MOOSE TOUR DAY 1

So the time finally arrived for me to start my four day trip through the canadian rockies with a company called moose network. i was picked up from the Y at about 8am. i expected there to be about 10 of us but to my surprise there was only me and 2 other girls, a girl from germany called veronica and an ozy, liz from perth as well our guide tim. some of us were craving coffee so our first stop on the tour was starbucks. once we were all caffinated up we headed on a tour around banff. we stopped at lake minewanka and went for a walk around johnstons lake. i'd already done this before so i wont dwell too much on it. we made a supply stop next and stocked up on food for the next few days and the essentials which of course included beer! our first proper stop was lake louise. it looked so different to the first time i was there back in feb. most of the ice and snow had gone and you could actually see clear across the lake. there were also a lot more tourists this time around. we took a few photos made another coffee run then set off on our first hike of the trip up a hill by the side of the lake called the beehive. on top there was a little tea house. didnt realise how unfit i was till i hiked up that hill. i was huffing and puffing the whole way up and by the time i got to the top i was sweating buckets which i blame on the heat it was about 22 degrees! the walk down was much easier lol. after taking a few more pictures we headed back onto the bus and continued up the road. we stopped a few times on the way to our hostel for lunch and a couple of walks and photo opportunities. our first night was spent at a wilderness hostel at rampart creek. none of us really knew wot to expect so when we were told this place had no running water so no showers or flushing toilets it was a bit of a shock, we really were getting back to nature. once we'd settled in us girls decided to try get to a viewpoint behind the hostel we made it about half way and got lost so headed back found tim and he took us up. was quite tough like mini rock climbing was good fun. we sat on top of the hill and enjoyed the view and chatted getting to know each other better. that night we cooked our own dinner and sat by the camp fire and had a few beers chatting to other people at the hostel. liz went to bed early but me veronica and tim decided to go for a walk. we ended up walking down the highway at midnight with nothing but moonlight to light the way. it was so surreal. there was no one around and it felt like we really were in the middle of no where. the sky was so clear so we stargazed for a while till it got too cold then we headed back and went to bed.

MOOSE TRIP DAY 2

we were supposed to get up at 8am 2day but we slept in till 9 and didnt leave till closer to 10..oops! the plan of action was the columbia icefields. none of us wanted to do the ice explorer which takes u up onto the glacier, i did it with the family on our trip so i didnt want to spend money on something i'd already done. instead we went on a small hike up to the foot of the glacier. tim gave us a talk about how it all forms and about the different kinds of rocks around about he was really knowledgable and made it much more interesting and probably told us more than anyone on the ice explorer could have. we continued our trip through the park and stopped off at a place called sunwapta falls and had some lunch opposite the water it was so picturesque and calming. we headed into the town of jasper in the afternoon and went to the old fort point and hiked up to an amazing viewpoint where you could see right across jasper and beyond. the hike was harder than the day before. it was pretty much a vertical climb up but the view was 100% worth it. we were all feeling pretty disgusting after that so we decided to head into jasper grab an ice cream and do the hours drive to get to the miette hot springs so we could all bathe. on the way we drove past a momma bear with 3 cubs but we drove by so fast and another car was up our butt so we couldnt stop, they were the first of many though. the springs were so beautiful. much better than the ones in banff. there was 2 hot pools and 2 cold pools that u could jump into after being in the hot pool. was a good way to cool off but a shock when u jumped in. we stayed there for about an hour just chilling and enjoying the amazing view. i decided right then life doesnt get much better than this! it was an hours drive back and on the way into town we passed a really pretty lake and tim said he could walk on water jesus style so we challenged him to prove it. he started walking into the lake and it really looked like he was walking on water so of course i had to try it too. the lakes normally a mud flat so the water isnt that deep, the effect u get is awesome. none of us could be bothered cooking that night so we went to a pizza restaurant and had pizza and beer, a great combination! our hostel that night was another wilderness one called athabasca hostel, again no running water etc. it wasnt as good as the first one but again we had a camp fire but this time we played some drinking games and me and liz were in stiches the whole time but i dont think anyone else really understood our humour. after being told off a few times by the hostel manager we went to bed about 2am after a good chat with tim.

