Category: Travel posts

Who can resist the promise of puppies..!!

( All of the pictures are clickable if you wish a clearer view. Embedded clickable links for more information will be underlined)

It was marked as the most challenging hike in the park…so we immediately put it on the agenda for the next day. It was a bit of a drive out to the other side of the park for this back country hike but a perfect day for it. Lots of bison but not too close.

Its more of the extremely open high plains landscape. It really is quite breathtaking…and I don’t think the pictures do it justice at all..

There were bison around , but a bit more distant …..there was some talk of walking back closer to them……but I managed to avoid that scenario…!!!!

You can see the herd through the trees in this next picture. Remember….objects in the photos are closer than they appear…!!!

It was such a perfect day, and such a beautiful landscape that we kind of regretted not bringing sandwiches and stopping for lunch out there…

You can see forever………

The trail was vey well marked with the same big heavy posts that were on the Centennial trail the day before. Most of them had big clumps of wool on them as the bison are really getting into dropping their winter wool. A couple of little pieces might have accidentally fallen into my pocket.( I have a vision of a little needle felted bison!)

There are many signs warning “Don’t pet the fluffy cows…!!” ( Not a chance I’m getting that close..!!)

The trail went up over the ridge to another high plain and then down in to the next valley. There was not another soul around……it was lovely…

We were starting to see the greening of spring…and the appearance of some blossoming wildflowers…

Just to give an idea of the scale of the landscape……if you zoom in on either of the next two pictures….can you find me Find WaldMho…!!)

As we walked back down to the truck, wee could see a lone young bison walk up beside the road…right up to the truck ( please dont stop….please dont stop…!!). He , fortunately, carried right on past the truck and was off in the distance by the time we got back down. ( Phfewff…!!)

Once we were back down we could see a huge prairie dog town…so when we were done we drove up the road a bit and sat in the truck. We sat long enough that all the babies came out and started to flirt and play.

I’m making no apologies for the number of pictures of prairie puppies…they were adorable…!!!

We also managed to catch a decent bird picture.

Overloaded with cuteness we continued along the outer edge of the park and up along the edge of Custer State Park. We had to stop for these handsome fellows grazing by the roadside.

More spectacular views…and then….marching down the road came a group of bulls……striding along with intent……you can see they are really starting to moult that winter wool…!!!

What a day…….!!!

Extra pix

Wind Cave National Park South Dakota.

From the map of the park, and from Alltrails it is really hard to tell whether the trails are easy to follow or not. A lot of the trail through the park is not marked on the map. The park has numbered trails 1 to 8 with descriptions …and it was hard to tell what would align with Alltrails, so the most sensible option seemed to be to hit the visitor centre first. (That also gives me the chance to pick up a badge or a token for my collection…!!!😁 )

Chatting to the ranger we picked a trail that I think is in Alltrails…but of course…I now had no signal to download it…..so we went in ‘navigate a new trail’ mode……up to the high plains…where the buffalo….and the pronghorn antelope roam….!!!!

The trail starts out on a road around behind the visitor centre as the Canyon Trail…..the first few kms wind up along the canyon with some quite spectacular rock formations…….and the first example of the National parks philosophy of not interfering with the landscape.

Once onto the Centennial trail, the one we intended to follow, with a short climb up and the land opens up into the incredible vista of the high plains. Like many spectacular places, even when you know it’s going to be impressive….you are never quite prepared for the sheer majesty of it.

It just goes on forever, in all directions, amazing to imagine pioneers in covered wagons hauling all their worldly goods across these plains.

It’s quite a hike…..we ran into small groups of bulls.

Photographer…” Move over there a bit…..get closer..!!”

(Editor….but it’s for the blog )

Me…”NO……as in NOT A CHANCE….!!!”

The other creatures in abundance in the park are the Prairie Dogs. Now these guys…well…they are just hilarious…!!!

They live in towns, where the landscape is dotted with their burrows and the grass is chewed down, both to eat it and to open up the landscape so they can see predators coming. This behaviour also opens up the ground for other plants to get established….things that are tastier and more nutritious for the bison. It appears they have a fairly symbiotic relationship with the bison who drop their manure in the town, reinforcing the nutritious plants. Most of the bison we came across were in or around prairie dog towns.

