Category: Travel posts

( please note that all of the pictures are clickable if you wish a clearer view. I have also added links in places for more information/explanation…..click the blue click..!!)

So now……. having had our exploratory, moderate hike up the Marion benchland (click), and our easy day with the short walks (click)…..the next trail in our sights was the Ptarmigan Lake Trail in White Swan Lake Provincial Park (click). It promised some good views and a moderately challenging 13 km out and back hike, in addition to being a quiet….not overly populated hike….

The trailhead was well inside White Swan Provincial Park…well past the entrance for Lussier Hot Springs…which is a public and popular natural hot spring spot. We had considered trying for a dip/wallow there…..depending on how busy it was as we passed. …just before 9 am there were very few cars there……so it seemed like a good possibility for a stop in on our return trip. Another 28 km up some ‘interesting’ logging roads, wending our way further up into the park…to the trailhead.

The road up to the trailhead…..30km of it inside the park was progressively narrower and rougher, with our surroundings developing an effortless ‘remoteness ‘ around us.

We had to stop a couple of times on the way in just to drink it in.

The trail itself was well marked right from the getgo…..the incline did not wait around to get started..!!. It was an old logging road that had been blocked off presumably to discourage atv enthusiasts from using it.

Part way up there were the remnants of some previous clear cut logging.

Looking at the surrounding forest and appreciating the craziness of the wildfire activity in Alberta and BC at the moment, gives you an interestingly different perspective on just how important the logging industry is to maintaining the safety of the forests……without creating these breaks in this incredibly dense coniferous forest…..if it starts to burn…its just going to keep on keeping on…..

One of the most startling things as we walked was the incredible numbers of bees. All different kinds, flying around us, crawling on the ground, landing and harvesting from the plentiful wildflowers around us.

There were many, many wildflowers. Some were familiar, many not so much. There were many, many butterflies, but none of them would oblige and sit still long enough to be photographed. There was also lots of bear scat..!! (yes I have my bear spray..!!)

As we hit the end of the logging area, there is a section that winds up through incredibly lush dense forest.

The grade of the path also increased.

Now we were weaving back and forth on a series of short switchbacks………and then the grade increased again and we were climbing evermore steeply through the forest…..

…every time it seemed like we MUST be there……on the path went ahead of us (and more up..!!).

I added at least 45 minutes to the hike with the number of times I stopped ‘for a breather’ and to check how close we were to the top..LOL

Finally we opened out on to Ptarmigan Lake…..a really beautiful spot…….with Blue Knight Mountain ahead of us, and a bank of snow still on the other side of the lake. Shortly after we arrived a young family appeared….I think they managed it way faster than I did….!!!

We stopped for a bit for snacks and rehydration before heading back down……I know I keep saying it…but what a beautiful place.

….you could not design a prettier landscape if you tried….!!

You never really get an appreciation of how steep a climb is until you are going back down…..

…this one was hard on the knees……

Ah……the truck…….fortunately the boss had packed an extra cup of coffee in the thermos’s……It was very welcome.

As we supped our coffee and cooled off a little …another little butterfly showed up….and actually stayed still…….and a Mourning Cloak butterfly that sat on the path for us.

The drive back down…again the number of cars at the hot springs was not off putting…but …even though I had packed towels and extra clothes…we just wanted to get back to the trailer and get supper….so Fairmont Hot Springs pool just had to do on that evening…oh the suffering…

We were tired enough the next day that Lussier was not quite tempting enough…..I am sure we will be back in this place again…..and that will be another new spot requiring a visit.

Extra Pix

After a longer walk yesterday (and the first real one of our hiking season) in combination with 30 degree (C) weather…the plan for the day was three shorter lowland hikes……ones that (from their reviews) promised some interesting views.

The first was up onto the hoodoos at the south end of Lake Windermere. A short walk up…….spectacular viewpoint.

Part 1.

Hoodoo trail.

