Same or worse?

But not as bad as Prince George

Abysmal

Can't even see the hills across the valley.  We resorted to going to the rec centre this morning to get some exercise.

Time to hit the road again, methinks.

Smoke gets in our Eyes

We're actually having a pretty low key fire season this year compared to other parts of the province and, of course, compared to last year.  We've only got 3 wildfires of note and only one of them is threatening homes and it's in a remote area not a town. 

But it's gotten really smoky in the last week, coming in from the Chilcotin, I think.  This morning the air quality risk is at 10, very high, though this is nothing like it was last year before we evacuated. 

This means we have to keep the windows closed in the house to keep the smoke out and yesterday was the hottest day I think I've every experienced here, 40C downtown and 38C at our house.  Fortunately, a breeze came up last night, clearing the air so we could open the windows before we went to bed.

I thought it was smoky a couple of days ago when I took this

We did get out to the Horsefly River yesterday.  It was really smoky in Horsefly when we drove through but it cleared up once we were on the river, and we had a great afternoon on the water.  A great way to spend the day on the hottest day of the year.  And we saw three otters swimming down the river, a Horsefly River first for us. 

African Queen

We'd planned to go to Moose Valley Provincial Park , southwest of 100 Mile on Monday.  But when we stopped in at the Tourist Information Centre to see if they had a map, they told us the road was closed due to a forest fire. No, we said, not Flat Lake Provincial Park, the other park southwest of 100 Mile with a canoe route, where we knew there was a fire, Moose Lakes.  No, she said, they both have a fire.

So we made a quick change of plans and headed for 108 Mile Lake.  Our friend Mark brought his canoe, so we paddled around the lake and then some of us went for a dip off the swimming platform at the public beach.
One of us forgot to bring her bathing suit, so she missed out.  None of us knew there was a public beach at the 108, but now we do.

108 Mile Heritage Site seen from the lake.  That's the world's longest log barn on the extreme left of the photo.  Okay the website says it's Canada's largest, but where else would there be a bigger one?

Next we drove to Lac la Hache and looked for the public beach at the south end of the lake that Leo remembered.  There didn't seem to be one, but we found a boat launch/lake access which served our purpose.

There's a section of the Moose Lakes Loop that is called the African Queen because it can get so shallow you might have to get out and drag your canoe like Humphrey Bogart in the movie (and possibly get covered in leaches?). (Note the park website tells you not to do this to protect the marsh.)

Well we may not have been able to go there but I felt like the African Queen as I lolled in the middle of the canoe and Leo and Mark paddled me through the rushes.

Lot of birds in the marsh here:

Spot the great blue heron.  Bird of the Day?  Why not.

Road Home

Mt. Edith Cavell peeks out through the smoke

We had our first sunny morning as we were leaving Jasper, but by now the smoke had blown in (supposedly from Siberia).

We were glad to leave the crazy Jasper traffic behind, but not before some tourist made a left turn in front of us from the right lane when we were in the turning lane.

We camped overnight at North Thompson Provincial Park just south of Clearwater.  This campsite had just been reopened after recently being occupied by the Tiny House Warriors (really, it's a thing, they have a website) as a protest against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

There was no sign of discord other than some red paint on the highway at the entrance and 2 small trees felled over a trail.  It's a nice campsite with trails along the North Thompson River and up to a viewpoint overlooking the confluence of the Clearwater River and the North Thompson.

I may have had a slight meltdown that evening when I was being eaten alive by mosquitos and noseeums despite using bug spray and it was too hot to wear long sleeves or pants or to hang out inside the trailer.  To add fuel to the fire, the camp attendant told us it was our last chance to have a fire because the fireban started in the morning, so Leo dutifully lit a fire with our remaining firewood.

It did eventually cool down, and the next morning we had a short and uneventful drive home.

Also, I finally figured out how to add a box so you get notified if there's a new post on my blog.  Click on the box on the top of the website and add your email address.

Finally We go up a Rocky Mountain

Despite today's forecast for a sunny day we woke up to the mountains shrouded in fog.  So we walked around Edith and Annette Lakes and along the Athabaska River till noon. 

This çhipmunk posed for Leo:

While walking along the shore of Edith Lake, two western sandpipers walked right up to us.

Not the bird of the day, but pretty cool anyway.

By noon the mountains were coming out of the clouds, so we shelled out the big bucks ($46.95 each) to take the sky tram up Whistler Mountain.

You can hike up if you like but it takes 5 hours (and by then it could be raining).

Once you get off the tram it's another half hour hike to the summit.

Where you are rewarded with the money shot!

