A "Sunrise", Hike into Bear Country, and Climbing Through the Rain - 8

08.08.14 

Waking up today was not fun. First of all, I had to wake up before five to see the sunrise. Secondly, I set my alarm way too loud and I was too disoriented to turn it off, so it blared for a good half-minute before I realized that my phone was right next to me and I could reach it. But as soon as I was out of bed, I was ready to see the sun.

Moraine Lake

The lake where we were watching the sunrise was really, really breathtaking. The lake was a gorgeous cobalt blue color, and I could see the reflection of the mountain in the snow really clearly. It took my breath away, but maybe that was because it was also freezing cold. 

While Jasmine and I were waiting for the sun to rise from behind the mountains and cloud, we sat with blankets wrapped around us and stared sleepily at the lake. Jasmine, with her wrapped blanket and too-big hat, looked somewhat like a hobo. So we waited and waited, and then waited some more. It was past the time we had expected to see the sun. Then where was this beautiful sunrise we had woken up early for? It never came. There were too many clouds, and we just left. Yep, a big disappointment because we were told that "it would change our life".

After our dissatisfaction at not seeing the sunrise, we decided to go on a bear trail to the "Consolation Lakes". If I could see a bear, I thought, it would make up for waking up early and everything else. So I was alert and ready to make friends with any bear I saw, whether or not it was hungry and looking for food. Jasmine was also delighted, and my dad was just neutral. My mom, though, had many problems with the idea. "What if we see a bear?" And I responded that we would be really lucky. "What if the bear attacks?" Then I responded that we'd be even luckier. And she went on and on with the questions. Eventually we did go, but all the way through the forest, she would not stop worrying. "Stay in a tight group!" "No more than 3 meters apart!" "Did I hear a sound?!"

I was elated at first, but my mom's constant chatter started to make me nervous. She had made my dad go first (he was the sacrifice if needed), Jasmine second (so my dad could protect her), my mom third (she was also surrounded and protected), and me last (a sacrifice also just in case a bear wanted to come up from behind). I didn't mind taking up the lead at first, because the chances of seeing a bear were slim to none. But halfway through I started getting anxious. I turned around often just to check no one was following us. And of course, there was no one so I was just hearing things.

(from under a tree)

About halfway down the trail, my mom asked, "Is the sky getting darker?" The sky already was pretty dark because of the clouds (which had prevented the sun from coming out) but I also felt like the day was already turning into night; and it wasn't even noon yet. Everyone fell into a hushed silence, and watched eerily as the sky turned dark. And unsurprisingly, after a minute my mom took to talking again. But then the best thing happened: it started to rain. Could our day really get any worse? I didn't think so at that point. We kept walking because no one wanted to turn back (other than my mom); after all, it was just rain, right? Wrong.

A few minutes into the drizzle, the rain got heavier. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bear-shaped something, and when I turned around the look twice and find that it was only a tree trunk, I heard a loud BOOM and the ground shook. I nearly jumped out of my shoes. All at once, my mom's mouth was off again. "That was so scary!" "Should we turn back?" We all tried to calm her down, saying that we were closer to the end than to the beginning, so we might as well keep going. As we walked, the rain just got heavier and we had to huddle under a tree. When the rain slowed, we kept going. And hid under a tree. And kept going.

Finally, we saw the lake. Actually, we weren't brave enough to walk over the slippery rocks to the lake, so we just stayed near the river instead. The view wasn't bad though; the fog covered the tips of the mountain and it looked really cool, like nothing I'd ever seen before. 

Stream next to Consolation Lakes

But I was still half hoping to see a bear. We headed back after a while, still with a gloomy sky overhead. My mom was still going off about the threats of bears while Jasmine and I tried to console her, while also finding her worries amusing. After a while, we passed the first group of people on the trail and my mom's fears deflated like a balloon. All of a sudden, she was ready to get out food to eat even though she knew the bears could've smelled it. It even seemed like the sky lightened up (it really did).

But once she finished her bread, the worries came back, and I'm pretty sure clouds again covered the sky. "Will they come out because they smelled food?" "It's dark again." "How much further?" And my worries came back with her words. Was someone following me? No. Did I see something move? No. I felt really idiotic, looking behind my shoulder every minute. And finally, finally we got out of the trail! Unfortunately, there was no bear. It was still fun though, listening to my mom be scared the whole way through.

I was really ready to sleep by then, but we weren't going to. After stopping for a quick sandwich we headed to Lake Louise. Lake Louise was really pretty, and it was a turquoise-gray color. 

Lake Louise

We took a hike, heading for the Lake Agnes Teahouse (and the lake itself, but I was going for the food). It was a 3.4 km hike, and I set out determined to reach the top. But it wasn't that easy. You can probably guess what happened next. It rained again. Harder this time. The rain was soaking through my rain jacket, my pants, and it was creating mud rivers down the trail that made my feet wet too. And wet feet are the worst feeling ever.

My hair was sticking together, and I had to watch every step for fear that I would get mud everywhere. I just wanted to get out of the rain, but we had a long and uphill hike to go. It was awful. My legs hurt and my feet hurt and I was wet and cold. You could say that I was not as determined and happy as before. Plus there were no bears. It just made for a terrible hike. When we finally reached the lake, I just ran in and took my raincoat off. My shirt was sopping wet and I dripped everywhere. It was a mess. We got a table inside next to masses of other wet people, and ordered food. The food was alright... but the tea was good. I mean, it's a tea house, but the tea was still really good. And it was hot, which was the best. After eating, we had to go back down, unfortunately, but we waited until the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out for moments at a time.

By Lake Louise

As soon as I put on my still-damp raincoat and stepped outside, the cold hit me like a train. Suddenly I couldn't feel my fingers and my teeth chattered. My teeth have never chattered before, and it was weird but also a really cool sensation. I would be standing there and all of a sudden I would shake and my teeth would sound like a woodpecker. I felt like they would break, but it still felt cool (or should I say cold?). The sun, annoyingly, would peek out of the clouds for a few seconds and then disappear, just to leave us disappointed and freezing again. Our family, wanting to get down and out of the wet clothes, set off at a steady pace. I was just a shivering, shaking, freezing mess all the way down, but hey, I made it. Half-alive. The bathroom was heaven (it was warm, so don't judge) and I stood in there not wanting to leave. The car was also heaven, and I took off my wet socks and wiggled my toes with a sigh. It felt great. I still couldn't feel my fingers, much less wiggle them, but I was happier than I was on the mountain. The rest of my day passed in a blur; it was nothing compared to the torturous morning I had. Looking back now, it wasn't too bad and there were some highlights, but I definitely would not want to do it again. Maybe I would when the weather isn't terrible.