This trail was a well-travelled, fairly busy (i.e. we actually saw other people..!!) short easy hike. Steep hill but well maintained gravel path.

It was a decent reward for not a lot of work to get it…..

…and a very beautiful clear day……despite all the wildfires happening to the north……so far we have had very little smoke.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by the landscapes that BC offers…..no matter how many of them we see.

Part 2.

Colombia Wetland trail

The second short walk was wetland. I was trying to mix it up a bit re the kind of terrain we were on this day. It was a more exposed and easier walk but about as hard as one would want to be walking on a hot day.

The end of the walk offered a lovely vista of the lake…but we were a little disappointed not to have any real lake access…we had been hoping to end up on a beach….

The loop back took us down through some lush forest. Lovely and cool as the day was heating up……but the mossies were stirring…..so there was no lingering in the shade.

Part 3.

Windermere Lake Provincial Park.

The third pick of the day was Lake Windermere Provincial Park. The trailhead was a little more difficult to find…a longer walk…and part in forest, part across very exposed meadow.

At the bottom of the meadow path, it crosses the rail line. Then as you pass down to the beach there is a protected area that is the habitat for Bank Swallows that live in this small area. (click)

The Alltrails trail goes along the waterline to a beach…but the lake level was too high for there to be any way for us to traverse this reasonably….and we could not see a way to get there on land without encroaching on the bank swallows habitat……so around we turned…and back up the meadow.

It always surprises me when we return down a path at how steep it is going down compared to the up. This one was the reverse….it was hard going back up the meadow especially as the heat of the day was starting to take hold.

Another good day to finish in the hot pool.

Once again we are out traveling the highways and byways of Canada. First stop was our regular spot just north of Calgary to ‘shake out the bugs’ and to visit with the youngest for a few days before heading off again. Truth be told we did not really have a plan of where we were going next…so the stop in Calgary was as much to figure out what, if anything, we had forgotten…stock up a little on groceries …take the cat to the vet…and make a bit of a plan.

Pitching camp at the Fairmont Hot Springs is always an easy decision…and handily only a three hour drive from the north of Calgary. Of course there’s a bit of mountainous driving and a couple of 8% grades just to make sure one is awake….it’s always delightful to find that your brakes work just fine…!!

We spotted our first grizzly bear standing by the side of the road just before Radium…….no time to stop and say hello…we just waved as we whizzed on by and said a silent thank you to the order of grizzly bears for putting that one not-in our path…!!

Fairmont is just such a beautiful place …and the BC landscape is so very distinctive.

The first hike of this adventure series was Marion Benchlands. A relatively easy 12 km loop trail along the Marion Bench and back. Mount Marion is a member of the Purcell Range which sits on the west side of the Colombia Valley.

Added bonus, it’s an easy 10 minute drive from the campground.

The starting point, as with many BC trails we have walked, is fully stocked with cows…!!!

Since it is our first in a while, and we are not getting any younger, a fairly easy hike was selected just to get us back in the swing of things

We still wanted the climb to reward with some views………and Marion did not disappoint…….

Realizing that we had not seen BC in this season, it was wonderful to see the landscape lush and plentiful with wildflowers.

The hike itself followed a ridge around a canyon, a welcome combination of shaded forest and wide open meadows

As we walked the light breeze brought intermittent wafts of wildflower fragrance….and then after a deep breath of anticipation……. the next waft would be cow fragrance….😂

The Colombia Valley is impressive to say the least….

A littering of prairie roses (one of the few wildflowers I can readily identify…..my mother would probably be horrified……she would have their latin names and medicinal uses tripping off her tongue as we walked…LOL). So pretty..!!

As we descended the ridge, a pack of large bovines were sunning on the path. I’m not sure why I had to pick up the big stick to walk past them. I am not sure what I would have actually done with it…..but I did feel better with it in my hand..!!

….and back down to the truck again. It was a nice easy 12km walk on a beautiful warm day free of humidity and best of all……..no bugs..!!