As you approach them at first you see them scurry and run back to their burrows. As you get closer they start barking/squeaking and stand up like little sentries watching…..as you get closer still they drop down to four feet over the entrance….and when you are too close they disappear…and the next lot start…..

Then an eagle flew over…and they all turned towards the bird….clearly a bigger threat than we were. As it flew in towards them…they stood up and flapped their arms, screaming at it…then dived down the holes…!!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed them…..

The bison like to scratch and rub on the trail marker posts….so some of them are laying down beside the path, and most of them have whisps of bison wool on them….

The trail went down into Curly Canyon….a steep path down…therefore a steep path back up the other side……and past some more bones….!!

The rock formations in the canyon were something else.

We almost walked right into a much larger group of bison, about 60 cows with little tiny copper coloured calves……and a couple of big mean looking bulls that gave us the hard stares as we gingerly circled around them. (Still not getting any closer despite the photographer…!!)

The trail passes into some ponderosa pine….which, according to the literature in the visitor centre, is not the natural landscape. Wind Caves National park do regular controlled burns in the park to remove them in patches, to restore the grassland habitat for the bison herd.

We only saw one other couple out on the plains…and that was from a distance as they seemed to be on another trail.

The prairie dog towns were hilarious. ( They make a return visit in spectacular style in the next blog )

The bull Bison…..impressive but not so hilarious…!!!

We cut the trail short…but still ended up doing a 25km hike. Tired feet at the end ..but a brilliant day out.

You can totally see the landscape those pioneers must have dragged those covered wagons over…..however hard you imagine it was to do that…….I’m willing to bet it was 100 times harder.

Extra Pix

Another couple of bucket list stops ticked off on this day. 😁

(As with all previous posts all of the pictures are clickable if you desire a closer look and anything underlined is a clickable link to more information)

Broken Arrow Horsecamp is such a great spot….it was 34 minutes drive to Mount Rushmore. Our plan for the day was to get there before any kind of ‘rush’ that there might be at this time of year……and then carry on up the road to Deadwood.

Rushmore is …well its spectacular. Its one of those things you just have to go and see at some point. There were a few people there but it could not be described as busy by any means.

We followed the boardwalk around . It is an interesting path…at different points on the walk you can see the monument up through the trees…but each point gives you a view of just one of them with the information boards on the trail.

The best view is from the sculptors studio. From there ( it had been raining in the morning)…..you can see Washington crying ( as I’m quite sure he would be today..!!)

We had a scout about trying to decide where the shots were taken for the movie North by Northwest (Hitchcock/Cary Grant movie…!!!….we have had it confirmed since that the flags were not there at that time….!!)

A quick stop was made at the gift shop for my Rushmore token. ( I started collecting the National Parks tokens…..and decided I should probably have a pin from each place too…!!)

Next stop, on up the road to Deadwood. It’s the place where history meets myth and legend. We had been told the town was quite commercialized and ruined. We had visions of a Niagara Falls type town…it really was not that bad….other than the plethora of gambling establishments….(wowser…every second store..!!) but there is still a lot of the historic town.

We just had to go up to the historic cemetery at Moriah. Burial place of Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock. It was a bit of a bucket list thing also….

Seth Bullocks grave is on up the hill away from the rest of the cemetery.

We stopped off in the gift shop on the way back to ask about it. Why was he not in the regular cemetery with everyone else. The guy in there grew up in the town and told us it was at Mr Bullocks request that he be up on the hill…high enough to be able to see the Friendship Monument on the next hill. It was a monument that he had been instrumental in erecting to the honour of Teddy Roosevelt ( with whom he had become good friends with in life.)

Unfortunately the path to that one was still snow covered so we could not go up there…..maybe next time.

We stopped of at a lovely little craft brewer, Jacobs Brewery and Grocer, in town for coffee. We looked at the menu and ended up staying for a delicious lunch.

Then the very scenic drive back home…..to watch North by Northwest again (as excited as little kids…LOL…!!!)

