Fortress Lake Treck. Location: Jasper National Park/Hamber National Park. Distance: 26km (16 miles) one way to the Lake, 52km (32 miles) covered over two days. Total other treckers seen on route: 5 on the way, 3 on the way back and 2 at the camp spot.I decide to do this treck alone as no one else had the days off work for a 2 day hike. I take my fishing rod and camping gear and head off into the forest along a defined trail. I walk my first 6km with a old guy who is walking to the first lake, then I head on alone. For the rest of the treck I see only 3 people until I finally set up camp with Richard and Craig. There are many signs of bears along the trail; dung, berries, bear tracks. This does spook me a bit as there is always that rare chance of an attack, I am prepared with bear spray (mase) and I have a good knowledge on avoiding bear contact (which I stupidly ignore). Cougars (mountain tigers) especially scare me, they say if you hike in the Rockies often, a cougar has observed you, they also say that if you do get to see a cougar your time is up!
The trail mainly stays within the forest, but does occasionally open up so you can see the beautiful mountains all around the trail. The treck is flat but the distance I have to cover is tough with my backpack.
To get to the lake, you must ford a cold river, with the water level coming to just below your knees. I get to the first camp site at Fortress Lake, but no one is there, but I can see across the way someone is camped on a beach with a fire and tepee. I don't fancy camping alone, so I head to the other camp spot.
This is looking from the first camp spot. You can just see the tepee at the right. This photograph doesn't justify the beauty of the location, my camera died after this shot. The view from my camp spot was far more striking, you could see the mountain that looks like a fortress. Hopefully Richard and Craig will send me on some pictures.I meet Richard who is very friendly and has a neat camp set up, they have a 6 man tepee tent with a heater inside running on wood, a huge chimney expels the smoke out of the top of tepee. The views from this camp spot are the best I have seen in Canada, in a country that is hard to beat for views. There are varied mountains, with a beautiful lake in the foreground, the mountains have a covering of snow at the top and two glaciers are also visible. (My camera is broken at this point, so I get no snaps at this location). Richard and Craig are here to fish, unfortunately on the half day that I am there, they catch nothing, I catch nothing as well. I only have two blankets and the temperature can get to near freezing, thankfully they let me stay in there tent, but I am still cold but much better off.
Equipment I took: tent, sleeping mat, 2 blankets, bear spray, fillet knife, fishing rod, fishing flies, water container, 2 cans of beans, 2 packets of noodles, 4 cereal bars, small gas stove, small pan, spoon, 2 lighters, dish scourer, camera, 20m rope(to hang food in tree away from bears), maps, head torch(flashlight), 2 t-shirts, trousers, water proof jacket and trousers, 2 more warm jackets for sleeping at night, thermal pants, socks, walking shoes. (forgotten item: can opener)I have to leave the lake early to get back for my afternoon/evening shift at 3.30pm, I say my good bye's and head off on the trail alone. Meeting good people for brief periods is what I love most about travelling alone. For a quiet person I find it quite easy to approach and chat to people, it is easy in Canada to be friendly!
10km from the lake, I come to a fork in the path, straight ahead is a more defined path or I could take the path to the right that looks less travelled. I seemed to remember coming on the less travelled path on the way and looking at the map it would be the quicker root, so right it is. The journey on the less travelled path started out OK, there were fallen tree's blocking the path and it was very overgrown but manageable. After about 20 minutes I totally lose the path and I am just wandering through forest and walking on the moss, at this point I should have turned back! I eventually find the path again, but there are 6ft sapling trees growing on it and my visibility on the track is very limited, I should definitely have turned back at this point! I bash two rocks together to make sound so as to alert any potential bears further up the track of my presence*. A large owl flies out of a tree ahead, I stare at it for a while, then look back onto the overgrown track. About 120m ahead there is a black bear poking its head above the trees and staring at me, it must be at least 7 feet tall, I have a massive rush of fear. Its ears are standing up on end like a dog wanting a treat, I don't want to be the treat so I back up 3 steps, it is still looking at me, so I head down into the forest to intersect the more defined path, I quickly come to the correct path and I feel relived but shaken. Just 30 minutes later I am walking along the more defined path, making noise, when a bear walks out onto the track from the forest and stops on the track about 150m ahead, I say 'oooohhh fucking hell' and my heart sinks, he stares at me for 2 seconds and then runs into the Forest. He filled the whole track, probably slightly longer than the width of a large car. I wait for 2 minutes then head up the path to where the bear was. I have no choice but to carry on along the path as I don't want to enter the dense forest to the left, I am reassured by the fact that it was on its own and was scared of me. I get out my bear spray (mase for bears) and keep it ready to fire, my heart is racing at 100mph, I look into the forest where I last saw the bear but it is long gone. I want to be away from this trail at that moment, 'Beem me up Scotty!'. The sight of the bear on the track was an awesome one, really beautiful to see this big black mass suddenly appear, stare at me and then disappear just as quick, it felt good to see one in the wild but I hope not to again! I noted how differently the two bears acted when they saw me, one was scared and ran, which is common, but the other one just stared at me!. Because the first bear seemed unafraid I had to leave the area, without running. The lack of vision on the track was also bad, if he did decide to leave the trail or run at me, I Wouldn't have been able to see which way he went, the lack of vision could also have spooked and provoked him.
I see a variety of animal prints along the way which is interesting. On another treck I saw either a bobcat or a lynx. I love been observant on trails and finding evidence of animals.
This is a fore paw from a Grey Wolf. This could also be a dog, but based on the size and location I would guess at a Wolf, I wish I had taken a ruler so as to be more sure. We have an animal tracks book at work, this track is also very similar to a Coyote and Grey Fox, both of which are a lot smaller, with a different shaped back pad, the claw imprints are also different. There were at least two different Wolf prints at this location, one set slightly smaller than the other. Wolfs are definitely misunderstood, not the man eaters people think!.
This is the left fore paw of a Black Bear. I Wish I had put something next to it to show the size.*Some bear information: It is unlikely that a bear will attack you unless it is startled, hence why you make a lot of noise when trecking and also stick to clear paths (like I did not!). They can become less weary of humans and become more bold and enter towns, etc. It has been known for bears to eat people when hungry but this is rare. Grizzly bears are the most unpredictable, especially if they have young or you enter their habitat, hence why it is also important that people stick to defined trails. You should also never run! Check out www.pc.gc.ca for more accurate detailed bear info.
Check out this video from Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7MuFDVEUro
