Mountains and Lakes and COUGARS!?! Oh My!

This is where I sat... I don't think we could have fit one more thing in that vehicle!

As promised, my summer has come to an eventful end! Colin, his sister Sarena and her boyfriend Ryan, and I all made the four hour trek from Hillview Farms (Colin's family's ranch) to Jasper with one vehicle, packed and then packed some more! We made it to Pocahontas campground, where we spilled out of the vehicle... along with a few things! We set up the tents and hung out for the evening. A warden came around that night and told us there was a cougar spotted in the area that evening (what she didn't tell us and we found out later was it had actually killed a dog in the campground earlier that evening). 

Colin has a range!

The first full day we drove to Maligne Lake where we saw bighorn sheep and a black bear, as well as "Colin Range". We then ventured into Jasper for some shopping. In the evening we made our first stop at the Miette Hot Springs which were just up the mountain from our campground. The next day was a bit cloudy so we just hung around Jasper and stopped at a really cool super wide river that was so shallow you could walk across it! We made another trip to the hot springs that night as well. On the way to the hot springs we saw two Parks Canada trucks and a truck with dog boxes so we figured they were out tracking the cougar. When we got back to the campground there were wardens with guns and dogs walking around! Ryan said we should have taken the hint then haha! 

Kinney Lake on Mount Robson.

Our last full day in Jasper we drove to British Columbia and hiked to Kinney Lake on Mount Robson. We stopped in Jasper for supper at Earls and then went to the hot springs for the last time. When we got back to the campground around 10:30 we were told that they had evacuated the entire campground because they couldn't locate the cougar after tracking it 16 km one day and 18 km the next. Since we had been gone all day and they started evacuating people just after noon we were the last people left in the campground! We literally threw our tents, bags, and things into the vehicle, which seemed even more crowded since we didn't organize anything! Nothing like being the only people on the edge of a campground when it's pitch black and a cougar is cruising the area... so we cranked up the tunes in the vehicle and some nice wardens came to hang out with us while we packed up! We actually found the whole situation quite hilarious thankfully and made the best of it! I felt bad the wardens had to stay so late since we didn't get back to our campsite until 10:30 but I think they got a real kick out of watching us attempt to throw all of our stuff and ourselves into Ryan's SUV! After driving the half hour to Whistlers campground we unpacked, reorganized, and set up camp once again. 

Top of Whistler Mountain.

The next morning we woke up to elk bugling and laying right near our tents! We got everything shoved back into Ryan's vehicle and drove to the tramway. We took the tram ride up Whistlers Mountain and Colin and I climbed all the way up to the summit! All too soon the trip was over and we headed back to Colin's. I have spent the last few days at home for a change... celebrating my Mom's birthday and helping Colin move into his new place in Olds! Colin and I also upset a clam of wasps when we were out in the field with the horses at my place and ended up getting stung a few times! Not to my surprise I am still ridiculously allergic!! As summer comes to a close now I guess it's time to get back to my "typical" schedule (what is typical anyways!)... not sure if it will be any slower than this summer, but I'll be home a bit more since I should probably finish my last year of that thing called school! Lots of big adventures and changes to come! Stay tuned into the fall for my next update!