After all of that excitement from that last trip from Bozeman (Yellowstone National Park) it was time to move on again. Bozeman was forecast snow in the morning we were pulling out..so we hitched up the night before (after our last wallowing session) and were all ready to go. True to its promise the snowflakes were a-flying as we pulled out.

We drove through the downtown on the way out….nice looking town, lots of old interesting looking buildings….ah well….next time.

(please note:- all of the pictures are clickable for a clearer view, clickable links for more information appear underlined)

We were headed to South Dakota, but with a couple of Harvest Host nights along the way.

The first night was a brewery in Billings Montana. Canyon Creek Brewing. It was conveniently located 10 minutes walk from Joannes fabrics…so we walked up to purchase some sock making material..( woo hoo..!!)

Canyon Creek Brewery

The Brewery site was level, the people were nice and the beer was decent…..!!! …It poured with rain overnight and the ground turned to sticky clay..!!

Next stop had me a bit more excited…..Sageridge Mill and Critters….a 700 acre Alpaca farm in Eastern Wyoming.

The I-90 took us right by the Little Bighorn battlefield. It’s a National Historic site……and it was a 2 minute detour off the main highway. I have to admit that I did not know it was there…but we saw the signs so verily pulled over.

The Battlefield of Little Bighorn.

We were very glad we stopped. The NP website describes it as ‘a place for reflection’…..and indeed it is…on many levels.

Its a very sobering place…so many young lives lost over money……or more accurately gold….terrible and tragic.

The site also served as a military cemetery up until the Vietnam war. Its a very beautiful and profoundly sad place.

The last 40 miles of the journey to Sageridge were off the main highway. The very last bit of Montana and into Wyoming. The dirt , the road and the gravel driveways turned red. Presumably iron rich soil. The landscape has an almost badland/coulee stripiness to it.

Weaving along the canyons, further and further into the middle of nowhere, eventually led us to the farm.

Sage Ridge Mill and Critters.

Linda , the host, was lovely. The farmyard was full of creatures, emus, dogs, cats, peacocks, alpacas. The dogs were very well behaved…….one of the dogs, Buddy the border collie, is everybody’s buddy…especially if it involves throwing sticks…!!

Harvest host requirement is making a purchase….so I HAD to buy some alpaca yarn..(Shocker..!!) Linda also gave me a couple of peacock tail feathers…the ones without the eyes……best cat toy ever…..!!!!

Next day we did a hike around the farm perimeter. Buddy came with us as a guide, his fee being a bit of stick throwing……!!!

….and of course….the alpacas……. (…and alpaca babies……🥰)

We met the emus on the way back down…what strange creatures they are…!!!

It was a great stop. The best places are the ones that you are a little it sad to leave….I was a little bit sad to leave….!!!

We stopped for lunch at a rest stop in the world famous town of Upton. Population 989 it says on the sign. 😮 (Don’t believe everything you read on a sign….!!!!)

I would have to say tho…….it was a nice rest stop……!!!

The last part of this particular journey was to the Blackhills , which meant more diabolical roads with scary corners and horrifying grades……

……..and Custer South Dakota. For how popular a tourist spot this is its a remarkably small town…….but warm and friendly.

Broken Arrow Horsecamp…this was a great find…what a lovely campground….and again…super friendly owners……. We were the second rig to pull in as this was their first day open. So peacefully quiet as well….!!!

This was to be the perfect jump off point for the next bunch of adventures.

This was another box ticked on the bucket list. We were expecting to bypass Yellowstone on this trip because we had decided that most of the roads within the park were still closed and it was a long drive to side track down there. The same guy ( campground laundries are the best place for tourist information…LOL…!!) that recommended Drinking Horse also pointed out that Yellowstone in the summer time is mobbed. In the summer there are hundreds of people at Old Faithful…but this time of year there might be a handful. Also, the West gate and the road down to Old Faithful is open…..so…last minute as it was…we decided to go.

(Please note…that all the pictures are clickable if you have any desire to see them larger or more clearly…!!)