An excellent start to our season leaving us still able to walk the day after and looking forward to finding more beautiful spots and interesting vistas. 😁

Extra pix.

Part four of the winter shenanigans posts…… and then off we go again…!!

When the signs of spring arrive outside the kitchen window….

…and the neighbouring farm is firing up the irrigation pivot…..

…..it was finally time to de-winterize the trailer. Oh boy were some people excited around our house.

This is a whole bunch of tasks varying from flushing the pink stuff out of the water lines, checking the tire pressure and lug nut torques. Lubricating and de-corroding all the outside moving parts from stabilisers to locks.

Then the job of packing up. Which is very different when you are not packing up a house with no idea what you are going to need….or where you might be next week. The last couple of years have involved much learning.

I’m not sure we have any better idea of where we are going to be next week…but we do know that come winter we will be somewhere sheltered……with a fire…!!!

Tearing down that ugly shed before we go.

Having cleaned and cleared so much garbage from the north field ( steel drums , plastic drums, old windows renovation debris etc )……a big priority before leaving was to get that ugly eyesore of a shed torn down and gone. It was a carbuncle ruining the view from the kitchen window.

I’m not going to say that it did not offer any resistance……..but between the sledgehammer ……….

…..the tractor……

and a bit of grim determination……

…that thing is gone……..and may have been slightly cremated……

Honest…most of it went to the dump….but some of it did end up on the fire ring ( Editor, it was a squeeze but I made it fit )….requiring a bit of cosmetic upgrading to said fire ring….. ( message me if you want to see the ridiculous video…… 🤣)

With that task done….old Xolo was hitched up and ready for action….

So……to our Calgary ( slightly north of Calgary ) regular spot……handy for our favourite veterinarian, and handy for the city without actually being in it…..

Springhill RV campground…

Its a very handy spot to visit with our youngest daughter while making plans for next stop.

oh….and in other exciting news…..Scott is now officially a Canadian citizen….it all came through just in time for him to vote….!!!

………and for whatever reason…… ( we applied at EXACTLY the same time……..!!)….mine is still pending……hopefully soon.

So….of into the world we go again…….more adventures coming up…….. 😁

This will be the third of the winter updates…… ( a quiet winter of projects….(.click ) and hanging with the neighbours (click)

Spoiler alert…..we are back on the road so there will be some more adventuring coming to your inbox very soon…!!!

Not everyone can boast that their woodpile is visible from space…!! …and I’m not too sure that many people would see the fact that we can….as a positive…!!!

One of the features that gives our little spot on the planet some real character…LOL…

Here in this part of Alberta there are not a lot of trees……which makes the fireplace a bit more of a challenge……unless of course…you have the remnants of three grain elevators at the bottom of your garden…..The Milk River elevators were demolished in 2019…and the previous owner of our property did a deal with the county to take the debris…Im not sure if he had any concept of just how much ‘stuff’ that would be…….I’ll tell you its impressive.

Many of the farms have ‘shelter belts’ mature trees around the farm buildings…..southern Alberta can be very windy….!! but apart from that the sources for firewood are very limited……other than at our place…LOL

In winter for us it was an ongoing chore ( pioneers in the new world we are….lol). The collection, chopping and stacking of lumber for the fire. Not that we made any significant impact on what was there……but that old growth, dry douglas fir and cedar kept us warm.

By the spring it had become abundantly clear to us that we needed a tractor. Between the snow clearing of the driveway, and the clean up of the property itself…there was a lot of stuff that even superheroes like ourselves could not lift.

After a delightful 45 minute drive out to the metropolis of Skiff Alberta…..!! we found this little guy….

…and it arrived on the back of a trailer a week later…..much to the delight of somebody in our house…!!

There was even some stuff that our little tractor could not manage , but luckily reinforcements came to the rescue with a bigger tractor….( a Case MX 120 I’m reliably informed..!!) We couldn’t come up with the intended use for this pipe on a large foundation but it was right in front of the bedroom windows and had to go.

