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

British Columbia - Elk, Bull, & Kootenay Rivers

Well, I sad sacked around here all morning yesterday until my mom relented and drove us to British Columbia. The idea was to go to a place where the Bull River runs through the Rocky Mountain Sheep Project. We've been trying all year to hit the Bull just right. At a certain time, following the spring runoff, the river turns this amazing turquoise color. We've tried three times this year and struck out. It has been so dry, the river is but a trickle of its full flowing self. There will be no color anytime this year.

Mom was so disappointed because she wanted me to be able to show it to you. It really is something to see, this ribbon of amazing color flowing through the gorge. The only thing I can show you is a sliver that was captured in this photo of Canadian honkers . The photo was taken this past March and the water color isn't half its potential. Oh, well, she'll try again next year.

Speaking of dry, the Elk River which flows down from Fernie is but a shadow of its earlier self as is the Kootenay. We had the best snow pack, in the Rockies, we've had in the past fives years but the moisture this summer hasn't been "spit", as my mom likes to say.

Failing in our river mission we set out to see if we could find the big horns. Struck out there too. There's a pretty good sized herd in this project but we couldn't find the blasted things. We saw a few whitetail but nothing to make a photograph. I don't really care cuz I'm out on the trail and that's my major joy. Mom was pretty frustrated though. Poor mom. Anyone who thinks this nature photography is easy, is mistaken. Mother Nature isn't always co-operative. We drive and hike, miles and miles and often mom doesn't get a thing. These are not such good days for me either cuz mom then has a BADD (Barnard Bad Attitude Day) when she can't make photographs. To make her even happier, this day, I picked up a kajillion tiny burs. In a Husky coat this isn't funny. I get away with very little misbehaving on days like these. :)

Since we were not far, mom decided to drive over to Cranbrook. Cranbrook is a lot like Kalispell in that in the past five years it has grown by leaps and bounds. The great thing for Cranbrookians is that one would have to crawl into a hole not to have a stunning view of the Rockies.

We went over to Elizabeth Lake on the west side of town thinking maybe mom could get a photo of some waterfowl. Struck out there too. Only thing we saw were a few coots. With that mom threw up her hands and said "We're going home!".

So, once again, Mother Nature had reminded us She is not to be taken for granted. She will only reveal Her mystery and beauty in Her own good time. And, it isn't for free. You have to work for it!

But, Mother isn't without a heart for she gave us a beautiful sunset to soothe our weary souls.

Until next time.........

©Kinsey Barnard

Murphy Lake

Yesterday, we went to Murphy Lake near Fortine. It's also a wildlife viewing area. The main thing you will see there are loons. We couldn't get to them but we could here them calling. If you've never heard a loon you've missed something. It's a very special sound.

After walking around Murphy we decided to see if we could find Martin Lake. We took off down FS 7006 on foot. Mom likes to walk places as much as possible cuz we see and experience more. The first thing we saw and experienced was a tree nearly falling on us. The wind came up, we heard this big crack and an old tree came tumbling down not 20 ft. from us. Mom is not crazy about hiking in the forest in the wind and this is why.

Shortly after that an 8 pt. whitetail buck came crashing down the hill above us, flew across the road and into the forest below. It was a sight to see but happened a little too fast to capture. I pointed out several bear scats (poops). I really have a nose for this. It wasn't fresh, maybe a day or two old. I could also tell there were bears around by the torn up logs and stumps. Bears love to eat the ants and grubs that live in them.

We finally came to a concrete barrier and a little way from that, a trail. It had a sign that just said "trail". Not real helpful. We could see it was a trail. We would have liked to have known to where. We took it up the mountain a mile or so but it was getting late in the day and mom decided we'd better head back. Turned out to be a good idea too because as we walked along in the warm, summer sun the wind kicked up again and before we knew it, the skies turned dark and the temperature dropped like a rock. Those old trees were really rocking and rolling. The thunder was also rolling. We turned up our speed and made it back to the truck just as the rain came down in sheets!

Note to hikers & bikers: I'm sure you've heard it before but it bears repeating; always be prepared for weather changes in the Rockies. It can happen so fast it'll make your head spin. We've seen the temperature drop 40 degrees in less than 5 minutes. If you don't have the right gear you'll be mighty uncomfortable or worse.

Until next time.....