The drive south from Bozeman to the West Gate is quite beautiful in itself. The journey down did not hold back on the wildlife….we saw deer, sheep, wolves and bison……the bison were the only ones that were moving slow enough….and close enough to take recognizable pictures……

We got to the West gate just a little after 8am…excited….!!!!😆

So now we have another hour to drive to get to Old Faithful. But there’s lots of entertainment along the way. It was still early on a cool crisp but sunny morning so the warm waters of the river and various hot pools had a veil of mist rising.

…….then we came to a halt in a line of traffic. We slow crawled for about 40 minutes following a herd of bison up the road……it was wonderful…..!!!!

Yellowstone also started to introduce the idea that wildfires are not such a bad thing.

…and so the journey to the middle of the park continues….

Until we reached the visitor centre for Old Faithful ....

…..with lots of time to investigate the boardwalk around the various geysers and hot pools…..it’s an astonishing sight.

We keenly headed down the path towards Castle geyser as it was blowing some pretty impressive jets up in the air. I did not realise at the time it was not a constant display….we were just lucky to be there at the right time to get the display and the steam bath.

It’s a vast site, with boardwalks set up all around the vent holes and geysers. The walkways protect people from the potentially scalding and acidic crust, but more importantly, protect the bacterial mats from people. The mats create all the colours in and around the pools. It has to be seen to be believed. We have not retouched any of the pictures in this post. ( Editor. I used a polarising filter to cut the reflections on the surface, hence you can see the true colours below)

One of the cool parts of all of this…is the bison footprints through the mud, the bacterial mats and the edges of a lot of the pools. They come and go as they please..and seem to suffer no ill effects.!!

As time was winging on we made a last minute decision to go to the high lookout for Old Faithful 11.02 + or- 10 minutes…!!! We had just enough time to scoot up the, what turned out to be, snow covered path….!!!

We made it with a minute to spare if it was ten minutes early….but Old Faithful…..she was right on time at 11.02…!!

Forgive me but I’m still going to add a few more pictures from the boardwalks. It was just soooooo cool…!!

It’s a fascinating place. Its hard to imagine how it must have seemed to the first people that stumbled across it.

At the visitors centre the lovely staff warned us there would be snow after lunch. Conscious that we had a long drive back to the campground, on a road we did not know well enough to drive in the dark, we reluctantly set off back up the road. The mission on the return journey was to hit all the hot pool spots along the way.

The first one was Black Sand basin. We arrived there to find a couple of bison bulls grazing off to one side.

There was a lady walking the boardwalk and her hat blew off onto the mat…just out of reach…!!!

Again that last bright green photo has bison prints if you look closely.

The next stop was Biscuit basin

The sapphire pool was soooo blue …and so clear. You could stand and stare in to it all day….Well….I could…!!!

There was a hiking trail at the back of this basin…..and a big recently posted warning sign for bears….so we did not go there…!!

On our way back out of the parking lot, another fluffy cow came over to pose with a large crow..!!

Then Grand Prismatic Spring …..

Excelsior is the first pool/geyser…and it’s huge….those last two pictures are Excelsior.

At the Grand Prismatic spring……which is incredible..!! , there was a girl next to us who exclaimed that she thought it was so cool that we could only see glimpses of the deep blue colour of the pool. It gave you hints of how much more there was….a little bit of mystery and promise. I liked that perspective….!!!

The last set of pools was the Paint Pot springs.. Before we got there it started to snow. Great big flakes of snow covering the ground very quickly.. Bigger flakes than we have EVER seen anywhere else. How quickly the landscape changes….

Hard to imagine it’s the same day…!!!

Paint pots in the snow……Out in the distance there sounded like many geysers going strong but due to the cold air, plentiful steam and thick snow they remained only soundscapes.

The three paint pots are right next to each other and they are bubbling spluttering clay/mud. Each of them is a distinctly different colour. Grey, pink and caramel. The other pool at this site is the Celestial pool……which benefitted greatly from the addition of snowflakes…!!!

The snow was growing heavier by the minute so we made a dash for the truck to head home

Then, a little further up the road, all of a sudden, again lots of cars pulling off to the side. Cardinal sign that there’s something to see…..the bison herd were gathered in the high valley…in the snow. Picture perfect….!!!

….and then, slightly further down again….a lone cow with a new little copper calf passed right up by the side of us.

