Loony Times, Catching Fish and Company Coming!

Loony Times, Catching Fish and Company Coming!

“I wish I had my camera!”…how many times have I said this lately?  Too many, that’s for sure.  The other day there was a hatch of moths and the fish were jumping like crazy in front of our site.  The boys were gone for the day to Bolton Creek for supplies so I thought I’d take my rod and see if I could fool at least one fish into thinking my hook was a moth.  I walked down to the water and noticed a loon swimming around close to shore.  I thought…”darn…don’t have my camera with me!”…”oh well, it will probably fly or swim away when I get too close”.  The thing is that the bird didn’t fly away.  As I came closer it came closer to me.  It swam right to the shore and sat there in the water and waited till I got within a foot or two of it.  I really wanted to touch it but, boy, do they have long sharp beaks.  I was afraid I’d get my hand pecked if I got any closer.  I could see that it had bands on both of its legs.  I wondered if it was hurt or something as this behavior is quite unnatural for these birds but it didn’t seem to be.  He sat there watching me and I watched him for about five minutes and then he slowly swam away.  There were hundreds, if not thousands of small fish at shore so maybe he was just so full of fish that he couldn’t move…what’s the saying?  Too fat to fly!  It was a pretty amazing experience…I wish I’d had my camera with me!

So the boys, Nick and Jake, have been with us for almost three weeks now.  They were getting pretty frustrated because they hadn’t caught any fish, other than a big sucker that Nick got.  One of the guys who’d been staying in the campground for a couple weeks and who we had gotten to know asked if the boys would like to come fishing out on his boat with him.  They jumped at the chance and off they went.  The results are in the picture.  Between the three of them they caught two nice fish which the boys cooked up in the beer batter they had been anxious to use.  A couple days later we went to town and the boys bought a little blow up boat so they could fish from it rather than from shore all the time.  I’m glad they finally got a fish…I’m sure there will be more to come now that they have a boat of their own!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we often dumpster dive for cans and bottles that our campers throw away rather than recycle.  We’ve got these long, grabber type of tools for it so don’t really have to go too far in to get the cans.  It bugs the heck out of me to see all those cans and bottles going into the landfill and so we pull them out of the trash.  So far this year we’ve got just over a thousand dollars in recycling, most of it from the dumpsters.  It turns out that Jake and Nick are avid dumpster divers now too…especially after finding the party barge in a dumpster a few weeks ago.  They’ve had quite a bit of fun with that.  Unfortunately, Jake had what he called a “traumatic” experience with a baby diaper while dumpster diving.  I don’t think he did more than see it, but guess that was enough.  Tom said it was lucky it was a baby diaper and not an adult diaper!  That’s my guy…always seeing the bright side of things!

We are gearing up for a very busy long weekend.  Last night was Wednesday and we were full already!  That’s a first on a weeknight for this year.  Often people will come up before the long weekend on a Monday or Tuesday and put a tent or something on a site then pay for the week and leave until Friday night when they actually come back to camp.  That’s what happened this week and so we’ve been a bit busier than usual.

 

The deer seem to be sticking around our site and we see them very often.  There are a couple of does and at least one buck.  The bucks have beautiful velvety antlers and are quite striking.

 I drove the boys across the lake to a site where they could put their boat in and then float back to our camp.  On the way we saw a lovely herd of Rocky Mountain Sheep…at least one baby in the mix.  He sure did stick close to his mama!

Our boss had a couple of trucks break down this past week so we need to say goodbye to the white silverado we've been driving and go back to "old red" as Tom calls it.  I kind of like driving it better anyway cuz it's a standard...she's old but reliable (so far).

 

Our company is coming on the weekend of August 8/9/10 and I’m sure looking forward to it.  Doesn’t seem to be as many people as we’d hoped, but we’ll still have a great time visiting and getting to know each other all over again.   It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen some of the cousins…will be good to see them again!

Boys, Bears and Bucks!

Boys, Bears and Bucks!

It’s hard to believe that the boys (Nick and Jake, sons of our friends, Darrin and Liz) have been with us almost two weeks now.  They are a big help to us and a great source of entertainment.  Since they’ve been here, I’ve heard more about quads, motorcycles, trucks and anything else with a motor than ever before.  I’ll soon be able to converse with motor-heads and actually know what I’m talking about!  We are having such fun with them…can’t wait till more family comes to visit and we can share Spray Lakes with them as well and enjoy getting to know them again.  Our family get-together is scheduled for the weekend of August 8/9/10 and I can’t wait to see some long lost cousins and nieces and nephews! 

As promised in my last blog, here is a picture of the fun island/party barge that we found in the dumpster a couple weeks ago.  It’s amazing what rich people will toss out.  All we had to do was patch a small hole in the bottom and it’s good as new.  They boys have been out on it a few times in the lake and seem to be enjoying themselves.  The barge has a cooler, speakers and a ramp to climb up out of the water on….pretty cool!

 Another trip to the bottle depot netted us $182 this week…seems dumpster diving and recycling is well worth it!