Due to the crowds, the vegetation was pretty worn down, but we did see lots of yellow paintbrush

We kept going past the sign that said, "only properly equipped experienced mountaineers should go beyond this point," to follow a path that went further along a ridge.  At the edge of the precipice we saw this guy perched (obviously an experienced mountaineer).

Returning to the inexperienced masses, we ran into this ground squirrel with a taste for orange food,

and we also saw 4 willow ptarmigan, the Bird of the Day.

They were running around biting the blossoms off the mountain avens.

This next shot shows how well their plumage blends in with their surroundings.

It took us 2-1/2 hours more hours to hike down to the bottom of the mountain, but it was worth it because we got to see my favourite mountain rodent, the pika.  Sorry, no photo, too fast for the camera.

Valley of 5 Lakes, Lake Beauvert and Ewen Moberly Homestead

Selfie with one of the 5 Lakes

It was raining when we woke up the next morning so we just slept in till the unheard of hour of 10 am Alberta time!

Today we drove a few miles out on the Icefield Parkway to the Valley of 5 Lakes trailhead.  When we saw a lineup for the outhouse, we knew it was going to be a busy hike, that's what you get for sleeping in!

But it soon became apparent that most everyone was heading for the short loop to the lakes and if we headed off on the longer loop we'd avoid the crowds.  We climbed up to ridge full of big old Douglas firs.  Unfortunately, many of them had fir beetle.  (Between this and the 50% of pine attacked by pine beetle, it's a bit of a bushman's holiday for Leo.)

When we reached the lakes the trail got crowded and returned  in time to have lunch in the truck in the rain.


In the afternoon the sun came out and we circumnavigated Beauvert Lake, home of the Jasper Park Lodge and it's go f course

Bing Crosby golfed here when he and the pines were still alive

The trails were pretty fancy here, complete with adirondack chairs lete with cushions you could sit on and enjoy the view of the lodge and the surrounding scenery.

Beauvert Lake, Japer Park Lodge and Rockies

After having supper at the campsite we went for a wildlife drive at 9 pm further down the Snaring River Road.  To our surprise we came upon the unadvertised  Ewen Moberly homestead, one of 5 former Metis homesteads along the Athabaska River.  They were all expropriated when the park was formed.

Moberly homestead

The graveside of Mr. Moberly's mother looks to be still maintained by the family

You can imagine how painful it must have been to leave their home in this beautiful setting.

Cottonwood Slough, Medicine and Maligne Lakes, Old Fort Point

We got up at the early hour of 6:45 am to take part in the free guided bird tour we'd signed up for.  It was not till we reached the parking lot at Cottonwood Slough and saw several cars but no people that I realized we were still operating on BC time and were an hour late!  Fortunately we caught up with the group for the second hour.  

Birds seen:  Siskins, dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, ring necked duck and Barrows goldeneye w/young, mallard, buffleheads with young, phalaropes (red necked or Wilsons), western pewee, cedar waxwing, lincolns, song sparrow. But the bird of the day was white-winged crossbill.

Our local guide Gord recommended Medicine Lake on the Maligne Lake Road as a good spot to find woodpeckers in the burnt forest so we headed there next.  On the way we passed a large group of tourists double parked on the road for a black bear eating sopallallie berries.

Medicine Lake and its spectacular setting

There were no woodpeckers to be found, but there were lots of Siskins and waxwings, and also an osprey and a bald eagle nest, spotted sandpiper, common loon, surf scoters, and Canada Geese.  

Fruitlessly searching burnt timber for woodpeckers.

And a big patch of these anemones, which I can't find in my guidebooks.

Cedar waxwing, not the bird of the day, but still lovely

Then we headed up the road to the famed Maligne Lake, much more overrun with tourists, did a quick hike around the Moose Lakes Loop with everyone else and then stopped for a photo of Maligne Lake before escaping the crowds.

Not quite.  On the drive back down the Rangers were crowd managing the animal traffic jams, but their instructions were not very clear, leading to a lot of frustration on our part.

Our next mini-hike was up Old Fort Point, right near town and Jasper lodge.  A short hike up to the top with fabulous views all around and even the mountains came out of the clouds.  Then we completed the loop through aspen parkland with lots of flowers blooming.  As you can see, too much happier campers.

Portrait in plaid, Old Fort Point.  That's Lake Beauvert and Jasper Park Lodge in the background.

If you're going to visit a tourist trap, you might as well take advantage so we dined in town, delicious Indian food.

On the way home for the night we spotted a grizzly in the bushes, snacking on soopalallie.  And back to the trailer just in time for a big rainstorm.