Canadian Adventures: Bears, Horses, and Moose!

Tangle Falls

     Driving through Banff was just as breathtaking as visiting all the different lakes. William was such a tolerant driver while traveling through the parks. I would often have him stop, reverse, and put on the emergency lights so I could get out and take a picture of our awesome surroundings. The beauty wasn't limited to closed off parks with signs and trail paths. Most of it could be seen from your car window while driving up a mountain or driving through the valley. You would often drive by streams, or bustling rivers flowing with crystal blue glacial waters. It was common to see little water falls, and sometimes larger ones like Tangle Falls. Driving through the park included shorter trips (Lake Minnewanka was about 5 minutes from our hotel) to much longer trips such as the Columbia Glacier (which was the same distance as Houston to Austin). I don't think either one of us realized how much we'd cherish those drives through the Canadian Rockies. After not seeing each other for weeks, we did most of our chatting and catching up on those drives. It was some good QT, not to mention fantastic sight seeing and wild life spotting.


     We were ever so fortunate to see bears and moose! We saw 7 bears total, and all on the same day! My favorite bear sighting was definitely the scariest as well. I think we were on our way back from the Columbia Glaciers and driving on Icefields Parkway. We saw two cars pulled over to the side of the road, but no one was out of their car. We knew something was up. Normally, when people saw a bear, they would get out of the car and take a pic. The bears were so distracted from food searching that they didn't care that they were being watched. But this time no one was out of their car. We pulled up and I totally could not believe what I was seeing! A mommy bear and cub! Everyone in Banff will tell you: Never get out of the car if you see a mother and her cub. This can cause the mother to feel threatened and there have been cases of mothers attacking when their cubs are around them. When we were on our White Water Rafting trip, one of the guides told us about a tourist who had rode with them the day before. The tourist taped an incident on his phone and showed the tour guide. Basically, someone got out of their car to take a picture of a bear and her cub. The second the bear saw the guy get out of the car she came running up to the car. The guy was able to get in his car and lock the doors. But the angry bear tore out his headlights.


     So, when we saw the mother bear and her cub, we did NOT get out of the car. We lowered our windows to find the two of them scrummaging to find berries. Then all of a sudden the mother bear walked closer...and closer...and closer to the street, next to our car (across the street from her). Our windows were down and cameras in our hands-we were so shocked to be able to see the bear that closely.. and not in a cage. Then, she came up to the road, looked both ways and froze. She was looking dead straight into our car, right at us. Her cub came and stood next to her and they both began to cross the street.

Being watched

     At this point I was freaking out. The window was all the way down AND they were crossing right in front of OUR car. I told William to reverse. His response included a crisp and sharp, "Be silent. Don't move." While they crossed, the cub peered into our car. We held our breath. What seemed like forever later, they finally reached the other side of our car and continued their search for berries... or honey (hehe). Who knows. All I know is that I had been holding my breath the entire time. We drove off and couldn't believe how close they had come. I asked William why he didn't drive away and he reminded me that we were on a curved road and had a car behind us so we couldn't reverse. My favorite part of his response was, "Yeah, Neeti. Let me just start the engine and have the bear attack our rental car. NBD." That would have been our last vacation ever (like that cruise commercial where they're camping and being attacked by the bear, HAH).

FUZZY antlers!

     After this, we still had about an hour before we got back to town and I was so giddy from our bear encounter that I was talking non-stop and acting like a 5 year old, oozing with delight. Tons of people in Banff had told us that not everyone gets to see bears, so we knew our chances were low, especially since we had that close encounter with the rams at Lake Minnewanka. We were pretty sure that was the extent of our wild life spotting. But then, in my moment of childish behavior and hopefulness I said six simple, magical words, "I hope we see moose next!" TA DAAAA! I could not believe it. Within 15 minutes there we were, pulled up right next to, not one but two, giant, fuzzy, adorable, antler-bearing moose! William asked politely for me to verbally express that he get a good step score. I did. Still hoping for that one. The moose were just as indifferent as the bears. They were over the paparazzi.


     Now for the more domesticated animals. For anyone who goes to the rockies, whether it's in the states or in Canada, I'd highly recommend horse back riding! My horse was named Moonshine and he was gorgeous! When I got on the horse, the cowboy was like..."You get the pretty one. I'll show you what you do with the horse in a sec." What "you do" with the horse? I immediately informed the guy that I was a Texas girl and knew how to get on a horse. I'm brown, but geez. Obviously, assumptions were made.

Looking pro-ish

     On another note, he was such a nice cowboy after that! We went on some great paths, but my favorite were the river crossings. My horse tried to leave everyone and the cowboy told me to "keep him in line" and I did :) I was proud of myself. On the other hand, we had to wait at the other side of the river because one of the Japanese tourists wasn't as familiar with the horsey and his horse went on a joy ride through the forest to eat some fresh green grass. We got to chill and admire the surroundings while the cowboys went to rescue the guy. He was a good sport about it. On our way back, we stopped at a light where there were some bushes and my horse gnawed on some leaves and when I kicked him to start going he managed to break off a branch for a snack later. I wish I could have captured that on camera! We got to see the sun start setting during our horse ride and saw some deer in the forests. Overall, it was a beautiful experience and I'd love to do it again some day. Banff was gorgeous and I plan on going back sometime next year! Next, we moved onto something a little more familiar, city life in Vancouver. Vancouverites did not disappoint!