We went to a staff picnic down at Peter Lougheed Park on Tuesday…it was great to meet some of the other campground managers and share some time with them.  We are kind of isolated from everyone else as we’re about 35 km away from them but do get to see the guys who deliver wood when they come to Spray and a few other people when we go down there for showers.  The food/picnic was organized by a woman whose husband grew up with my cousin, Terry Daniels…small world!  As with most prairie people, she organized an abundance of very tasty food for us…it was a great picnic.

We’ve had a couple of bears through the campground lately…one was a good sized black bear who seemed to want to walk through some of the campsites.  He didn’t bother anyone but still he was too close for comfort.  We phoned conservation to report him and within half an hour an officer was on site to scare the bear away.  He arrived in our campsite after finding the bear in the campground.  He said “The bear is travelling this way and was last seen in campsite #3…oh, there he is behind you”.  I turned and true enough, there was the bear about 15 feet behind me in the bush.  He made a bit of noise and the bear turned and walked within two feet of Nick’s tent…the boys were both in their tents reading and didn’t realize how close the bear was.  Anyway, the conservation officer got his gun and some rubber bullets and shouted at the bear and then shot him with the rubber bullets.  They don’t injure the bear but give him a good sting when they hit.  He ran off into the bush but we got reports of a bear the next morning so I think he stuck around and enjoyed the berries that are now ripening on the buffalo bushes (shown in the picture).  They are tiny little berries so the bears have to eat constantly to get a full belly.  We also saw a couple of grizzly bears when we came back from the picnic the other night.  There were several cars stopped (a “bear jam” they call it) and so we got to have a look at them.  I wasn’t able to get any pictures of them though…wish we could have stuck around and done that but with so many people out of their vehicles watching the bears, which were only about 20 feet beyond the side of the road, it was too dangerous.

We’ve had a couple of nice bucks in the campground lately…they seem to have found a little mineral lick on the trail to Goat Pond.  We’ve really enjoyed watching them.

Now for the flower of the week…this is a new one that has just begun to bloom and I’ve only seen one bunch of them…they are a really pretty coral colour and stand about a foot tall.  Gonna have to get that flower book one day so I can identify them.  Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy but it was almost dark when I took this and the camera wouldn’t quite focus properly.

When we go to Boulton Creek for supplies we also need to fill a large water container so we can then connect with a hose to our fifth wheel and have water that is mostly used for washing up.  We buy bottled water to drink (and recycle of course).  Here is a picture of Tom and the boys filling the water container.  And a picture of the boys playing baseball with a stick and stone…like I said, they are good entertainment!

 So you might remember the story of Tom watching the girls skinny dip across the lake…well, the other day there was a guy over there who insisted that he sunbathe in the nude….well, except that other people kept stopping at the day use area and walking down to the beach…he’d jump up and put his swim trunks on and wait till they left then take them off again…more people would come a few minutes later and he’d have to put them on again.  The poor guy did this half a dozen times before he decided he didn’t need to tan his buttocks…sorry everyone…no pictures!

A New Baby, Company, Bass Pro Shop and Warm Weather

A New Baby, Company, Bass Pro Shop and Warm Weather

 

We are very excited to announce the arrival of our new grandson, Barrett Thomas Garner 7lbs 5 oz, 19", born July 13 at 9:02am.  He was a little bit early but is doing well.  Wyatt seems to have fallen in love with him as you can tell from the picture…we are so happy!  Can’t wait to see and hold the little guy!

We are very also happy to have had company this past week.  Darrin and Liz, friends of ours from Castlegar, brought their two teenaged sons up to visit this past weekend.  The boys will be staying with us and helping with the campground.  In their spare time (of which there is plenty) they go fishing, hiking, tossing the football around or just for a bike ride.  I think they are having a pretty good time so far.  They are good kids and have already been a big help.  

 

We did recycling on Monday and ended up taking home $382 worth.   The truck was piled high with all the bags of tins and bottles and though it was a lot of work sorting it, it was definitely worth while.  The boys got a portion of it for their help and were quite happy about that. 

The next day I took the boys to Bass Pro Shop in Airdrie.  The boys were pretty blown away.  If you’ve been to Cabella’s and see the taxidermy animals and big aquarium with trout, etc., and have been impressed, think about 20 times more than that.  They have an incredible selection of outdoor stuff for sale…boats, quads, hunting stuff, fishing stuff, clothes, and just about anything else you can think of.  There’s a whole department just on outdoor cooking, a candy shop, a fly fishing store, several big mountains within the store with taxidermy animals on them, hikers, mountain climbers, fishermen, hunters in tree stands…it’s pretty amazing.  Almost like going to a museum.  These pictures don’t do justice to the place but it will give you an idea of what it’s like.   We managed to spend a little bit of money there on some new lures and the boys each got a souvineer.  They sure had fun wandering the store!

The weather has been hot and there are fires up north of us.  The fire danger has been moved to “extreme” in the area and so we have to be really careful with our campers and campfires.  Sometimes they want to build a fire on the beach and that’s sure not going to be acceptable at this time.  

