Two Moose and a Bear

We had an effortless border crossing yesterday , 23 May at 1030 hrs.  Stopped at Visitors Center about 5 km later and picked up some info and headed on to Calgary where we would pick up Trans Canada Hiway 1 WB to Banff our destination for the day!  Roads were good, mainly divided highway,  traffic was manageable.

Galgary skyline as we went by on the bypass!

We arrived Banff National Park for a surprise.  About 3 mi from the city we came upon a toll booth.  The city of Banff and all surrounding area is the National Park!  It is all beautiful but downtown, suburbs and mountains all around are National Park and you pay about $19 a day to enjoy it.  Will be interesting to see how residents are handled!

Nice spots with plenty of space and FHU

Scenic no matter which way you look!

At any rate we settled into one of the campgrounds the NP has in Banff. Tunnel Mountain Campground has about 600 sites divided about evenly with FHU, electric only and tent camping.  Beautiful park, but no wi-fi!  

We made a quick tour through downtown yesterday. Thought we were in Gatlinburg TN!  Banff’s main industry is obviously tourism.  Many ski destinations in the area and lots of ski related advertising.  However, ski season is over and it is hiking. Everybody it seems wears a back pack as a piece of clothing!

Bow Falls on Bow River running thru downtown Banff

Beautiful town, well organized and maintained with good directional signs to help the visitor.  We drove Tucson towing Olivia right through downtown to get to the campground, but we did see the error of our ways and know on the way out that will not be necessary!

This AM I got up and went for a walk in the park at about 0715 hrs and 46 degrees F! First thing I see is a young moose walking down one of the campground roads. When he saw me he retreated into the woods.  I did not follow as I did not want to run into his Mama thinking I was after moose meat for breakfast! 

Moose in the park!

A little while later I spot a moose off in a pasture grazing. She looked up at me and decided the grass was more interesting than me – just ignored me and kept on grazing.    About 45 min later I am in the woods on a trail and up ahead on the edge of the clearing is a Brown Bear, probably a young one but not a cub!

He saw me and skittered  into some nearby bushes.  Shortly he looks up a me and moves for more cover.  I decided to walk a path that was not in his direction but I could still see the area he was in off to my right.  I stopped to take some pics of the mountains in front of me and he shortly comes out and stands up and looks around.  I got several pics of him and then I started walking again, not toward him. I guess he had not spotted me until I moved because he instantly moved for cover. 

At any rate it was an interesting walk and I am now looking forward to tomorrow’s walk “on the wild side”! 
Always at home, no matter where we are!!