A truly magnificent sight to finish our first little visit to Yellowstone…..because….OF COURSE….we are coming back. ( Editor .Yellowstone was a revelation, I was ready for it to be one of the most incredible places we’ve been. That did not even come close and after a day of glorious sights to watch the bison travel up the valley in the snow was very moving.)

If you have not had enough yet….here are some extra pictures….

Extra Pix

Having formed an addiction to natural hot springs in Radium last year, I now view the maps of the road ahead with a quick search for routes that may include a hot spring venue..!! On this next stretch Bozeman obliged by raising its hand.

Bozeman Hot Springs resort and campground is a bit more commercial than Fairmont in BC. It has indoor and outdoor pools ranging from 60 degrees to 106 degrees (F) . After a long day of driving, we were very happy to set up Xolo and enjoy our new found skill of wallowing…!!!

Being here for a week meant finding some activities as well….to really get the best out of wallowing at the end of the day…!!!

Bear Canyon Creek

It’s hard to tell from Alltrails sometimes unless someone has done the trail recently and left a review or some pictures. I was trying to find a longer hike…with some views…that did not involve hours of trudging through snow. From the recent pictures on this one it looked like the best bet.

It’s a well marked, well travelled trail. The first couple of kms had some snowy bits and some muddy bits……but also quite a bit of well drained path to walk.

As we got further up….it became more snowy…but still reasonably well travelled…gradually the number of foot prints dropped off until we were following ski tracks again……..

I called it at the point where continuing would have taken across fresh snow on what looked like a considerable sized snowdrift over a creek. Granted there was a culvert sticking out at one end……..but it was not doing it for me……my spirit is just not THAT adventurous……that and the snow was getting deeper……

It was another one of those places with an old, abandoned rust husk of a vehicle…!!

We decided to follow the trail on the east side of the creek back down. The only tracks were cross country skis……There were a couple of places where ( as we waded through knee deep and more snow..!!) we wondered if it actually was a trail or we were going to find a couple of skis sticking out of the snow bank….with a whole heap of bear and wolf tracks…!!!

Alltrails seemed to think there was actually a trail there …and after a few moments of hilarity as legs disappeared into snowdrifts……

….and then…the path re-appeared and we made it down without incident.

Drinking Horse Mountain.

Based on a recommendation from a neighbour in the RV park Drinking Horse Mountain trail was going to be a short but pretty hike with some great views. It was supposed to rain in the afternoon but be nice in the morning. So with a promise of 3.3km for the route ….we duly set off.

It was a short trail…and a very popular one……and a bit of a grind up that hill….

The trail is a series of steep switchbacks on the way up…..

…..and some very pretty views from the top……..

Not just of the valley below….but also of some of the mountains that surround this area….

The loop path ack down was just about as steep…….but the view was quite lovely.

The path back to the parking lot had this really cool bridge……

Overall…it was a very cool little hike. Bozeman is an interesting town with lots of beautiful old buildings in the downtown. We had thought we were just passing through…but we might have to come back here one day.

Magrath was the last stop in Alberta. It seemed like a sensible plan to stop closer to Coutts, with the next site booked not too far over the border….just in case…!!!

Covered Wagon RV in Magrath was a recommendation from Vladimir and Irina, the other airstream we met at Spring Hill in Calgary. It is a very well-appointed little campground, sunk down in with lots of big trees so well sheltered from winds. A spotlessly clean place. Whilst sitting in the evening an Osprey landed on the post beside us, and a whole bunch of deer danced past us….

We stopped for a couple of days which gave us the chance to hike through Galt Canal Park in Magrath.

April 21st. Time to pull out and cross to the US at Coutts. It turned out to be a very easy, drama free crossing. Sweetgrass and northern Montana is even flatter than Alberta…..it a big empty space with some cows, lots of deer and a gently undulating grassland landscape.

Lewis and Clark RV resort was the target in Shelby, MT….super nice owner. lovely spot.. (Clean, hot showers..!! )

On Saturday we had a wander through the town of Shelby. It is like a movie set. A zombie movie with almost no humans around……very oldy worldy western main street.

