Reunion IV: Boo the Bear

 Camille’s family was up early to hike to Lake Agnes.  They not only made their way to Mirror Lake, where I collapsed, but they hiked on to Lake Agnes, ate at the teahouse, and then hiked even further to the Big Beehive.  “That wasn’t a hard hike,” Sophie commented, as I looked at her in disbelief!  Camille has said that Team A is much faster than her family, but maybe not.  The Lake Agnes hike was challenging for everyone but the Eberts!  

After the Eberts returned from Lake Agnes, they took the turn-off to Jasper and stopped by Peyto Lake and Bow Lake.  Peyto Lake is my favorite lake in the Canadian Rockies.  I love its bright turquoise color and the fact that it seems so inaccessible.  

 Lake Morraine is reputedly the most beautiful of the gorgeous lakes in the Canadian Rockies.  During the week, each of us tried to get there, and most of us made it.  Team A was frustrated this morning, because they spent three hours waiting for and riding the shuttle, and only ½ hour at the lake.  “The shuttle was bureaucracy at its worst,” the kids said.  They grudgingly agreed that the view was worth the hassle.

 Visiting Boo was one of the highlights of the trip.  His refuge is halfway up Caribou Mountain, accessible by the Golden ski lift.  I love chair lifts at ski resorts, but I hadn’t realized that Spencer, Bryce, and Alyssa had never ridden in one.  Sharing their first ride was a thrill in and of itself, but it was also a delight to learn about and see Boo.  He is a male grizzly bear who was rescued, as a cub, after his mother was shot by a poacher.  Boo and his brother, Cari, were named after the mountain where their refuge is located (Caribou Mountain).  The ranger told about Boo’s two breakouts to join a girlfriend, but his eventual return to the safety of his refuge.  We saw Boo foraging in the distance, and then he came up to the fence to scratch himself and look at us.  Michael took these gorgeous pictures (and all the other pictures of Team A).  Camille took the beautiful pictures of Team C, and I scrounged along, documenting Team B. 

The second part of the afternoon's adventure was taking the enclosed tram to a ski day lodge farther up the mountain, where we had an incredible view of the whole valley in which Golden is located.  The valley is bordered by two national parks—Yoho and Banff.  We also looked out the back of the lodge at a row of enormous peaks, completely wild and uninhabited.  That view represented, for me, the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.

Bryce is The Man.

Michael is learning to use his telephoto lens on all sorts of animals, besides grizzly bears.