by Brian Patton | Jul 26, 2015 | hiking, Jasper National Park, Wildlife
Some of Jasper Park’s most popular trails reopened this week as the danger from wildfire and rogue bears subsided. Rain and cooler weather dampened the Excelsior Creek Fire in the Maligne Valley, and allowed Parks Canada to lift travel restrictions for the...
by Brian Patton | Jul 23, 2015 | Kananaskis Country, Wildlife
A grizzly bear moved into the Chester Lake cirque in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park on Sunday (July 19), resulting in the indefinite closure of that trail. It was a prime example of what happens when too many people wander into a grizzly’s dining room, and we...
by Brian Patton | Jul 20, 2015 | Jasper National Park, Wildlife
The Jonas Pass-Brazeau Lake Loop, one of Jasper Park’s most popular backcountry trips, has been closed for a month by an aggressive grizzly bear. It is a closure that extends from Nigel Pass on the park’s southwest boundary with Banff Park and around the...
by Brian Patton | Oct 7, 2014 | hiking, Wildlife
There are certain trails in the mountain parks where I always think about bears. But I always think about them more, and somewhat nervously, when hiking alone in the autumn. The incidence of serious grizzly encounters always seems to rise in the fall. Bears are at...
by Brian Patton | Oct 23, 2013 | Banff National Park, Wildlife
“That ain’t no ground squirrel!” We don’t expect to see many animals when we’re hiking in the mountain parks. Ground squirrels, grey jays and, if we’re on the right trail, maybe hoary marmots, pikas and ptarmigan. If we’re looking...
by Brian Patton | Aug 31, 2013 | hiking, Kootenay National Park, Wildlife
A closure of several hiking trails in the north end of Kootenay National Park was lifted this week (August 30, 2013) just in time for the Labour Day weekend. The closure was centred on the popular Marble Canyon Hiking Trail and was enacted August 20 after a grizzly...