Cut Bank is the next town west.. A 24 minute drive that feels much longer cos its pretty much in a straight line….with the occasional corner and even more occasional tree. Another little movie set gem of a town.

Cut Bank Creek Brewery …stopped and bought stainless steel growlers. Perfectly unbreakable for the trailer. Very nice beer & very nice people.

We were close enough to Glacier National Park that a hike was in order. The first of our US National Parks.

April 22nd

About an hour and 20 minute drive west from Shelby. We entered the park from East Glacier village…having picked the trail as the most likely to be accessible. (Its still a bit early in the year. )

The rail line actually goes through Glacier village…turns out you an get of the Amtrak train pretty much at the hotel. Glacier village is a handful of what used to be tourist stores (derelict souvenir stores.) and seasonal cabins.

We found the trailhead and set off…..through mostly snow……

The first few kms were just a couple of inches of reasonably firm snow and fairly easy going. We started out with some impressive mountain views…and I got a video call in to my mother…who was suitably impressed by the snow and the view.

There were hopes from someone in the party that the snow would be melted further up. No such luck.

At about the 3 km mark we hit the edge of the park. By this point we were following not footprint tracks but x country ski tracks…..and the snow got a little deeper…..just enough to make it a bit more of a slog up the trail. It was a bright sunny day, and most of the trail we followed was through trees. Making for a sheltered hike but limited photo ops.

At the 5 km mark it was getting a bit tougher and it was looking like we had at least another couple of kms through ever deepening snow to get to a view point. We pushed a little further cos it looked like there might be a gap through the trees……and then decided to turn around.

It immediately became clear why it had been such hard going……not only were we crunching through snow…..but we had been pushing up a significant grade. It did not look like it on the way up….it was such a steady up.

There were moose tracks crossing the trail in a couple of places…..and some bear prints of the grizzly variety. Shockingly big…with long pointy fingernails.. 😮..!!

April 24th

Back on the road again….the first stop for the day was at Great Falls to check out the Lewis And Clark Interpretive Centre. (and the purchase of my National Park annual pass…woo hoo..!!)

As we entered Great Falls…all of a sudden the traffic was redirected away from the google route. (Cell and LTE coverage in Montana is spotty at best…so there was a bit of a panic getting google re-attached. But we got there in the end.

A great little visitor centre…and convenient stop to eat our sammiches.

Pulling out and south on the Montana I-15 …lots more big sky, big horizon of undulating grassland. There were lots and lots of deer grazing. Probably no more than anywhere else…but you can always see them cos there is no cover…anywhere….!!

It started to get a little greener on the hillsides.

An unexpected change in terrain brought us in to the Adel range. A volcanic range of mountains, very different to the Rockies and their counterparts.

We screeched to a halt in a roadside turnout to gape at the view…!!!

There we could see a path and some stairs leading up the rocks….so of course we had to go investigate….

Amazing….

The road travels down the west side of the Missouri river (a Lewis and Clark thing…)

The highway passes Helena, the capital city of Montana……If you wonder how rural Montana is…Helena says it all…….Montana does not really do urban……It feels like a slightly bigger town……Its no wonder the people from this state are so laid back.

Bozeman is another experience. It takes a couple of days to figure out where all the businesses are….the buildings are all…almost residential style….nothing concrete. Even the gas stations have no neon, or lit signs…and the signs are not allowed to be higher than the building itself…..it gives the place a very understated feel.

Bozeman Hot Springs……feeding my new found addiction to natural hot springs.

After a lot of considering, we had decided the perishing cold weather was not going to improve any if we fled south into Montana, so we should stick around for a little longer to spend Easter with the youngest.

So, Easter Sunday, faced with some pretty poor weather predictions, we opted for a fairly close to home hike in Big Hill Creek.

It was a fairly straightforward hike up the gorge from Cochrane…and excuse to get outside and a little bit of extracise….It turned out to be nicer than expected……and a great excuse to spend some time with the kid…!!

It started out as a pleasant day…plus 10 celsius in fact….

…and then in true Alberta style….it started to snow……at plus 10 celsius…!!!

Scott caught some geese in flight….!!!…spot the goose….!!

