Southern Alberta - Part 2

So, off we went we went to explore the Allison Creek area. This drive takes you on a dirt and gravel road up along Old Man River, which apparently is a good one for river rafting. Unfortunately, the road left the river before we knew it and mom never got a picture of it.



This road also turned out to be a good one for wildflowers. We came across a huge filed of these pink flowers on long stocks. Of course, mom slammed on the brakes to takes some photos. There I am alone in the car on a road in the middle of nowhere and along come these huge dump trucks that start dumping right where I am and the next thing I know This huge piece of heavy equipment is headed right for me! Yikes!



We continued the loop and it was a long one. At the summit we came across a firefighting out post and naturally mom stopped to blabber and take a couple of photos which already published over at Simply Photos if you'd care to see them.



We finally did find Chinook Lake. It's a pretty little lake not far from the highway and right beneath Crowsnest Mountain. This photo was taken on Thursday and ....




This photo was taken on Friday. During the night a big storm blew in and dumped a pot load of snow on the mountain peaks. The sunrise that morning was spectacular! Please see Rocky Mountain Morning . This was the shot that almost got away. Mom took it in her PJ's!


That pretty much sums up our second trip to southern Alberta. It was another great one and I recommend exploring around in this area if you ever get the cahnce. Some very beautiful scenery around these parts.

Until next time.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Ho! Ho! Ho! It's Back to Alberta We Go! Part 1

Well, off we went like a herd of turtles. You may recall we were up there a couple of weeks ago and had to return early on account of I was off my feed. So, we packed up Clementine, hooked up Shadow and back to Crowsnest Pass we went. We ended up at an RV park in Blairmore called the Lost Lemon. Wow! Was it a lemon. Worst RV park we ever stayed at. People were so crammed into this place the awning of one unit touched another. Usually, I like to park myself outside while mom does her work but not here. I couldn't get in Clem fast enough. Mom needs electricity for all her equipment and there are not a lot of choices in this area. If you can live with just electricity we later found a really nice provincial park at Lundbreck.



Not only is the park way nicer but get a load of these falls! They are called the Lundbreck Falls and are on the Crowsnest River.



Back to mom's favorite old saw about clouds and silver linings, the wildflowers this go around were really great. They were all over the place. This particular bloom we found on Miner's Path just up the road in Coleman. It's a nice little path that ends at a small waterfall. You can see more of the wildflowers we saw at mom's Simply Photos Blog




We did a whole lot of driving around this trip mostly because mom kept missing turns an getting lost but the thing about it is we learned a lot. You can really find stuff when you're lost! For instance, Albertans have a great sense of humor as can be seen from this ranch sign. And, let me tell you, they had some beautiful asses out in the pasture! I woulda chased anyone of them!



And, at least here in southern Alberta, Montanans have a whole lot in common with Albertans. It's the same western flavor. This is truly cattle country. And, awesomely beautiful. Mom really loves it! Course, when mom was a little girl she dreamed of being Annie Oakley while other little girls dreamed of Barbie. Don't tell her I said so but I think she turned out more like Calamity Jane! :)

Stay tuned for part two. Mom finally finds Chinook Lake and Old Man River. No kidding, it's really called Old Man River!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Alberta Trip Gets Cut Short - Koty Sees the Vet

Well, phooey! We had to cut our Waterton/Glacier trip in half. It's kind of my fault although I really couldn't help it. I went off my feed, which isn't unusual for the first couple of days of a trip but when it started to drag out mom got worried and I'm glad she did! I'm fine now but I was mighty uncomfortable I can tell you that. Turned out that some bones I had eaten had made kind of a calcium block in my intestine. Mom thought I wasn't pooping because I hadn't eaten but that wasn't the reason and I couldn't tell her. Lucky for me the block had worked it's way nearly to the exit and an enema fixed me right up. I guess that's more than you wanted to know but there it is.



Our last day at Waterton we went up Red Rock Canyon to the Crandall Lake turnoff. Mom wanted to walk along Crandall Creek and see if she could find some nice wildflowers. We didn't find any wildflowers of note but we did find this big black bear. He was just strolling along enjoying the day. No one's heart was in the walk so we headed back to the campground. That's when mom decided we were pulling up stakes in the morning.



Mom always likes to say every cloud has a silver lining and really it does. On the way home we stopped at the Crowsnest info station and discovered there was a really neat place to explore only 75 miles from home and after fourth of July we are going to do it! The photo is of Crowsnest Mountain.



We went straight to the vets when we crossed the border and after I got fixed up there we headed to the ranch. At the gate we were greeted by a Whitetail doe and her fawn. You gotta get a kick out of those whitetails when they go flying off!



So, we hung around the ranch for a couple of days and visited with our friends here. Mom chopped some wood and I played tag with a doe. It was really fun. I was in my enclosure and the doe and I chased each other round and round until we were both pooped out. Mom was too busy chopping wood to get a photo. She's got her work cut out as we had a lot of blow down this winter and there's nothing tougher to split, and she does it all by hand, than dead wood.



Yesterday we took a little trip down to the Stillwater National Forest. Wanted to check out Fish and Bull Lakes. These lakes turned out to be yawners. The bear grass is starting to come out and mom did get this photo of some lilly pads from a bluff overlooking a private pond. I was a nice hike anyway.

So, that was our week. Hope yours was great too!

Visit my mom's website to see her most recent photographs. Or visit any of her many galleries. Prints start at just $8.95.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography