CALGARY CANADA 2016 - 5 - PLAIN OF SIX GLACIERS AND THE TEA HOUSE

Today we are heading to Lake Louise to pick up the plain of six glaciers trailhead. Apparently, it is one of the most spectacular hikes in these parts both my friend Jeannie and I heard from different people. If I had come down from Larch Valley hike on time yesterday, we would have done this hike, but naughty me, I got carried away with the beauty of the ten peaks around Moraine Lake and we couldn't. Today is the only day we have left to enjoy this trail but the weather is a new story and Lake Louise has a different persona this morning. Clouds are low, obscuring the skyline, the peaks must be spectacularly carving on the Canadian sky, unfortunately we cannot see most of the peaks that surround the lake.

On our last day in Banff National Park, the serene Lake Louise

Yet, the turquoise color is standing its ground despite the domineering gray that overshadows all colors around and above the lake. The temperature has also dropped substantially compared to yesterday, we have already put on all our warm clothes, it is still bone-chilling. We have a rushed breakfast by the beach and get on the trail as soon as we can. The lake and its surroundings are now under a modest amount of mist. It is as if we are looking up at the mountains through a veil.

Jeannie on the trail under a thick layer of mist 

As we reach higher elevations, the mist around us turns into a drizzle. I wonder if gray has a calming effect on the hikers, there isn’t much talk on the trail. The sounds I take in are that of our footsteps lightly crushing the already dampened foliage covering parts of the trail. Otherwise, the soft and moist soil silences even our footsteps. The drizzling rain dominates the ambience with its unique melody with lower notes on the soil, higher pitches on our raincoats and dry leaves. The dance of the fine drizzle with the large drops leaving their homestead on the tree branches is quite a spectacle when I can pay attention to it.

One of the rare moments when we can see one of the six glaciers

The water dribbling down the edges of my raincoat's hood is yet another scenery to watch. As I am on a different wavelength with all the water related happenings around me my gloves and sleeves that are soaked in less than an hour bring me back to reality. Jeannie is in no different condition. I remove the gloves, fold my sleeves and put my arms and hands under my pancho. All the while we are chatting with the lovely young couple' they are from Belgium but live in London now, rather having given up their jobs, they are on the road. They will spend 3 weeks in Canada, we find out, before they move to Mexico City for a while, then to South America, a trip which will continue until the end of the year. They are very worried about Brexit, not knowing whether they will be able to find a job in London at the end of their trip.

Our friends from Belgium and Jeannine, before we part our ways

Their names are Lily and Mono, two brilliant, open minded, kind young man and woman. We have long genuine conversations, all the while I notice that they gently pace themselves according to our pace. You rarely bump into such young people on the trail, understandably so. Mono is very curious about what is happening in Turkey nowadays and I tell him all the in-between-lines facts that are difficult to read through media coverage. Although he knows some about Turkey through his two Turkish friends, who still live in Turkey, he is still stunned to hear that Turkey unfortunately is moving toward Islamo-fascism just like in Saudi Arabia, Iran. He is now more worried about his friends.
 

Lake Louise from a distance as we near the tea house 

As I converse with him, Jeannie is talking with Lily, who turns out to be a lively, warm person, I will discover, when Jeannie and I exchange “conversation partners”. Now she has Mono, and I Lily. Lily loves anything and everything about food. She tells me she worked at restaurants, food industry, etc, and has now made up her mind that wherever they decide to settle down after their travels, she will work in catering industry, but also go back to school to learn more about becoming a chef. She tells me all about the happenings in the food industry in Europe such as people establishing supper clubs!

Victoria Glacier in the Valley of six glaciers

Apparently, people gather in each other’s homes in large groups and have pot luck suppers but more around a theme with gourmet foods. Just my thing, I wonder if I should move back to Europe instead of Canada especially if Trump gets elected…

Our plan is to reach the tea house that was established by the Feux family. Apparently, this family had a vacation here in 1903 and since they fell in love with these parts of Canada, they continued returning to the park for 40 summers! At some point they built this tea house up on the mountains to provide shelter and warm drinks and soup to the hikers and visitors. What a lovely idea.

As we finally get to the teahouse, the peaks disappear behind descending clouds

As our semi-chilled bodies are almost aching under the rain and cold, Jeannie and I will definitely stop at the tea house before we decide whether to go any further or not. At the high altitude, the visibility is even less than what it was down by the lake. Lily and Mono, would like to go to the lookout point first and stop at the tea house on their way back. We exchange contact info and the sweet couple moves on. By the time we leave the teahouse, the clouds will have descended so low, we will barely be able to see the bottom of the glacier, let alone the peaks.

Clouds burying even Victoria glacier behind a curtain along with the peaks

As Lily and Mono walk away I notice that they actually walk much faster than we have been together. Although I don't feel old and act old, 57 years on this earth certainly has slowed me down a bit, not necessarily compared to my peers but compared to these young energetic people. Were they really  keeping up to our pace or were they also enjoying it for the sake of our conversations? Who knows, all I feel now it how heart-warming it is to see that there are young people on earth that can connect with aging people without making them feel accommodated. When a day comes, which certainly will, that I will not even be able to do the routine things I am now able to do with no problem, I would like and hope to be surrounded with people like Lily and Mono.
 

The infamous teahouse in the valley of six glaciers

 

In another quarter of a mile, we are at the tea house, a charming two story cabin secluded in the woods 100 yards off the trail. We discover that it consists of one room surrounded with a wrap-around deck. In the room is three tables seating up to 6 people each. The smaller tables that can accommodate up to 3 people each are all on the deck. Our goal was to have hot tea to warm up, but we learn that they have gluten free vegetable soup with ingredients that are totally local! This is a welcome surprise, along with our sandwiches, the hot soup warms up our miserable bodies. The herbal tea is cherry on top of the cake! I send loving kindness thoughts to the Feux family.

On the way down, Lake Louise behind me

After we get a good rest with good food and warm up, we head down. Although we had constantly looked back on the way up to enjoy the lake behind us, it is a totally different experience now. We are headed toward the lake and are able to see every single sliver that emerges from behind a boulder here, a bush there until we get the largest view of a turquoise jewel at the end of the valley. The river at the bottom of the valley is a silver line, meandering through its bed as if she doesn't move at all. We don't know yet, what a beautiful scene she is going to surprise us with when we reach its delta. 

The delta of the river cutting through the valley of six glaciers carrying glacier waters to Lake Louise

As we continue along the lakeshore, Jeannie and I are full of endorphins. I am grateful that I had the chance of hiking this spectacular land, met beautiful people, inside and out, learned more about Canada, Alberta, and their history, and felt one more time a world citizen full of desire to protect this land that belongs to all of us. We are both ready to go back to our inn at the village, lower our exhausted but happy bodies into the hot tub, swim a bit in the pool and enjoy our last evening at the wonderland of Banff national park. Who knows when and if we will be able to return...

The size of the dandelion greens in the forests of Banff  

 

CALGARY CANADA 2016 - 4 - MORAINE LAKE AND TEN PEAKS

After managing to come out of the forest between Lake Louise and the village without being attacked by a grizzly in pitch dark, we appreciate being at the inn much more than I could have imagined the night of our arrival when I thought it was too commercial a building. Basic safety is the most important provision in life, and wherever we are protected from the outside dangers, especially in the wild, it looks pretty good: This reminds me of the constant question I ask for the children I treat, do they have basic safety and trust in their lives? Are they going to be able to thrive despite all odds because of at least one strong safe haven through an unconditionally supportive relationship? So many of “my children” lack that one simple fortune that may turn their life trajectory around and some, unfortunately, break…

Moraine Lake is a must see in Banff National Park 

We prepared our breakfast and lunch boxes before going to bed knowing that we want to get on our way as soon as we can. We were told that some of the best hikes are around Lake Moraine and if we want to be able to park at the parking lot, we’d better get there before 8:30. This makes me think of the ranger with a warm smile, who gave me this information yesterday. As I was asking for information on what trails were available, with every trail I picked as moderate to strenuous, he was telling me “Well it has an elevation gain of 600 ft…, 950 ft…, 1200 ft…”. Every time my answer was “That’s OK”, but I knew my white hair was in the way of him hearing me.

Although, there is 7 years age difference between my blond friend and I, I get the senior treatment wherever we go!

Eventually, when we came to the last trail to discuss, before he was able to tell me anything, I told him with a smile “Imagine my hair was brown…” He got the message with a shy blush on his face, a sweet smile on his lips and told me to do Lake Moraine, it would be the best hike the park. And we took his advice.  We get up at 7, good thing we took our shower before bed. After a few last minute things to take care of, we are on our way to Lake Moraine.