The other major asset we have out here is that we have really great neighbours who have helped us out and made some of the bigger problems solvable.

As spring unfolded into outdoors bearable weather we were able to get back out there and become re-acquainted with this little haven of ours. Here is the photographic walk of the property line.

First we go down the driveway….past the neighbours wheel line (irrigation)

Along past the ‘race track’ ( you can see the race track on the satellite picture at the top)…….

Admire the Sweet Grass hills as we head out to the east corner….

…..back towards the house past the temporary duck pond……

…then loop around the infamous wood pile…!!!

Phew….that was a lot of stuff. As you can see there was not a lot of sitting still this winter…..we need to get back to some travelling for a rest…!! 😁

With another blip up in weather it was a good time to take advantage of our proximity to the border with another foray into Montana.

We had been looking at the tourist maps of things close by that might make good day trips for visitors.

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park boasts being the largest Buffalo Jump in America…. It’s right by Great Falls

On previous trips we had spotted a greasy spoon type independent breakfast spot…. The Golden Harvest off the highway en route to Great Falls….. There’s no greater adventure than a sketchy looking breakfast joint….. The menu looked promising….. Home made bread… 4 kinds…. Never mind Gold Harvest….this could be a gold strike….!!!

Hopes and dreams laid waste on the rocks….. Not only was it not open when Google promised…. It had changed its name…..another COVID casualty we suspect since its reviews as a family restaurant had been stellar…..

The choice we had now was to sit in parking lot for an hour ’til opening…. Or decant to Great Falls and find another spot…. So the Black Bear Cafe it was….I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it….must’ve been too hungry by that point…..

Breakfast was better than decent…!! Since we were now in Great Falls it was time to pick up a few American groceries ( I do love Albertsons…….all kind of flavours of Tostitos that you can’t get in Canada and excellent coupons in my Albertsons app……. 😁) Next stop…. First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park….

This Park feels like it is in the middle of nowhere…. the access road winds through the small town of Ulm, and then after driving across a stretch of prairie…..

The Rangers in the visitor centre were very nice and helpful…….but it seems to be the way of it in State and National Parks….There was no one else in parking lot…….not surprising…..it was a warmer day than we have been having…..but still chilly….and veeeeeery windy…!!!

I made my purchase of park badges for my collection and we took the little tour through the visitor centre.

The Taft loop is the 5km trail around the park and across the top of the cliff. Did I mention it was windy…….and muddy……….but very pretty.

Montana has that big sky thing created by the vastness of the prairies and the circle of mountains waaaaay off in the distance…..

Its not a particularly difficult hike…….but it is hard work walking into the wind…. (we found a few fungi on the path…..to my delight…!!)

Its another one of those frequent stop hikes. Not to catch your breath as much as to gasp a little at the view….

At the top there’s a quite spectacular view of the surrounding countryside…..the mountains on the horizon…..

…….and the prairie dogs…….!!!! These guys are black tailed prairie dogs….not gophers…!!!

At the top of the loop there is a big parking lot……this is a place you can cheat a little and drive up to the viewpoint….if you want to……

From the parking area…as you walk forward….you don’t really see the cliff ’til you are right there……..I guess that’s why it worked so well for harvesting buffalo….

It’s quite an impressive drop…..

The ‘accumulation’ of stuff at the bottom of the cliff is apparently the remains of 5,000 years of buffalo…!!!

If you are interested in more information about this hunt method…click here

I always felt an incredible sense of history walking the stone steps in Edinburgh…the same ones that people had been climbing for 500 years…….well this place is so much more. As you stand on the cliff you can imagine thousands of bison grazing the plains……this place has the feel of thousands of years…..

If you look closely at this next picture, and the two above….the little building you see in the middle is the visitor centre….

Just in front of the visitor centre is this structure …which is the Pow Wow Arbor built by the local tribe around 15 years ago for the annual Pow Wow at the site.

