The day of all the animals. Best day ever.
Last night the temperature dropped and we woke to snow covered mountains and the prettiest dusting of snow. The temperature was just perfect for walking around and exploring. We didn't really have a long list of what we wanted to do on this day, so Mason found a road on the map that is only opened seasonally, so we decided to check it out in hopes of finding some wildlife and a quiet hiking area. We took the road to Moberly Flats and there we found the Ewan Moberly Homestead. Again, this was definitely an area you'd expect to see bears since there was a mixture of open field, thick forest, and a stream. It was fun checking out the old homestead with the boys. They liked that they could run in the old barn and just run around in general. We also saw an old gravesite that Theo had lots of questions about.
After walking around for a little bit, the weather really was our type of weather...we decided to head back to the main road and drive North a little bit. As luck would have it, right when we got back on the main road, which was basically just over a small hill from where we were, we spotted some cars pulled over and we saw a huge black bear! It was pretty amazing! It stayed in the same spot for quite awhile, until people started making their way a little too close. I was just waiting for this bear to turn around and attack these people...why can't people just follow the rules and not be dumb. Of course they eventually scared the bear away over this small hill/railroad track. We decided to drive back to the road where we were walking around in hopes of seeing the bear on the otherside, but we never caught up with the bear. Eventually we went back to the main road to continue our adventure. There were some people who looked like they were seeing the bear, and possibly two more, along the railroad track, but we didn't get out to check it out.
As we headed North, I spotted an Elk in the willows of Talbot Lake. We pulled over so Mason could take a picture or two and the Elk actually swam across the lake towards our car. We stayed in the car, but the Elk just walked right up out of the water and started eating the grass right next to the road and our car (and all the others that had pulled up behind us). It was pretty awesome! You don't usually see the animals come towards you. We headed further North and spotted a mountain goat standing right above the road on a cliff. I don't even know how I spotted it, since it blended in so well, and it looked young our sickly, but that was another cool animal find.
We headed up to Punchbowl Falls, but after seeing the other waterfalls the day prior, this waterfall didn't impress us as much. There were a few people there saying they had seen mountain goats/sheep along the river, but we didn't end up hiking around much at all. We headed back to the townsite to grab a snack and do some souvenir shopping. We found a small train model that the kids probably would have played on all day, and a Jasper the Bear statue that they liked. After grabbing some pretty bad Thai food we decided to drive to the top of a mountain to see the snow and a sunset view.
We saw another Elk along the road pretty close to town and it seemed unphased to the people hopping out of the car to take photos. We drove up to Mt. Edith Cavell, and the view was so pretty! We stopped and took a few photos along the road up, and the temperature was definitely cooling down. When we reached the parking area close to the top, the boys were sooooooo excited to see snow on the ground. It was a little chilly but the kids loved walking around and stomping in the snow. The Glacier and river were pretty cool and you could see a small stream trickling down the side of the mountain. We sent Mason on ahead so he could hike farther and take some photos. He ended up being gone a little longer than I had expected, which was fine. The boys had a great time playing in the snow, and despite my efforts to have them avoid puddle jumping, they found a puddle and got soaked-but they had a blast. I put them in the car for some snacks and to warm up while I organized a few things for the drive the next day. Mason joined us again, a little more rosey cheeked, and we headed back to the hotel.
Theo had really been wanting to go on another night hike with Mason, so we got him all cleaned up, and the he and Mason set-off on their night hike. He excited for the glow sticks I had packed and they went along their way. After less than 10 minutes I heard a knocking on the hotel room door (it's probably around 10pm at this point and Mason and Theo were back. They had gone down and were about the cross the road, when they realized that all the cars were stopped not to let them cross the street, but because there was a herd of Elk right across the street in the tree lines. They hurried back to tell us, because we had a perfect view from right outside our room! They headed back out and continued on their hike. Mason was more award of the animals they saw and noted Theo's carefreenesss in the pitch black. As they were heading back they even got to see a Grey Wolf! Talk about a wildlife day! Totally awesome indeed!
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