This is the trail we are planning to take today

We are constantly climbing up and finally reach the infamous parking lot that is already more than half full at 8 o’clock. We want to kill time until 8:30 to have breakfast at the lodge restaurant. A visit to the gift house; Jeannie buys a book of three bears for her three young grandchildren that she often hosts at her house. We walk around the lake, take pictures of this turquoise wonder from every direction including pictures of us together with Jeannie practicing to use her selfie stick! Finally, it is 8:30 and I go downstairs to get a table for us. Alas, breakfast is only for lodgers, any other option? The next door cafe will open at nine. We have to wait to at least get a cup of tea for me and espresso for Jeannie.

Jeannie and her I-pad documenting our entire trip

We have a fabulous breakfast sitting over one of the huge logs by the lake, each in our own style, Jeannie has her muffin and a banana. I have a slice of gluten free bread, some cheese, olives and tomatoes, Mediterranean breakfast at Lake Moraine! Finally, we are all ready to head up, except that I don't have my walking sticks! First check the car, not there, then the logs at the beach, not there, finally I go to the gift shop and Jeannie to the café. She finds them at the café where we paid for our drinks. At last we can embark on our journey.
 

Moraine Lake with its serenity early in the morning

As soon as we find our trailhead, the path winding up before our eyes is quite telling, we know what is lying ahead of us. I like climbing up much better than coming down, Jeannie not quite so, but she is all for it. Just like she leading the way in town on her bike, and I always following her. This brings to mind one bike ride we had done, close to 30 miles on a weekend, when I just couldn’t complete the ride in the last 2-3 miles and my dear friend had come with her car and picked me up. When we hike our roles are reversed, although I never had to carry Jeannie! I love the fact that we are both prepared and quite comfortable with accommodating each other when it is needed with no judgment.

Tourists have crowded Moraine Lake at 8:30 am 

Half an hour goes by, we have a set pace, not too slow, not too fast. Young, athletic campers, male and female pass by us loaded with enormous backpacks, that is fine, I was able to do that in my 30s, too, not any more. All of a sudden a big group of guided people come down from the opposite direction, we are surprised and amazed, how they could have completed a 5-6 hours hike at this early hour since they are clearly day hikers. The story is deeper though; they are talking about grizzly bears been seen on the trail. Wow, with such a crowd, it is hard to understand why they didn’t push forward. We learn that it is the protocol they have to follow: No guide is allowed to continue the hike with a group if a grizzly is sighted.
 

Huge group of hikers retreating after grizzly sighting

 

We are confused along with others who caught up with us and debating communally, whether we should continue or return. Then comes down a group of three men from the direction we are heading. We learn that they are the men who dealt with the grizzlies! Here is how the story goes: As they were hiking up, an hour up from where we are, they noticed a grizzly bear feeding off of berry bushes 10 feet away from the trail. As the bear sensed their presence, it started moving into the depths of the woods away from the trail. The father and his two adult sons interpreted this as “the danger is gone, we may move on”. I wonder what I would have done.

The father and sons and the infamous bear spray can

But just as they turned around the corner, a second grizzly jumped galloping onto the trail and charged at them, rising on its two rear legs with a must-be frightening growl. By the way, they were still pretty shaken up when we met them. I don’t blame them, having been there and done that. Luckily, the party had found a half used bear spray canister in their rental car and the older son emptied the canister onto the trail. This must have "blinded" the grizzly, who then returned into the forest. They are so full of the adrenalin surge of the experience, vicariously we are all pulled into the excitement and flight mood surrounding the story. 

Gillian and Elaine from Vancouver, who "tricked" me into "let's take the risk" mood...

Finally as the Bostonian group leaves heading down, we are left alone with our decision making, whether to push forward or to turn around. The decision is complicated with the fact that others, who have not heard this story first-hand come up from the lake, listen to us tell them the story, but still want to move on. Jeannie is adamant about going back. I am torn in-between. Then catch up with us two women, who look like our age range, might be retired. They listen to the story, too, and shrug their shoulders. It's been about an hour and a half now since the grizzlies have been sighted near the trail. They are most likely right that the grizzlies have moved on, we are OK to hike up.

