louise going right through Jasper and down the Icefields Parkway...great drive...with a nice mix of wildlife on my 3 day trip...hear are the highlights...
One of my favourite parts of heading into Jasper is that the Big Horned Sheep and Mountain Goats are always in the same place...almost on cue for my visits and this time was no exception.
The Big Horned Sheep were lazily licking salt at the side of the road. I will say this now - I am not some idiot tourist who gets out of their car to get as close as possible to the wild animals...yeah NO - I will not win any "Darwin Award" for that kinda stupidity...I prefer the safety of my car...or a telephoto lens...or better both.
That being said these Big Horned Sheep were just on the other side of the 2-laned highway and I was pulled over to the shoulder (safely out of the way of traffic).
Oh wait... what is this that I then came upon...a famous species seen wherever wildlife and tourists meet... idioto stupido also known as future recipient of a "Darwin Award". Look at this one...children in tow towards the Mountain Goats (that you can barely make out in the grass mid-right of pic).
Seriously people even farm goats are unpredictable bastards...they jump on, over and kick ever thing. They headbutt just about anything...I can't imagine that a Mountain Goat would be very different...just bigger and well more unpredictable...yes so lets all get as close as we can ???
Now I couldn't just tease you and say hey there is a Mountain Goat...I did actually get a few better pics of them a few days later on my way out of the park in the same spot...see the baby on the cliff...and I got some pics of some more adults who decide crossing in front of traffic was a good idea.
Yes that is my car mirror in the pic...proving what I said before...pics from the car...it's the way to go...
Once I got to Lake Louise one of the "things to do" on my list was the gondola ride as it bills itself as one of the best opportunities to view Bears in their natural habitats and it lived up to its claim. Basically you take the gondola up to the interpretive centre/viewing platform...in the winter this is the Lake Louise Ski Resort...
I wasn't there long before the observation platform was all a buzz with people saying "look at the black bear"...this first pic is basically what it looked like with no binoculars and not telephoto lens...yep sure that is a bear...
But this is where having an awesome camera and a telephoto lens comes in handy...Oh yeah that's a Grizzly!!!
He pretty much kept his nose to the ground and then he disappeared behind some trees and while I waited a bit...I did have plans to hike Johnston Canyon that day too so I didn't stick around for too long.
On the way to the gondola at Lake Louise that morning I did come upon an unexpected find...while taking a pic of the Bow River...
I was crossing the bridge, looking for my shot and watching for traffic when I heard a "SCREECH" from overhead...the kind an Eagle makes...look up and what do I see...
YES the words "Oh F&%K" came to mind as I realised I had just walked under an Eagles nest and the baby Eaglet was not happy and was calling for Mommy and Daddy...yeah wasn't gonna hang around to see them...this time I wasn't in my car...lol So I did the only sensible thing I could think of - I snapped a pic while walking back under towards my car and then I cropped it to get a closer shot...not sure if it is a Bald Eagle or a Golden Eagle...from what I have read Bald Eaglets are often mistaken for Golden but Goldens' usually have more of a solid dark colouring from an early age...so I am thinking this is an American Bald Eagle
Safely from the car you can see the nesting choice of this pair and why when looking for traffic and at the river why I didn't notice it...but wow what a find!!!!
So that covers the wildlife - but so much more to come...
Maligne Canyon,
Johnston Canyon, Cascade Gardens, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Columbia Ice Field, Athabasca Falls and some great shots from the road...hyperlinks to come...
After visiting the Lake Lousie ski resort and seeing the Grizzly Bear it was off to Johnston Canyon for another hike...
This is one of those catwalks I mentioned that go out over the river...
View from inside the passage through the safety railing
This is what that area looks like as I moved on to the upper falls pathway
The path to the upper falls has more catwalks (YAY!!) Heights and bridges give me some major anxiety...and now I can add catwalks to that list as well. Now I have never let it stop me from doing what I wanted to do and this trip was no different but it did cause some WTF moments...
On the way back though I notices this overhang...must have missed it in one of my anxiety moments crossing these catwalks...but I am glad I caught it on the way back...very cool! 
