On the Road

Livestock At Large, originally uploaded by susanvg.

A drive from Banff to Brooks is an extraordinary experience. The day starts in majestic mountains, rocky, craggy and snow capped. We drove down through the Kananaskis Mountains. We stopped for a short hike only to see goats on the road.

A Columbia ground squirrel made its presence known with high pitched squeaks.
Some livestock are free to range in the along the way. Texas gates keep them from going past certain boundaries. We had to wait while they crossed the road.

Eventually the mountains turned to hills and the forests gave way to farmland. Oil wells look out of place in the middle of fields.

Still later the land flattened even more - fields of grass, bales of hay, reaching out to the sky. Brooks is in the Badlands of Alberta. Coming.... a trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park.

The Rockies

Morraine Lake 2, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I've been home for a week, trying to sort through the myriad of photographs. Our Arctic trip ended with a flight from Resolute Bay to Edmonton, so we spent another 9 days in Southern Alberta - first time in the Rockies. I had been before, so the mountains and lakes were not quite as astounding as the first time, but their beauty and grandeur are incredible. Glacier fed lakes and rivers are every shade of turquoise and green.

Although we didn't see a lot of large wildlife, we did see some delightful smaller creatures.

Lake Louise is breathtaking with the mountains towering over it and the glacier perched on the craggy mountains at the far end. Red canoes dot the lake dwarfed by the peaks.

As these splendours are in a national park, preservation of wildlife is paramount. As you drive the highway through the park, you pass under overpasses built as animal crossings. Cameras have proven their effectiveness. Some of the deer in the area are so tame, they come to feed in the town of Banff. Once made a meal of the flowers in front of our hotel.