As we climb up toward Larch Valley, the glacier reveals itself to us

They have such a calm and Zen attitude, I turn to Jeannie one more time. She still wants to go back, how can I convince her there probably is no risk, simply because I cannot know that beyond reasonable doubt as the prosecutors would ask me in court when I testify. I ask Jeannie if she would be OK if I joined Gillian and Elaine, whose names we don't know, yet. My initial inclination is to hike up about an hour not complete the hike, still feeling a bit guilty... Jeannie heads down to hike around the lake, which is quite sizeable. As I join Gillian and Elaine I hope she feels safe and comfortable and has fun around the lake.
 

Moraine Lake a turquoise gift of nature at the foot of ten peaks

As we start hiking up, we hear constant stream of gossip about the grizzly sight, yeah we know it. At a crossroads where the trail for Eiffel Lake splits off from Larch Valley trail, we meet some hikers who tell us that the grizzly is reported to have gone down toward Eiffel Lake. That is enough for us to change our minds regarding which trail to take: Larch valley. I wonder how long it has been since I left Jeannie. I know I will regret heading further up, but despite the rain, the mist, the chill, the wind, pretty much anything that the sky has to offer short of snow, I can’t help but pushing forward up and up trusting she will find fun things to do and nice people to chat with.

Glacier is now above the tree line as we climb higher

As we get to higher elevations, the small slivers of Moraine Lake become larger and larger as if a huge turquoise plate has been pasted into the fault between the Rockies surrounding it on both sides. Breathtaking…

As we rise though, we are emptying our backpacks and putting on our raincoats, vests, jackets, gloves, and scarves... My companions are Gillian and Elaine, both retired from social services in Vancouver. Throughout our hike, we have deep conversations about the differences of the US and Canada in how they approach social services and welfare issues, much better funding in Canada. I guess their rich care about their poor more than ours do down south.

Gillian, Elaine and I against the ten peaks around Moraine Lake

They love their current prime minister and Elaine tells me "with his election we all feel a heavy cloud was lifted off of all of us." They are as worried about the possibility that Trump may be elected in the US as I am. We are all worried that whether he is elected or not, the fact that there are 40 million people in America consider voting for Trump is a scary reality. Perhaps this heated conversation was one of the reasons why I couldn’t break off from them and go down earlier to meet my dear Jeannie. Finally, we get to Larch Lake: I am a bit disappointed, since it is nothing like either Lake Louise or Moraine Lake.
 

Lake Larch is but a tiny pond, nothing like its peers in the vicinity

Much smaller, tucked in a depression down below the trail, light brown/green colored. As I finish my quick lunch, I realize with a shameful feeling of guilt that I have been away from Jeannie for 2.5 hours already! I can’t stay any longer, I have to go back. My trail companions understand me, we exchange contact information and I head back as fast as I can. People, I meet on the way back are still talking about the grizzly sighting. When I get down, it is 2:30 pm, I am frantically looking for Jeannie, she is not in the café, not in the gift shop, nobody with her name and posture rented any of the canoes. She might have taken the car and gone some place else, which would be totally understandably. But the car is there. Finally on my who knows how many’th trip to the car, we bump into each other in the parking lot, of course she is not happy with my being away for so long. Who can blame her, all I can wish now is to have dragged her with me. She tells me she wishes the same.
 

Canoers on Moraine Lake

I learn that the trail around the lake was just barely a mile long limited to only one of the four sides, and she had almost memorized it with her multiple laps: I feel even worse upon discovering that she was just killing time here. A moment, I want to disappear into the depths of the earth… I apologize up to the sky, and she is so sweet, she forgives me. I will never do this again, we will be in it all or none, I promise. The guilt didn’t let me enjoy much anyway… Seeing the smile come back to her face again sooths me just a bit. We first walk along the lake, and surprise, there is a group having a wedding party along the water.

What a wonderful place to get married!

That brings back the sweet memory of Dilara, my “adopted” niece, who had her wedding ceremony and party at a state park across from San Francisco Bay under the shade of beautiful redwood trees. I remember how Zeynep, my daughter, Dilara’s peer, had taken over herself the job of taking pictures and documenting the entire event. With her artistic skills, she had done such a beautiful job of immortalizing Dilara in her wedding dress as beautiful and elegant as a white lilly. That had sealed our families’ friendship and we had all become one big family, we still are. Jeannie and I watch the bride and the groom and their party from a distance for a bit then move on with adoring smiles on our faces.
 

