Prepare to Hibernate!

We've had a pretty nice run of Indian summer weather this last two weeks, but there is no stopping the passage of time.  Birds have been flocking up and heading south, pikas and squirrels have been laying in supplies, and last week, we saw some very fat hoary marmots making their last visit to the alpine salad bar.

Hoary marmot

By this time of the year, the grass isn't just for eating.   This chunky marmot at Lake O'Hara was clearly collecting grass to use as nesting material.  I guess if you're going to sleep for eight months, you want to do so in comfort.  The last of the marmots will be out for the count before the end of September, and the next time we'll see them will be in June.

Sweet dreams.

Moose on the Stanley Glacier trail

Last week, we had a rare close encounter with a moose while hiking.  Since the big fires of 2003, the Stanley Glacier trail has great moose and bear habitat.  We often tell people this is the case, but it's great when the moose show up to prove it!

This young female moose showed real fondness for fireweed, and then wandered off through the downed forest, showcasing how good moose are at travelling through deadfall.

Frightening Fungus

A few days ago, we led a guided hike to Paget Lookout in Yoho Park, and on the way down, we found a great patch of mushrooms.  Our guests snapped a beautiful shot (thanks David!), and we admired the fungus.  I misidentified it as dead-man's fingers, but on checking at home, discovered that this mushroom is called “purple fairy club.”  Who knew that fairies were so vicious?

Common names are always a little problematic when it comes to mushrooms, and this species proves the point, as it is found throughout Europe.  Here's a list of the common names from both North America and across the pond:

Purple coral
Purple fairy club
Purple spindles
Purple squid mushroom
Kyjanka purpurová (Czech)
Purpurgrå køllesvamp (Danish)
Purppuranuijakkaat Purppura (Finnish)
Clavaire pourprée (French)
Purpurfarbige (German)
Gråfiolett køllesopp (Norwegian)
Goździeniec purpurowy (Polish)
Клавария пурпурная (Russian)
Kyjačik purpurový (Slovak)
Luddfingersvamp (Swedish)

Using “Google translate,” we found the following translations: “Gray-violet bat fungus”, “Lint finger fungi”, and “Kyjačik purple.”

The one thing they all agree on?  The Latin name is Alloclavaria purpurea.  The one thing we're sure of?  Learning Finnish would be very difficult.

Moss Campion at Sentinel Pass

Our hike to Sentinel Pass yesterday revealed that summer is well underway and even the high elevation wildflowers are coming into full bloom!  The rocky slopes at the top of the pass yielded some impressive moss campion plants.

Moss campion at Sentinel Pass on July 20, 2012.

Moss campion are worth getting down on hands and knees for, with a smell like warm, liquid honey.  They grow as pincushion mats, and are very slow growing.  It takes up to ten years before the plant first blooms, and it can take a quarter century for a mat to reach 15 cm in diameter (7 inches).  Moss campion can live over 100 years in the Canadian Rockies, and the record plant, from Europe, was 180 cm across (82 inches), and 350 years old!

The next few weeks will be a wildflower extravaganza in the Lake Louise area.  Some of the best trails include Helen Lake, the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Stanley Glacier and Bow Summit Lookout.

The Flood of 2012

The picnic area behind the Lake Louise Visitor Centre

We've had two days of nice weather in a row, so it's hard to believe that just two weeks ago, we were all experiencing the flood of 2012.  On June 5 & 6, we received about twice the entire monthly average rainfall for June, and the rivers just couldn't hold it all.

The bridge to "nowhere" on the Bow River Loop Trail near Lake Louise

Now that a couple of weeks have passed, and the photos taken on June 7 have made the rounds, we can take a look at what happened.  Most facilities have dried out and will be fine, but a few hiking bridges were damaged.  Some will require major repairs.

This was the third significant flood in the mountain parks in the last 30 years, the last being in 1986 and 2007.  This year has been a biggie, however.  Other rivers in western Canada are just reaching their maximum flood levels now.  The Fraser River, which rises west of Jasper National Park, is seeing its highest water since 1972.

All we can say is that the power of water is awe-inspiring.

The suspension bridge over the Vermilion River to the Paint Pots in Kootenay National Park

Mystery Mammal – CSI Yoho!

Earlier this week, while leading a guided hike to Yoho Pass, we came across a huge pile of fur right on the trail.  Clearly, something had met its maker, but what?

The fur was incredibly long, about 20 or 22 cm (8 – 9 inches), so it was definitely a winter coat.  Each hair was white at the base, and almost black at the tip.  Hmmm...

After the hike, I bumped into a friend who works for Parks Canada, in the department that monitors wildlife and deals with conflicts between animals and people.  He knew about the remains and said they belonged to... a moose!

It had been killed in early April, when animals still have their thick winter fur.  His guess was wolves, and when he and a co-worker had visited the site then, they found both wolf and wolverine tracks in the snow.

Mystery solved.

Vegetarian bears strut their stuff

Black bear feeding on catkins in an aspen tree

Last week, I (Joel) was lucky enough to get the chance to go to Jasper to teach an interpretation course.  On the way up the beautiful Icefields Parkway – Highway 93N – I saw both black and grizzly bears feeding on early season spring food.

First up was a black bear, perched atop a slender aspen tree.  It was feeding on the catkins, or clusters of flowers, that hang down from the ends of the branches.  It's dicey work, because bears are heavy, and aspen branches are skinny.  While I watched, the bear put too much weight on one branch, and broke it right off.  The bear made a nice recovery, but it was definitely moving verrrry carefully.

Pair of grizzly bears feeding on "mystery" plants

Farther north, a pair of grizzlies, maybe a female with a three or four year old cub, had their heads down, grazing on something sprouting along the roadside.  I couldn't get a good look at what they were so focussed on, so I took some photos and a quick video and then left them in peace.  Coming back the next day, however, I stopped at the same spot and took a closer look – the mystery food was a mini forest of sprouting horsetails.  These are primitive plants related to ferns, and bears relish them in the spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsvYkf489ao

The "mystery" plants revealed.  They are young horsetails, just sprouted.

Enjoy the photos and the video footage.  It's always a real treat to be able to safely observe bears and see what fills their stomachs.