Kootenay & BEAR!

I'll stop talking about our early mornings now. Just know that if you ever visit Banff National Park (or really, any national park I guess), GO EARLY! 

We ventured out of Banff to an adjoining park, Kootenay for a Sunday morning hike. We picked a place called Marble Canyon and were not disappointed. It was amazing. 

Marble Canyon

Life in a screensaver again!

Bridges criss-crossed the canyon

Lovely.

Petefish.

The water was MOVING!

I saw a photo of a guy walking on that tree. We didn't attempt that.

Hiking

Skies clearing up

A lovely hike along the water

We hiked all along the canyon and then took another hike near the river. I got spooked thinking that being so close to the water we'd see a bear so we cut that hike short (It was pretty easy so Jackson was not upset to leave it behind) and headed for Two Jack Lake where seeing wildlife was supposed to happen from the comfort and safety of your vehicle.

Two Jack Lake

My Jack and Two Jack Lake ;)

Alas, we saw no wildlife on our tour of the lake. Bummer. We did, however, make it back to Canmore in time to have an early lunch of breakfast food from the Summit Cafe. We'd become regulars to the area by now. That is how we like it!

Coffee and the best muffin while
waiting on breakfast

We took a short break and then headed to a local hike that Jackson read had good vistas. I'll do a ton of hiking if promised a good view and Jackson played me like a fiddle on this one! 

A hike behind the most gorgeous golf course

Awesome hiking views

Pano.

We are hiking along, loving life. The weather is great. The views are amazing. The trail isn't even killing me at this point. Then, I hear it. A branch cracking so loudly that it was not just a squirrel running through looking for food. I look over to my right and there it is: A HUGE BLACK BEAR. (CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!) I look for Jackson. Naturally he is WAY ahead of me on the trail.

Me: *loud whisper* JACK!
Jackson: *keeps walking*
Me: *louder, more panicked whisper* JACKSOOOOOOOOOON!
Jackson: *finally stops* what?
Me: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!
Jackson: *scurries back down to me so see*

Jackson, being nearly 150% blind, doesn't see the large animal staring right at us. I swear to him it is there and tell him to get his bear spray ready. He does. We back slowly up the hill and Mr. Bear moves, too. Jackson finally sees the bear. He exclaims a little. Mr. Bear then stares us down like there is no tomorrow. I keep moving up the trail's hill backwards. Jackson stands there staring at Mr. Bear. Jackson finally moves. Mr. Bear does not. He just stares. We make it up the hill and out of view of Mr. Bear. I run as fast as I can on this hobbled knee. Jackson starts yelling at me about not running. I don't care at this point. I'm making my way out of these woods. Jackson easily catches me and Mr. Bear does not follow us. WHEWWWWWWWWW.

Not the actual bear we saw. A lookalike from the internet.

To answer some frequently asked questions: No, we did not take a photo of the actual bear we saw. Why? Living was more important to me than a photo. Did he seem interested in us? Yes and no. He stared at us, but never lunged or anything. How big was he? Massive. How far away was he? Jackson says 25 feet. (I've got no sense of distance. Never have. Never will.) 

Down the trail I demand to test the bear spray in case more Mr. Bears are hanging out (we are not even close to finished with the hike yet). I spray it away from us. The wind then blows. We both get sprayed. It was terrible. Awful. So painful. Luckily Jackson is a good sport and was only slightly annoyed with me. :) 

I about had a heart attack when a little later a mountain biker came up on us and made similar sounds to that of Mr. Bear. He's lucky Jackson had the spray again or he would have gotten to feel the pain, too! HA!! 

Reenactment of our bear sighting faces

We finished that portion of the hike without further incident. We meant to take that trail back to our car, but I did not want to meet Mr. Bear again so we took a different route.

Three Sisters showing off!

We got lost on the different route. We'd now put in over 10 miles and it was starting to get dark. The cold was setting in and we were getting very tired. We got to a spot that was a gnarly uphill climb. Jackson made it up and cautioned me not to even try it. I'm stubborn so I tried it. I made it almost to the top when I lost my footing and starting sliding back down this big, rocky hill. I was able to stop my fall by grabbing some rocks, but the fear and panic had already set in. Jackson helped me to safety and I had a full meltdown. Bawling on the side of this huge hill we'd just climbed. I could not breathe and could not calm myself down. It was terrible. I felt so out of control and so scared. It was like being in my accident all over again. I made Jackson take a photo of me so we could remember that times aren't always easy, but we get through them together.

Sad and a little scared

I was, thankfully, not hurt. I was just scared. We got back to the car about 1.5 miles later without further incident. I immediately texted my mom because when one sees a bear and falls down a nasty hill, she just wants to hear from her mother!

As a reward for a tough day, Jackson relented and took me back to the Iron Goat for our final visit of the trip. We got to watch Notre Dame lose to Texas, too. Awesome. Our food was great, yet again. We had a nice Australian waitress who gave us tips for our upcoming trip. It was a great way to end a mostly good day.

Football and food- I like it!

I'm hoping today is a little easier day!