The ten peaks are spectacular from the moraine at the north end of the lake

 

Next stop is the top of the moraine that gives the lake its name. It is about a 300 ft elevation, which brings the entire ring of ten peaks into perspective. We take several pictures to cover the peaks and their panorama. We are very happy to be back together again. Instead of pushing it for yet another trail that goes around the other side of the lake, we decide to rent a canoe together. We need some serenity after the tensions of the lake before rain comes down on us again. We paddle toward the south end of the lake in our canoe, sometimes we find ourselves almost circling around our axis, which leads to the laughter of last night as we were hiking through the forest in the dark.

From the top of the moraine

Overall though, we are heading toward the secluded end of the lake. We know what we are looking for; the hidden waterfall that we were able to see from the trail in the morning. Sure enough, as we approach the last bit of the lake, the waterfall comes to life again, this time with its grand roar! We let the canoe drift for a while and listen to the waterfall. From this end, the moraine and the pine trees on top of it create a totally different delicacy about the lake.

As close as we could get to the waterfall between two of the ten peaks 

When we get back to our inn, we are both looking forward to jumping in the hot tub and the adjacent pool. Traveling with Jeannie has quite a few benefits in addition to her being the most fun friend I ever traveled with among many other qualities. As I learned from her she is a “mint-on-the-pillow” type of a “girl” ! That means, if possible, every national park we visit together, she will do her best to get us accommodation with a hot tub or pool, which I have just started to learn may be welcome luxury after long hiking days, thank you my dear friend. As I alternate between the hot tub and the pool, every time I come back to the hot tub, I feel as if all my muscles are dissolving with the warmth surrounding my body, and almost go to a different land, semi-asleep, semi-lifted up to the sky, in full meditation. Voices almost disappear, all that exists is warm, soft, smooth, light, soothing, and peaceful.

Moraine Lake is a must-see and experience for everybody who visits Banff National Park

 

CALGARY CANADA 2016 - 3 - IN THE FOREST AFTER DARK WHERE GRIZLLIES ROAM

My friend Jeannie arrived late last night. We are delighted to be together especially with the prospect of the three days ahead of us. We leave early in the morning to make it to Banff on time to enjoy its surroundings a bit before diving into the depths of the national park. Taking my “now friends” Miriam and Gordon’s recommendation we cross the river to visit the facility they mentioned. However, the signs to Upper Hot Springs are appealing, too. All of a sudden both Jeannie and I are excited. Instead of riverside relaxation we are drawn to full relaxation in the hot springs! The appeal for each of us is different: She jumps into anything hot, pool, spa, spring! I am more nostalgic: I am thinking of the wild Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone, the Hot springs that cover a whole mountain side in Pamukkale, Turkey. The visions from both of these beautiful places make my heart beat faster… We start winding up the mountain ahead of us.  

On the way to Banff from Calgary

I have never been more disappointed with a hot spring in my life! A total commercial scam, if you are like me looking for minimally touched wilderness out in the nature, don’t ever go there. Somebody purchased the rights to the natural resource I guess, put up a building on top of it, posted Walt Disney style signs of exaggerated joy and lure… As we are curiously trying to figure out when we will get outdoors, we are constantly being forced to dive into a maze of hallways very much like those found in a gym, which finally get us into a locker room! I am fuming inside, but what can you do? If you can’t run away from something, try to see what might be good in it.
 

Rockies surround the commercialized hot springs of Banff

That’s what we both do. Lower our bodies into the pooled "hot spring", swim, chat, and relax. I do my laps finding my way through people, who are standing and chatting or playing ball. When Jeannie announces, we may leave any time I'd like, I dive back into the water for the last time with pleasure before we head down toward the Rockies.

As we wind down the mountain being back in the nature and the forest is quite welcome. The only thing that may be better would be to be on foot to feel the breeze on our skin and to view the scenery beyond boundaries.
 

