Kananaskis Country and Banff NP, Alberta – Game of all sizes: deer, elk, and moose

Travelling means farewell. As soon as you found new friends you are leaving them. We want to get back to the national Parks where we interrupted our trip. John recommends a scenic route that we partially didn’t see yet.

We are going back to Kananaskis Country: Bow Valley Provincial Park, Peter Lougheed PP, and Spray Valley PP, one more beautiful than the other. We see moose, deer and many squirrels; beautiful foothill and alpine landscapes, mountains and deer mirroring in gleaming lakes. Smith-Dorrien / Spray Trail is one of the loveliest roads in Canada and nearly complete gravel. That is what a Unimog is made for. The sound of the tires disappears, and Arminius swallows the bumps like a camel a bucket of water. It’s just fun to drive.

From Banff to Lake Louise we are taking the same road where we discovered the grizzly last time. This time we are also lucky and are seeing an elk buck. The royal deer wears proud antlers and a well-fed stomach. The twelve-pointer doesn’t show timidity; on the contrary he seems to putting on a show. In the beginning he’s completely ignoring the watchers standing round and is eating really calmly. Then he’s looking around rebelliously and seems to ask: “What!? What do you want, eh?” We don’t see the bear this time, only the rangers trying to locate it with their radar. When a grizzly is staying so close to the road it is probably better to watch his movements. In an emergency hiking trails and even roads are closed to ensure both the safety of humans and bear. Few kilometres later we find another elk, a buck again, this time even a fourteen-pointer, but not as big and fat as the other one.

Temperature on Mosquito Creek Campground is quickly dropping from 30 to 15°. But before seeking the warmth of our cabin we have to admire the alpenglow.

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