It was warmer than it looked , if a little on the windy side..!! Another enjoyable day out with Bronagh.

Now it was time to leave Calgary and finally head south. Our new friends from Spring Hill, Vladimir and Irina recommended Covered Wagon RV park in Magrath. It’s less than an hour from the border…so it seemed to be sensible as a stop….less than 2 hours from Shelby ( our next stop) just in case we get caught up crossing the border…..not anticipating problems but it never hurts to be prepared.

The weather forecast changed dramatically in the last few days…Tuesday went from predicting a lovely warm spring day to threatening 20cm accumulations of snow.

We pulled out fairly early to beat the snow…and took the route Vladimir recommended…skipping the city of Calgary by taking the road slightly to the west…no views as we drove through driving snow…but no accumulations yet…and negligible traffic.

But the time we got south enough…about level with high river…the sky turned blue…and the day looked lovely for about 50 km…then the wind started.

Gusts of up to 100kmph said Environment Canada…the rest of the journey became a bit of a slog….the crosswinds…even with the airstream…were diabolical….

We drove past signs pointing us to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump…so had to stop.

Its an amazing site. 6,000 year old buffalo jump. Wowser.

It was a battle just getting from the trailer to the visitor centre…!!! But a great place to stop and learn if you are ever in the vicinity. ( especially if it’s a little less windy..!!)

Once we had battled our way to the centre….we did the full tour….fascinating….

The outdoor part was a little more challenging…..!!!

It was a most worthwhile stop on the way to Magrath and Covered Wagon RV.

EXTRA PIX

After a day of wallowing in the hot pool we decided that we should do something active the next day because that would easily justify more guilt free wallowing……so a hike was duly researched and appointed. Then back into the hot springs…for more wallowing. One of the guys we met told us he has a membership so he comes regularly…and in the summer he brings his binoculars…and sits in the hot pool watching the bears and other wildlife on the mountain……!!!

There are quite a few interesting looking hikes around Fairmont Hot Springs Resort…but its a little too late in the season for the snow to be stable, and a little too early for the ice to be safely gone at the higher elevations.

There are also a couple of lower level hikes…I picked out the Owl Loop b/c from the pictures it looked like there might be a natural hot pool on the hike. I could not find any other information on it and where it actually was…so we packed some microfibre towels, dry undies, great hopes and set off.

It was a brisk but clear morning. Perfect hiking weather really.

There were patches of the trail that were still a bit icy and snow covered…but it was mostly clear giving us a very nice little forest walk.

…and not another soul around…….

Theres an additional loop called Montezumas revenge……if anyone has any notions on that ..I’m curious……its an easy extension of the Owl loop…adds about a km….nothing scary.. nothing hard…..

It was a lovely walk…but the mountain views promised in the reviews on Alltrails were not forthcoming….until we got almost to the bottom of the hill.

The path back up was a little more challenging…….

…..and then we ended up following the creek back up towards the resort.

As you follow the creek…the water is very clear…and further up you can start to see the mineral deposits on the rocks……Very hopefully (actually a little gleefully..) we clambered down to check the water….it looked amazing…but it was cold. So we carried on up the path

Closer to the top…actually almost to the end of the loop we scored, if we had come anticlockwise (not our tradition..LOL)…we would have run into it almost immediately..

Its a vey dramatic waterfall over the cliff. Apparently its actually the overflow from the Fairmont resort……but the rock pools below are so heavily mineralised that the pools are almost like tinted concrete.

Its a bit of a scramble down across the creek and clambering up those smooth surfaces to get to the pools…

The water is lovely. Not as warm as the official hot pool…which actually means you can stay in for much longer without needing a break. The bottom of each pool is full of mineralised gravel…so its kinda like little layer of pumice stones on the bottom……so by the time you get out the skin on your feet is completely smooth (assuming it wasn’t when you got in…!!!)

There were a few family groups with little kids…it was amazingly cool watching the little people in the water.

Eventually we dragged ourselves out and dried off a bit…to get back to the trailer and have a bit of supper….before returning for our last evening wallow in the hot pool. Its not like any artificial hot pool you have ever been in…..its a bucket list item for sure…….gotta try it……its amazing If the hot tub at the gym was fizzy pop (7-up)…The natural hot spring pool is a quality champagne.