The Rockies become more and more impressive as we move toward the park

As the road meanders on the hillside, the mountain breeze through the open windows still feels quite refreshing until we find ourselves back in the commercial crowd of Banff. Jeanne notices that the streets are named after animals here, as we pass the wolf street and the elk street and the rabbit street among others... The boundary between the City of Banff and the Banff National Park is very vague, soon, we are at the entrance of the park and in half an hour, at our hotel, Lake Louise Inn in the village of Lake Louise. We were expecting a true inn, one that would be more blended with its surroundings, more rustic, or at least feeling like it. It looks like Banff doesn’t have those small lodges and inns.
 

Village of Lake Louise at the foot of the Rockies

The inn does have a hot tub and a swimming pool though, and my, I will appreciate this feature much better tomorrow after 8 hours of hiking as we return to the hotel in the evening: I could never imagine how precious a gift it is to end such a vigorous day in a hot tub! I will be even more grateful to my dear friend Jeannie for getting us this hotel after all. Once we settle down, we head to the village and discover that it is actually a mini strip mall!

Mushrooms abound on the trails

Well, it is handy since we find a bear spray for $10/day rental and $50 for purchase. We rent it but at the end of our stay in the park, I will end up buying it since I will lose it! I learn how to use it should we encounter a Grizzly, which we have just learned to be abundant around here especially on high country hikes around Lake Louise. Adding one more to the list won’t make much of a difference for me since I have come across about half a dozen of them in my camping trips to national parks. As long as they are either behind a fence or at a distance neither one of us can bother or scare the other. But in the nature you never know. Now we can do our brief afternoon hike through the forest to Lake Louise. We estimate that we will be back before dark so we should be safe.

 

Under overcast sky Lake Louise is much more serene

Lake Louise itself is a spectacular glacier lake surrounded on three sides with sheer tectonic mountains, on the chest of the middle one of which there is a glacier that has receded to the highest elevations, but still, the bosom of the mountain is covered with a large curtain of ice. Very impressive. Jeanne and I meditate by the lake sitting on a log as we watch the glittering of the sun over its surface. After 2 hours of hiking up hill, this is a beautiful gift. The only ugly thing in the air is the monstrous Chateau Lake Louis that rises up to the sky like a sky scraper; so ugly, so out of place, with nothing compatible with the surrounding nature in or around it. I enjoy earning the beauty by hiking to a high country lake rather than purchasing it by driving to a "6-star" hotel like this one on high heel shoes.

Lake Louise has many faces depending on the sky and the light and the distance from it.

Soon, I will learn though that the hotel by Lake Louise was one of the many rural resort hotels Canadian Pacific Railway built way back between the end of the 1800s and the turn of the last century. Some of the surviving hotels include: Château Frontenac in Quebec City (1893), Château Montebello (1930), Royal York Hotel in Toronto (1929), Palliser Hotel in Calgary (1914) and Chateau Lake Louise (1890). We decide to “dine” at the hotel and discover that it has 3 restaurants! We go for the patio to at least be able to look at the beach rather than the hotel walls. A glass of wine coupled with prime rib turns out to be a good choice, having turned our backs to the chateau and faces to the setting sun and the extraordinary simplicity of the beautiful lake. We decide to head back without relaxing too much after dinner since we have a 2.6 km stretch to cover through the woods at dusk in order to get to our hotel and daylight is already gradually clearing away.

Rockies on the way to Lake Louise

Once we enter the forest, we are almost immediately at the mercy of the head lamp I had brought along. I am a bit anxious, but have to be brave and strategic to keep the bears in the vicinity away. I propose to Jeannie, such good sport, to tell each other our stories, some of which we already know, but who cares, we have to be loud to not allow bears enter our safety zone, rather let them know they need to move away from us if we happen to approach one. I start telling Jeannie one of my stories bear encounters, the scariest one, as we move through the dense and now fully dark forest:

Lots of tourists from all over the world on Lake Louise

I had camped at Yellowstone for the first time in 2003. Having moved to its southern entrance after five days of hiking, I had decided to do a hike toward Lake Lewis. After couple miles of walking through the meadow, I finally found myself along the Lewis River. I don’t think I could find even then the words to describe how beautiful the trail and the river and the foliage of mid-September were. The river was running playfully here, and relaxing with serenity there, splashing her water through a narrow point or against a boulder around a corner… On top of one of these boulders was a group of hikers, all men. They hollered at me and let me know that they had seen a grizzly going toward the lake about an hour ago.

Yellowstone Grizzly may be very scary!

