I woke up this morning to the
same sounds as yesterday and was a tad disappointed… I decided I’d grab a
Timmy’s breakfast bagel and a Starbucks coffee then head back to my hotel to do
some video editing of my cave expedition hoping that the rain would lighten and
that I may still be able to do my final trail! Noon rolled around and as I had
hoped the clouds parted and the sun appeared.
I made my
way to Parker Ridge Trail, which would be about 2 hours from my current
location. I began my trip in 14 degrees which was absolutely wonderful and the
trail was quite pleasant. Many of the sight I saw were basically a compilation
of the sights I’ve seen on previous trails on this trip. Suddenly the colours
faded, the vegetation and trees disappeared and for as far as I could see the
only thing present was rock and dirt. As I continued my trek, animal remains
began to appear...At first
I was fascinated until a certain thought dawned on me… Why were there so many
dead animals and remains? I then proceeded to speed walk...
I continued my trek until the
trees re-appeared, but to my surprise the dirt did not return, instead, I found
myself in waste deep snow at the base of the Parker Ridge Trail... I had walked for too long to decide to turn back and not do this trail so I decided the only direction to move was forward. The next two hours would be one of the most strenuous hikes I had done yet, without snowshoes... I don't know if you have ever trekked a mountain covered in snow
without snowshoes; if you haven’t and are thinking about it, don’t do it. The
hike was hard and I was soaked when I returned home, not to mention I
was quite exhausted.
The trek is usually one of the
most beautiful trails the Jasper/Banff, Alberta region has to offer, but at
this time of year the trail is not yet open, therefore, if you are trekking you
are making your own path through the forest/mountain and I must say its beauty
pales in comparison to the summer views (according to google photos I saw).
Although a little disappointed the trail still offered wonderful views and it
was far better than sitting in my hotel all day doing nothing. Below are some photos from today’s excursion.
This is what happens when you hike all day without seeing a single human... you start to talk to yourself and do silly things to amuse yourself!
Thankful it was warm or being soaked would have sucked!
I made sure to leave some human prints behind so the animals would know I was there!
Thanks again everyone for following :)
- San
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