Sadly it was time to move…diversion over and back on the road headed for Calgary and the bairn.

This one should be called attempted parenticide. Bronagh ( youngest daughter ) recommended this one. She had had some reviews from friends that it was a cool hike, and it seemed like an interesting idea.

The drive out to Kananaskis Country is very pretty. It is out in the same direction as the Paradise trail that we did with Bronagh….Kananaskis is quite lovely. As we drove in we did have the thought that we should purchase the pass…By the time we got to the trailhead there was no LTE…so we had to drive back up the road to get enough data to purchase the day pass…and then back to the trailhead again.

Hold onto something before you start in to this one…spoiler alert….there are A LOT of pictures…!!!..and some of them are pretty scary…or they were for me anyway…😂

Canyon Creek Ice caves….Alltrails described it as a 6km slog up a gravel road with an interesting bit at the end. ..and in truth the walk for the first bit was not particularly challenging…..but the landscape was NOT dull or boring in any way..

Kananaskis is just a little south west of Calgary (see maps)

Looking at the reviews and the pictures on the app it seemed like a good idea…that and the forecast was for a warm sunny day \(yup…up to plus 16 C…woo hoo..!!). The app suggested that it took an average of 3 hr 45 min……we thought we should easily manage that pace or better…..!!!!!!

Again…we are in bear country…and its definitely the season for those guys to be waking up…so we were as prepared as one can be,.

Maybe if you are local the rock faces and the deep canyons become dull and commonplace. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk. Made good time too….for the first 6km….😂

Then we got to the end of the road, and the start of the more challenging hike up the canyon side. No worse than others we have done.

…..and then you get to the shale…….!!!

Even at this point, although its getting rockier and a little steeper it is still quite manageable……

…and you can see the caves further up , which is encouraging….and it gets steeper, and the rocks get a little looser.

Until it has actually become almost rock climbing…hands and knees …pulling yourself up small rock chimneys……

…and if you grip tightly with your fingernails and turn around to look across the valley….the view is stunning…!!! ( and terrifying..!!)

The closer you get to the cave, the harder the climb becomes….

…even as you approach the mouth of the cave, it still doesn’t flatten out…..the first 20 feet or so in to the cave is still climbing…!!!

…and then once you are in…..its amazing. Where the water drips through there are grand icicles from the roof…

Inside the cave. I found a rock ledge to sit and have a snack and a drink and to contemplate how the heck we were going to get back down while Scott went deeper in to investigate the cave.

We had taken a flashlight with us, but it was not really cutting it to get pictures inside the cave. It was complete darkness in there, but with the flashlight you could see the ice stalactites and stalagmites.

After a bit of a rest…but not too long b/c it was cold in there……the hardest task of the day was picking our way back down the shale.

It was slightly less terrifying than I expected b/c coming down it was easier to see the path ahead…..no less steep or slippery. The big camera was packed away safely lest it get smashed on the rocks on the way down.

It was a bit of a scramble down but at least it was not icy. I imagine its also much more slippery in the summer when its dry and dusty. And probably a whole lot busier too…..!!

Phew….!!!

Back down to level ground. One of the reviews had suggested following the riverbed back down as being a bit more interesting than the gravel road……so thats what we did….

It was definitely more challenging underfoot but more importantly, gave us a whole new view of the canyon.

The rock formations were amazing Intermittently there were big rusty iron chunks. Also were the exposed shale layers in the riverbanks.

Some great little cliffs and rock faces….

We reached a bend in the riverbed that came close to the road…so we popped back up onto the road for the last couple of kms…..the river itself was becoming wider and snow covered……we also found some bear prints in the snow….!!!

There were a lot more rock climbers out and about by the time we were heading down. The cliff face in the next 3 photos was small in scale relative to the surrounding topography, but of course that can be deceptive. The climber you can see in the close up is also in the wider shots, bonus points if you find him.

It was a really great day out. We highly recommend this trip for anyone healthy enough to do the climb. Loved it…!!!

Extra pix.