I appreciated the information, but why were they chuckling?  I recall thinking “Are they pulling my leg with the hopes that I will join them? Or simply to scare me and get a kick out of it since I am hiking by myself as a woman?” I thanked them with a bold smiley statement “Thank you, I will whistle harder then!” Off I went, in 15 minutes already having forgotten all about the bear, fully absorbed by the visual feast all around me. After enjoying the trail that ran right along the river for over 2 hours, I arrived at the wilderness camp where half a dozen campers were already setting up camp. Friendly exchanges of fruits, tea, and cookies along with warm conversation over my half hour lunch break gave me enough rest to start my return journey. I was again mesmerized with the colors around me, the symphony of sounds of the nature in harmony; sometimes the river roaring to a crescendo, sometimes the birds from the opposite bank diving into almost a whisper, all the while, I was in a meditative trans on the trail.

Grizzly tracks on soft trail

At some point, though, as I started my climb on a steep but brief slope, it occurred to me that I hadn’t made any noise to keep the bears away. Perhaps it was the carving in the soil that I noticed when my subconscious mind must have whispered “hmm, it looks very much like a bear’s footprint that we saw at the information center the other day”. I had thought “Yes, as soon as I get up to the top and catch my breath, I should start whistling or singing”. Little did I know that the mother earth had different plans for me on top of the cliff.  I was still panting from the steep climb, getting ready to sing a song, for the sake of making a noise. The things that followed, I am sure occurred in a split second, yet, at the time, it had seemed to me as long as a lifetime: Out of the blue, behind my left shoulder came the most frightening, ominous roar I had ever heard, even in the movies. My reaction to the fight/flight/freeze situation, I am sure was a full freeze.

I wonder if my grizzly looked like this when he growled behind me...

Numerous, simultaneous conversations started in my brain: “Oh my goodness, this must be the grizzly the guys had mentioned” and “Oh my, I have to whistle”, alas out of my frozen mouth came the most miserable sound that had nothing to do with a whistle, no more than the most flat note on the musical scale. My mind was making fun of me big time: “Oh, Resmiye, look at you, you are so miserably scared, you can’t even make a sound!”. The scientific mind was more critical: “Whistling was prophylactic before the beast was here. Now it is right behind your back, what do you do for treatment?”

All this information can go through one's mind at 100 mph speed during an encounter

I was also debating with myself "Shall I turn around and see where it is? But they say, never look at the bear in the eyes, what if it happens to be looking at me?" And my emotional mind was merciless “You stupid woman, you left your teenage daughter in Iowa City, and you will be perished here in the hands of a grizzly. What will happen to your poor child at this age?” Finally, I was also amazed with how all these thoughts and plans were occurring simultaneously and at 100 miles/hour speed! Human brain is something else... 
 

I wouldn't mind seeing a grizzly at this distance!

Finally, my cortex started taking over one more time from within this entire cacophony. The hikers had told me the grizzly was going north. I was heading south. If we assumed, the grizzly was still going north, all I needed to do was continue walking as fast as I could in the direction I was heading, and this inference ended the cacophony in my brain and I took my first step at the end of that split second. Walking as fast as short of running. As soon as I felt, I was at least 100 yards away from the point I had frozen up, I started clapping my hands, singing, shouting, any noise I could make.

When I finally moved a safe distance away from my grizzly, I must have been smiling to myself...

Surely, I created such huge amount of noise that the peace of the entire forest was gone. Elks started screaming from across the water, birds took off in flocks in every which direction, a deer fawn leapt away crackling bush branches. It was quite a scene, almost my anxiety about the bear being transformed into the entire forest inhabitants… I was also laughing at myself for the chaos I had caused. Finally, having moved at least half a mile away from the incident site with no reappearance of my unseen grizzly friend, I gave myself the permission to calm down, slow down, and relax…  

 

My dear friend Jeannie and I before leaving Lake Louise

At the end of my story, Jeannie and I are laughing away like adolescent girls, at times hollering at the invisible bears that might be in the vicinity to stay in their caves, to not come our way, sometimes singing lullabies from our childhoods in English and Turkish. Eventually, when we get out of the forest to within reach of our hotel, we are both feeling blessed for having a girlfriend to do the things we both love to do together, at least once a year and with such ease and comfort. We will enjoy a good sleep tonight and we both know that we will have many more of these adventures together. 

Jeannie on the trail along Lake Louise