Hey Bear : Castle Lookout and C level Cirque

Canadian Rockies: 9/4/2015

Hey Bear. That's what they tell you to say when you see a bear. It is supposed to be stated in a calm, firm but not aggressive tone. The bear experts have worked this out. 

This is a summary of a special day from our trip in the Canadian Rockies that I hadn't gotten around to posting.  Compared with some of the other hikes in the area, this day was mostly unremarkable, with the exception of one, large element. 

On the morning of Sept 4, we checked the weather report. There was a 4 hour window of sunshine forecast, which was the first and only break we had on our 9 day trip.  One thing we really wanted to do was see some animals,  but the weather for the prior several days kept the animals hunkered down and out of view. We set off down the road recommended by the guide book as a good location to spot wildlife, but did not observe any animals from the car. After about an hour and  half of driving around, we abandoned that strategy and decided to do a hike in the area called Castle Lookout. The hike wasn't too long but did gain a decent amount of elevation, taking you to the site of an old fire lookout overlooking the valley around Banff.   

On the way up, we noted some tracks cutting across the switchbacks all the way up. Then, near the vista/ turnaround for the hike, there was a guy there repeating the phrase, "hey bear".  

The large black bear was just off the trail.  He was close enough that we could hear his feet digging in the dirt, overturning rocks and terrifying squirrels. For a second time on this trip, we got out our bear spray ready just in case.  He kept an eye on us but seemed mostly unconcerned by our presence, busy at work, digging up what appeared to be a squirrel's cache of stored seeds. He took a break once or twice to check on us, which is when I took this photo. We didn't stick around too long.

Castle lookout, near the turnaround for the hike. 

Castle lookout is a nice hike and provides views overlooking Banff.

C level Cirque: 

Later that day, we did C level Cirque. Other than the mines in the early part of the hike, it was pretty unremarkable until right at the end (at least from the inside of a cloud), and we were a bit disappointed. Then, we arrived at the destination: the C level Cirque. This is a giant bowl full of rocks and picas, with huge amazing spires towering overhead. Something kept knocking down rocks, which seemed to bounce forever down the huge cliffs and slope below. I think this may have been a bighorn sheep or mountain goat, but never found the culprit. The clouds that had previously lowered the views of some hikes seemed to intensify the awesomeness of this spot. 

C level Cirque, upon our arrival

When we arrived, there wasn't much to see.

Then, the clouds began to blow out, revealing the Cirque now only partially shrouded. 

C level Cirque