MOOSE TRIP DAY 3

Again we were running late and again due to me and liz lol. the plan for 2day was to head to maligne canyon and maligne lake. we were cut loose at the canyon and left to hike around it on our own and tim came and picked us up at the end of the trail. it was about 25 degrees again and the scenary was stunning! after the canyon we headed to the lake and on the way stopped at medicine lake for lunch. we were going to walk around it but it was so hot that tim decided it would be better just to head to maligne lake further up the road where it wouldnt be as hot. when we got there we went on a walk through the forest to reach moose lake a small lake in the woods. there was no one else around was so peaceful. on the way back to the big lake we saw some bear poop so we all had to talk really loudly in case the bear was still around. went we got back to maligne lake we sunbathed and chilled for about an hour. liz fell asleep on the rocks was quite funny. we were quite sleepy on the way back so when we got into jasper we did a quick shop and headed to the jasper HI. surprisingly we all preffered the wilderness hostels. we had a BBQ for dinner and started chatting to 2 kiwis who had just spent 10 months working in banff. we went for a walk up to the gondola which wa closed but the view from the top was awesome. on the way back to the hostel we heard a rustle in the trees and all of a sudden we saw to black bear cubs climbing up a tree right by the side of the road! we all got a bit freaked out though thinking mamma bear was gonna burst out the bushes and attack...she didnt! that night we just showered (first time in 2 days) and chilled out trying to access the internet which was too slow to work then headed to bed in a dorm with 24 beds!

MOOSE TRIP DAY 4

We actually got up on time 2day! we were told we had to be ready to leave at 8am cause a group of 4 dutch boys were joining us. so we were ready at 8 and the guys had to be woken up...typical men! it turned out tim tricked us by saying 8 to make sure we were up on time and we actually didnt have to leave till 8:30 we werent impressed but we deserved it lol! there wasnt much on the agenda 2day except head back to banff at a lesuirely pace stopping off on the way to take pics. one such place was the athabasca falls which i vaguely recognised. it was awesome my camera battery was running out though so liz took pics for me so will have to wait till she puts them on facebook. a highlight of the trip back was seeing 3 black bears and witnessing the stupidity of people! the first bear we saw there were cars lined up on the road and people out their cars taking pics of the bear that was maybe only 3 or 4 meters away! as we pulled up tim wound the window down and shouted and i quote "u do know thats a bear, bear eat meat, ur meat!" they just looked at him really stupidly and carried on taking pics! we were good we stayed in the bus. we saw another 2 bears along the road and witnessed the same thing again! managed to get some good pics even if we were inside the bus! the 2 big stops on the way back were peyto lake and moraine lake. peyto was first. the road up to the viewpoint was closed so we had to park and walk up. we ended up having a snow ball fight with the guys and liz and i jumped into a pile of snow that came up passed our knees, tim took a video! the view of the lake was awesome, very different to how i remembered it as this time it was still nearly completely covered in ice! after taking lots of pics we headed back to the bus and had some food. we couldnt go to the original lunch spot cause of a forest fire. it was actually a prescribed burn where it was started on purpose and controlled by fire fighters. the smoke followed us to peyto lake and to our last stop at moraine. this again looked different to how i remembered. the lake wasnt even half full and there was still ice on it. still very pretty though and i agree better than lake louise! we hiked up to the view point and tim took us a little way off the trail where we sat and chilled out for a bit before starting the last leg of our journey home. by this point us girls and even tim were getting fed up of the boys. the kept making nasty comments about things and we were getting fed up! we ended up a bit ahead of schedule so we drove back through the bow valley parkway hoping to see some wildlife, we didnt! after getting rid of the guys we made plans to go out for dinner and drinks so after having a nice meal at the spag factory (that was ur fave place daniel) and drinking a few bottles of red we said our goodbyes, swapped contact info and headed our own separate ways. it was an awesome 4 days!!!