“GRIZZLY bears? Out here, we're just scraps of meat to them,” declared our
hiking guide, Paul Price, brandishing a can of “bear- repellent” pepper
spray. Our 14 and 16-year-old sons, Toby and Sebastian, were keen as mustard
to encounter a bear face-to-face.
The trouble was, on a backpacking expedition - which in Canada means heading
into the pristine wilds carrying all your survival needs such as tents, food
and fuel - bears are regarded as a major hazard, and we were going to great
lengths to avoid them.
“Hooeeee, yo-yo-yo!” echoed Paul's warning cry, whenever we passed a thicket
or boulder. Over three exhilarating days in the vast Banff National Park we
hiked high sun-dappled meadows and climbed heart-pounding scree slopes to
rugged plateaus still piebald with melting snow, with the Matterhorn-like
pyramid peak of Mount Assiniboine a constant backdrop.
We spotted elk with antlers like trees as well as dainty mule deer, bighorn
sheer, chipmunks, ground squirrels, bald eagles and - very occasionally -
other backpackers. But no bears, although, as Paul assured us: “You can be
certain that bears saw us.”
Park rules insist that you camp only at designated grounds. We chose a glade
sheltered by larch trees whose trunks were scratched with bear claw marks,
next to the shore of shimmering Lake Howard Douglas; it would have been an
enchanted spot were it not for the pesky mosquitoes. At night, we hoisted
all our food and toiletries up an unclimbable “bear pole” - another park
requirement.
“When was your last bear-related casualty?” asked Toby as we sat around the
camp fire. “Never had one,” replied Paul, wielding the pepper spray again,
“unless you count that guy from Chicago who took ‘bear repellent' literally
and tried to spray it over his chest.”
Our teenage boys happen (for the time being) to prefer the wilderness to clubs
or beaches, so my wife, Hennie, and I had brought them to the Rockies for as
much activity as we could fit into a two-week summer holiday.
Driving west from Calgary airport across the expansive sun-baked plains of
western Alberta towards mountains silhouetted against an evening maelstrom
of copper and crimson, we were struck with a sense of the vastness of
Canada.
We stayed first in serene Kananaskis Country, a little-visited foothill area
of breathtaking scenery (it is the location for most of Brokeback Mountain)
for rock climbing in vertiginous Wasootch Creek. Next we moved on to high-
octane Canmore, a lovely mountain town just outside the Banff National Park,
surrounded by lakes, streams and forest trails where Winter Olympic
biathletes trained on roller skis. We hiked, mountain-biked, swam across
Quarry Lake and ended each contented day choosing between the thronging,
excellent-value Vietnamese, Italian or Mexican restaurants.
We loved Canmore and relaxed here until it was time to load our packs for the
backpacking expedition - first of our two “main course” adventures. This
ended in Banff, the start of the jaw-dropping 233km (145-mile) Icefields
Parkway road, which sweeps north through the heart of the Rockies to Jasper.
The day's drive was a feast of soaring peaks, thundering cascades, fists of
rock punching skywards and glistening glaciers feeding lakes where curtains
of silver mist would lift to reveal lakes of jade and turquoise.
For the boys, one highlight was spotting a bear foraging in a roadside thicket
near a popular picnic spot - not quite the Davy Crockett encounter they had
fantasised about, but hey, a bear is a bear. Another was leaving our car on
the valley floor for a climb to the tip of the Athabasca glacier, one of six
colossal tongues of ice snaking down from the city-sized Columbia Icefield,
the greatest glaci-ated area in the northern hemisphere outside the Arctic
Circle.
This was our introduction to the Athabasca in whose icy currents we were to
canoe for four days. We joined a 14-strong group tour and, carrying all our
supplies in two-man canoes, paddled a 168km downstream stretch of what
swells into one of Canada's mightiest rivers, starting at Hinton, east of
Jasper.
Although “no previous experience is necessary”, our days on the water were
long, hard, hot and occasionally hazardous as we surged through rapids and
whirlpools between sand bars and through narrow gorges before drifting into
more languid expanses. We camped on forested islands - again to protect
ourselves from bears.
Although we saw no human traces from start to finish (unless you count the
site of an abandoned First Nations settlement), we all felt swept along in
the frontier reverie of lumberjacks and fur trappers.
Our rugged group leader, Tim Edwards, took the boys up side-creeks to find
beaver dams, and taught them survival skills, such as sparking fires with an
aspenwood fireboard and spindle. Thank goodness for Tim's zest for the
wilderness, because most of the group were singles interested in dating
games, so the campfire scene wasn't overly convivial for a family with
teenagers.
“You are the kind of guys I love to have along. It is sad how many kids these
day couldn't give a muffin for the great outdoors,” Tim told the boys as we
said goodbye in Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta.
There was one last bit of excitement to come in the unlikely venue of West
Edmonton Mall, the world's largest indoor shopping centre. A vast dome
covers a swimming lake and a platform 32.3m above the water for hurling
yourself off in the world's highest indoor bungee jump.
“Obviously we have to go for it,” stated Toby and Sebastian flatly. And no
less obviously, so would I if I was to retain any paternal credibility. In
fact, I was the first of the Symington trio to step forward, fear welling in
my viscera, and make the insane leap.
Ah, the great indoors.
Need to know
Martin Symington and family travelled with Frontier Travel (020-8776 8709, www.frontier-canada.co.uk.)
A two-week bespoke trip costs about £2,500 per adult and £1,500 per child
sharing, including flights, car hire, room-only hotels and full-board
camping. Air Canada (0871 2201111, www.aircanada.com)
flies direct from Heathrow to Calgary and Edmonton from £420 return. Further
information White Mountain Adventures (www.whitemountainadventures.com);
Timberwolf Tours (www.timberwolftours.com);
www.travelalberta.com
Teenage thrills
Ride quad bikes, motorbikes, go-karts and 4x4s on a “high- octane” Motorsports
Pro holiday for teens from 13 to 16 with PLG in Lincolnshire. Full-board
one-week stays in July and August are £519pp. Details: 0870 0507507, www.plg.co.uk
Families with fit walkers over 12 can see Everest on a trek in Nepal. The
13-day trips cost from £999pp, including flights and guiding. Details: 0845
4505311, www.adventurecompany.co.uk
Learn sea kayaking and climbing with other 14 to 17-year-olds on a 14-day
summer camp expedition in northwest Scotland starting on July 19, costing
£799pp.
Details: 01971 521006, www.capeadventure.co.uk
As one of the "single" participants on the Canadian trip with Mr. Symington, I am expressing my amusement at his perception of the trip: If 'dating games' means setting and cleaning up meals, taking responsibility, and wanting to bond as a group--of singles, couples, or families--then yes, we played
Jennifer Winokur, Chicago, United States