I didn’t sleep much, camped on the mossy knoll in the centre of the bowl above Gorman Lake. I had camped at the alpine lake before, and hiked there many times, and usually saw evidence of bears. I know locals who had encountered grizzlies there. So, overnighting near the peaks meant keeping one eyes open, for my sake as well as for my hiking companion. One time, while descending from a ridgeline, I noticed rocks and logs that had been overturned by a foraging bear and came across a couple of budweisers on the ground, likely fallen from the backpack of a previous hiker. The cans had bear teeth marks, but the curious creature hadn’t punctured the aluminum. I chilled the cans in cold stream water, and the beer refreshed us at camp that evening.

But the time of year that is safe from bears is snow season when bears are hibernating. However, there is avalanche risk to be concerned about. One spring day, I entered this bowl by snow-machine over the north ridge. Our party was led by Red Scott, the mayor of the town of Golden. We started our trek at Holt Creek. The tracks on the machines were fitted with paddles which helped us ascend in the powder. Soon, we were enveloped in a white-out – so unlike the mild weather of the green valley below. The visibility became like navigating in a glass of milk. We followed Red, who had us stop at a spot where a black rock was protruding from the white snow. He informed us that this was the summit of our journey and was the point where we had to descend into the Gorman side. I was amazed that Red could recognize this in complete white-out conditions. We stopped to enjoy mountain silence while Barry had a smoke. But stopping for a smoke proved to be problematic, as the snow-machine I had borrowed from my friend Ken, it would not re-start. But Red came to my rescue and got it going again. We descended into the Gorman side, through the area in this painting. The safest way to handle the steep descent and keep from tumbling was to keep the speed faster than the rate of gravity. The easiest part to navigate was the lake, which was now a flat expanse of snow over thick ice.

In this painting, sunlight shines on a mountain face as it eclipses on an opposite peak. This creates a play of light and shadow. Though it’s the month of July, there still is snow that hasn’t yet melted. And the bear I included was courtesy of the Calgary Zoo. I couldn’t get one to pose for me in this spot. Now there’s been a grizzly or two living next door to this location in the refuge at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.‍