We’ve been swimming a few times…the boys and I pulled a four-seater fun-island out of the dumpster. It has a place for your feet in the middle, a cooler, speakers, etc….very cool.   It had a small hole in it which we patched and it’s now ready for the lake…we’re going to try it out this afternoon.  It’s amazing what people will throw away…we found a tent that was in perfect condition except for a small hole in the floor (like a cigarette burn) numerous tarps in good condition, camp chairs, and the list goes on.  I guess people don’t want to haul stuff home or maybe don’t have a place to store it…who knows.  At any rate, their loss is our gain and we’ll certainly use and enjoy the fun island.   Will send pictures when we get some!

 

 Here’s a picture of Tom swimming on top of the water!  He’s so amazing!  Actually he’s resting on a big rock that is covered with water now!

And here’s a picture of me in case you forgot what I look like!  Hmmm…do I look like my Mom???  Oh yeah!

And we can’t forget Oso, who got a haircut and looks like quite a pretty boy now…I think with his hair shorter the horse flies are bothering him but he has fun trying to catch them in his mouth…silly dog!...but such a cutie!

 And we can’t forget Oso, who got a haircut and looks like quite a pretty boy now…I think with his hair shorter the horse flies are bothering him but he has fun trying to catch them in his mouth…silly

Wonderful People, Wild Flowers, and Quiet Nights

Wonderful People, Wild Flowers, and Quiet Nights

We have met so many wonderful and interesting people while up here.  A few weeks ago, Nikki and Katie, (Tom calls them “our daughters”) came to stay at the campsite.  They are two girls from Wisconson who were traveling around the Rockies.  We got to be quite good friends with them and would often stop and trade camp-cooking secrets or talk about the hikes they had been on that day.  They were wonderful young women and we really enjoyed their time at the campsite. 

Another group that moved into campsite 49, the penthouse suite of the campground, called that because of its perfect location and view, were Jack, Donna, Barry and Beans, the dog.  They were folks about our age who were fun to visit with and compare fishing stories and a glass of wine.  They are from Calgary and will likely be back out at the campground this summer at some point.

There is a woman from Canmore who homeschools her two daughters and she brings them up every once in a while for a camping night.  Again, Tom has adopted these girls as our “grand-daughters” and loves to play tag with them…one of the little girls phoned her dad who was working away from home and apparently all she could talk about was Tom.

This past week another couple about our age stopped in for a few days.  He was a grader driver on the Spray Lakes road for a few years and we remembered him from when we were here last time.  We had a nice visit with them and helped her celebrate her birthday…wine, lakes and mountains…wonderful way to celebrate a birthday!

As well, the people from all over the world who are passing through or camping in the campground are amazing.  We have had people from Germany, Holland, Czech, Slovakia Denmark, Belgium, England, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, and India as well as all over Canada and the USA and many other places.  Many of European people are hiking or passing through on the Great Divide Trail, and many people have rented a camper and are touring the Rockies.  One fellow was biking from Banff to Mexico and was from Florida.  He was telling us stories about Florida and how he skin dives and swims with sharks.  He was also nervous about bears…ha!  I’ll take bears over sharks any day! It’s so interesting to talk with our campers and share this area with them.

 

The summer mountain flowers are in full swing now…so many pretty little plants growing all over the meadows and through the forest.  I love searching out new ones and taking pictures of them!  

Tom and I went fishing again yesterday but we had no luck…it was a beautiful day though and we enjoyed the sunshine, the lake and the amazing views around us.  This is how we fish at  Spray Lake! 

Darrin and Liz, friends from my days at the College, are bringing their twin boys up to stay with us for a few weeks.  They boys are 14 years old and avid outdoorsmen so will love the campsite, fishing and hiking in the area.  I hope they have a great time…maybe they’ll have a good story to write when they get back to school and are asked the inevitable question…”what did you do on your summer vacation?” 

I was cleaning a campsite the other day while Tom was off doing something else.  A doe mule deer stepped out of the forest and stood and watched me for a while.  She was so tame that she came up and licked my fingers when I stretched my hand out to her.  This is a wonderful thing and kind of a sad thing too.  I was an awesome experience for me, but it means that people have been feeding her and that is not a good thing.  They don’t tend to offer deer the food that is natural to them and often give them bananas or other things that may not be good for them.  It also means the deer are coming into the campsites and likely picking up things out of the firepits that are unhealthy for them.  Anyway, it was a lovely and touching experience for me.

Oso is getting a haircut today.  The weather has warmed quite nicely now and today is expected to be around 29C/80F so he’s been kind of warm with his shaggy coat.  While I’m in town I’ll do some laundry and get groceries as well…will be a nice day to sit at an outdoor café and have coffee or lunch while I wait for him too.

The lake is almost full now.  We heard that Trans Alta, the electric company here, had to sign a contract with the Province of Alberta stating that they won’t fill Spray Lake to capacity until the end of July due to the possibility of runoff and flooding.  I don't think there’s a danger of that any longer with this lovely weather, but after last year’s floods here, I don’t blame them for taking precautions.

  We have a lot of campers this week escaping the Calgary Stampede crowds in Calgary…I  hope they enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful mountain campsite!