I started my day bright and early, got a good breakfast in and once again hit the road. My journey began at the bottom of Whistler Mountain, a journey which would soon prove to be incredibly challenging and strenuous. I knew that my snowshoeing trek up the mountain would be tough, however, the crazy winds, massive snow storm and cold weather conditions didn't make it any easier. I didn't take many picture of my trek, as my camera and my phone were both unsuccessful in capturing anything due to the weather conditions. The few times I tried my hands also froze instantly. I did however, make a friend on the trial who was nice enough to take some footage of my trek, below is a video of some clips that we meshed together.
Due to the weather I found it hard to navigate and keep track of where I had been, where I was going and how to get back, every turn I took looked so familiar and it just seemed to look the same. Similar to my trip in Europe, I felt like I was in a snow desert... the sky, the ground and every mountain melted into one another, I would trek for hours without being able to see ahead of me and out of no where another mountain or another peak would appear, and they all looked the same. Although the view was beautiful the view was limited.
Once I finished taking in the breathe-taking
views, I made my way back down to the base of the mountain and continued on
with my trek. My second challenge of the day would be to learn to navigate my
way through the forest, not only was the navigating a challenge, but the trek
was too, there are so many fallen trees everywhere which make the trek 10x more
challenging.
The challenge didn't stop there... As I continued my trek the terrain got more difficult, climbs got steeper, and the ground was anything but even.
I traveled for a good portion of the day before running into any humans, and surprisingly I was excited when I finally did! I trekked with an older gentleman for a few hours, he was very kind and friendly and even snapped a few pictures for me on our trek.
We reached a crossroad and this is where we said goodbye and once again I found myself trekking alone! The woods that laid ahead were slightly intimidating, especially after seeing signs that caution you about bears, cougars, lynx, coyotes, and wolves. As I trekked through the woods the silence was beautiful, but my heart raced and the adrenaline was high, something about being completely alone, possibly getting lost and feeling like pray evoked a feeling of frisson.
As I continued my trek wildlife began to appear, a heard of Mule Deer were quite intrigued by my presence and I was able to get some beautiful photos!
Not only did I find a heard of Mule Deer, but I also found a heard of... HUMANS! There were 3 young ladies trekking who had gotten a little lost, they asked if they could tag along, which I didn't mind at all (however, I don't think I really knew where I was at this point either). We decided to take a small detour, as oncoming hikers informed us that some Bighorn Sheep were up ahead, slightly off our current root. Here not only did we find Bighorn Sheep but an amazing view!
As we continued on our way, more beautiful sceneries appeared.
The ladies offered to snap some photos for me and I gladly accepted = )
Once again we hit a cross road, and the ladies took a different route while I continued on my journey. Ahead of me were some amazing views,
After a very long day of hiking/climbing I decided that this was enough and it was time to call it a night. I was incredibly exhausted, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was very sore and didn't think my daddy long legs could continue any further. I climbed Whistler Mountain, hiked the Old Fort Point, Patricia and Pyramid route, and the Maligne Canyon trial, however, the highlight of my day would happen 10 minutes from my room where I was staying. Right before entering Jasper, the last piece of "country" held a beautiful surprise. It started to snow and in the field was two coyotes playing together, and chasing small field mice. My heart filled with excited and it was definitely the best shots of my day.
That ladies and gentlemen is the end of my journey for today, as always, thank you for following my journey, and I hope you enjoyed reading this blog.
- San
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