Another Week.......

Another week…

(Sorry,  no pictures this week...my downloading device isn't working...off to walmart for a new one!!!)

Another week has gone by and Tom and I are now settled in our final camping spot at the lake.  Because there was so much snow and ice in our original site, we had to move the fifth wheel to a site just up from this one until the snow melted.  Tom wasn’t content to let Mother Nature take care of things herself so he helped her out breaking chunks of ice away and hauling them off to melt.  We had a large propane tank delivered, thanks to our boss, and so now we don’t have to take the tanks back and forth for filling.  With that done, we moved the fifth wheel back in its proper place and settled in.  We picked up a huge tarp at a garage sale in the states a while back (not shown in this picture).  It was originally some sort of sign for a jewelry store.  It says “Cartier” on it in large enough print to read from the other side of the lake so maybe someone will come looking to buy a watch or something from us.

The Pikas are still living in the dam.  I wasn’t sure if they’d survive but not only have they survived, they have multiplied.  They are a small animal somewhat like a chinchilla that live in the high rocky areas of the mountains…to have them here at our site is pretty special.  They are very cute and like to pose for pictures.  Oso finds them very interesting though he’s not allowed to get too close.  They are so quick, I don’t think he could catch one if he tried.

Again the animals are out…a moose walked through a camper’s site and the camper was so scared he said he almost went and jumped in the dumpster…that would have been pretty funny to see.  For the most part, the animals are afraid of people and don’t pay them much mind.  We did have a fellow from Alberta Parks come and talk to us about a grizzly bear who’d decided this area would make good place for a home.  Normally the bears travel through but this one has decided to stay.  He’s a six year old male…I expect before the season is out we’ll have experience him in the campsite.

We had a meeting with the Dog Sled people and the person who coordinates the use of the park for dog sledding.  Both groups, Snowy Owl and Howling Dog, came up and finished cleaning the sites they used this past winter.  You can still see remnants of sled trails out on the ice on the lake.

The lake is slowly filling up and the ice is melting now.  It has left little ponds here and there that were lake water before the snow came.  There must be fish in one of them because we watched a beautiful big golden eagle on the ground walking along the edge of the pond looking at something in the water.  He flew up into the air a couple times for a better look, but never did end up with a fish.  We see lots of osprey and bald eagles up here.  We thought this might be a young bald eagle, but it was so big it was certainly a golden…so beautiful!

We had an interesting Saturday night this past weekend.  Sites 2, 3, and 4 were taken by kids up from Canmore to party.  Though everything seemed ok, the night did not turn out that way.  As we drove by on our last run of the night we saw them lighting off fireworks…very illegal in a provincial park. And when we arrived back at our campsite, there was a dog who showed up, scared out of its wits.  We had no choice but to call the Conservation Officer who had to come and deal with them.  She didn’t arrive till almost 1:00 a.m. and the kids were pretty well all drunk by then.  I’d brought the dog back to their site and found that another dog was still missing…I dove around until I found it and brought it back as well.  The CO made the kids clean up the site and then returned the next morning and gave them all warnings about having dogs off leash.  Lucky for them they only got a warning because a ticket for that offence is $179.  It’s far too dangerous for them with bears and cougars around…as well, some dogs have disappeared only to have their remains found with their collar still hooked on a branch…how sad is that!  She also handed out two tickets for lighting fireworks…that will be a much larger fine.  I’m sure word is out now amongst the party kids in Canmore that the lake is not a place where you can disrespect the rules without consequences…hopefully we won’t have too many more incidents like that one.

Tom and I have heard there is a new Walmart in Cochrane and we’re going to go get supplies tomorrow.  There is a Safeway and a Save-on in Canmore, but groceries are so incredibly expensive there that we buy only what is necessary and go to Walmart for the rest.  Have to get our Walmart “fix”!

This picture is of the path up to Old Goat Glacier.  I took the picture last year (there’s still snow on the path right now).  It’s such a pretty hike…about 45 minutes till you get into an open area where the tip of the glacier sits.  

The geese enjoying the water as the lake fills up…we enjoy watching them too!