There are many activities they run from wildlife watching to night sky events……

It’s a very beautiful place…..so open, you just want to gaze out and breathe deep…..a good one to come back to with visitors….who’s coming out to see….? 😁

Extra Pix

Thoroughly enjoying our dose of Emily, a trip to the Rockies was an essential part of the itinerary. It’s her favourite part of the world after all. The weather network promised us a sunny day above freezing, and to add to the perfection of the day Bronagh and her friend, Andy, were available to join us.

Its a 90 minute drive for us to Waterton. Chief Mountain is part of the Waterton skyline……and we can see it from the house…..!!! This means we can see it all the way there and for some people we were not closing in on it fast enough.

As they were driving down from Calgary, and we were driving straight west to Waterton…..we met them there. Bronagh said when they arrived at the sign declaring ‘proceed at your own risk’, that had to be the right way to find us. The trail was snow covered…but we had high hopes of hiking at least far enough in to get some views.

It was quite lovely as we headed out from the trailhead following a path made by a snowmobile that looked close enough to where the trail should be.

About a kilometer in the snowmobile tracks stopped and we were off to the left of the trail….and the snow was becoming a little more difficult to traverse.

There was absolutely no sign of the trail though we bravely continued searching for a bit.

As we disappeared up to the hips in the snow…..much hilarity ensued.

There were parts where…in order to avoid disappearing into the snow, crawling was a better option…….shades of Parker Loop in the Okanagan last year.….. but with arms disappearing as well as legs.

A lot of the time we couldn’t continue simply because we were all laughing too hard…..

It was time to bail on the trail and head back. (Crawl back…!!!)

It was bloomin’ hard going……!!!

….but eventually we made it back to firmer ground…….

It was kind of a perfect day for this sort of adventure…… warm enough that we were not cold, but cold enough that the snow was not melting and soaking us as we struggled……I think we managed about 1.6 kilometeres in total….but it was fun….!!!!

There is viewpoint of Waterton on the road back……it was a little icy at the viewpoint (but, thanks Parks Canada, the washrooms were not locked….!!!)

….and the view of Waterton is……well….absolutely magnificent….

Since we were right here by the gate, we took a drive in to the park…..

…..to get a few more captures of those most majestic peaks….

A grand day out indeed…!!!

Extra Pix

(All of the pictures are clickable if you wish a clearer view)

(link to Emily comes to visit part 1)

November blasted us with some brutal storms and unbelievable cold. Snow drifts in the driveway, power outages and a bit of ‘living in a snowglobe” experience. The upside of blizzard conditions in high winds…..the trailer is bright and shiny……snowbath..!!

Finally the polar vortex shifted and the weather has become quite pleasant…….but then after weeks of below -30 Celsius anything above freezing becomes quite joyful……..and we are finding that here in Alberta….or at least here in the southern part……the sun does like to shine….!!!

…and the wildlife likes to visit…..

I think the whole of Canada reveled in a white Christmas this year, and so very beautiful it was too…….

With the warmer weather and our Emily visiting from Ontario, a trip back to our ‘local’ (Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park ) seemed like a plan…!!!

Writing-on-Stone…….the badlands landscape in miniature, with less snow than our last visit making the Hoodoo trail less perilous. We lucked out with a beautiful blue sky day. It was wonderful to strap on the boots again and be out in the fresh air, especially a chance to share our neighbourhood with Emily.

The Hoodoo trail has a series of numbered viewpoints. There is a guide which tells the history and geology of the place……..but there were none in the box on this visit…….I should pick up a couple of extras for our next visitors…!!!

The Milk River frozen and snow covered.

There were no snakes this time either….!!!!

The views are hard to beat…..especially on a day like this one….

The light was quite a bit different from our visit in the fall…..giving us a very different view of some of the pictographs.

….and that battle scene is just ….well it’s something…!!!!

With so few other people around every time we come here……it’s a very peaceful and reflective place………

It’s a pleasure to be back outside again………

Such a lovely place…..