Surveys were being conducted from Wilcox Pass in Jasper. I made my way down to Jasper at 6am as to be at the trail head for 8:30am to start the surveys. I was supposed to travel up the night before but the camera set-up at Cascade Ponds took a little longer than expected.
And I am so glad I went when I did or I would have missed this…
This beautiful Grizzly Bear was hanging out munching on wildflowers by the side of the road at Bow Lake. I am not normally one to stop when I see something by the road, but as it was so early in the morning and I was the only person on the road I could not resist taking a photo of this beautiful beast! And what a way to start the day…..
Even with stopping for a little while to watch this incredible creature I still managed to reach Wilcox Pass trail head by 8:30am. The trail was quite quiet, possibly due to the current forest fires in the area. I managed to do a few surveys and by 1:00pm I headed to the Icefield center to pick up the keys to the Warden Cabin that I would be staying in for the next few nights.
The warden cabin was situated at Nigel Pass in the middle of the woods… was a little creepy seeming as though I was going to be staying here alone for the next few nights!!
It was actually a great place to stay and was very grateful to be able to stay here. Even though every noise throughout the night spooked me.
Over the next 2 days, Margaret was coming to Jasper to help with the surveys. And luckily the number of people visiting the trail pretty much doubled so we got a lot of surveys done 🙂
On the first day that Margaret joined me, we decided to walk the Wilcox Trail after finishing the surveys. It was a lovely walk. Great views for minimal effort!!
It didn’t take very long to get up to the top but was a great way to spend the afternoon. Afterwards we treated ourselves to an ice cream from the Icefields center 🙂
After the third day of surveys I headed home for a well deserved couple of days off before heading back up once again for the last 3 survey days.
My Placement Year - 30 weeks of wildlife, travelling, data analysis and everything in-between 