Sunday, September 29, 2019
Waterfalls and Critters.
Here is a video I put together of some of Nature's splendor in the Pacific Northwest
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Banff, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Sad
Don't just skip down to the ugly! There is quite a bit of good here!
Ten days in Canada's Banff and Jasper National Parks was a wonderful experience. Here is a quick summary:
The Good: The scenery is spectacular, the wildlife is marvelous and the water is an unbelievable color.
No filters on this picture, the water really was this color! The runoff from the glaciers causes this.
The color provides a great background for many photo ops.
The Bad:
Unfortunately the lakes in Banff are Tourist Bus Accessible, leading to Crowds in many areas.
Fortunately it didn't take much hiking to escape the crowds and we were alone-ish in the wilderness again.
The Ugly
Both Banff and Jasper have a system for designating that a campsite is taken. You pay the fee and place a slip on the post. As an added assurance they recommend that if you are leaving for a while that you should leave something at the site to show that it is occupied.
At this particular campground the sites along the river were not much more than a picnic table on a plot of ground between the river and a parking area. We paid our fee and went off for a nice afternoon of hiking and an evening at a restaurant.
Upon returning we found a large camper in our spot, complete with their own outdoor rug. Not only that, there were several other cars, not directly at our site, but close enough to encroach on the space, and none of these cars had paid the fees for the night. We approached the camper, showed him our tag on the post and our belongings on the table. His response was " How can you show up at 8:00 at night and expect to have your site? What are you complaining about?"
Well, let's see- you are in our spot, you aren't moving, and you have not paid the fee. Unfortunately there was no Camp Host or ranger to mediate the situation. We chose to move on and sleep in the parking lot. It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth!
The Sad:
The Sad part is the shrinking glaciers. As a first time visitor I wouldn't know the glaciers were shrinking as I had nothing to compare against.
The glaciers were there, but apparently not in their former glory.
What will be left for future generations to enjoy?
Ten days in Canada's Banff and Jasper National Parks was a wonderful experience. Here is a quick summary:
The Good: The scenery is spectacular, the wildlife is marvelous and the water is an unbelievable color.
No filters on this picture, the water really was this color! The runoff from the glaciers causes this.
The color provides a great background for many photo ops.
The Bad:
Unfortunately the lakes in Banff are Tourist Bus Accessible, leading to Crowds in many areas.
Fortunately it didn't take much hiking to escape the crowds and we were alone-ish in the wilderness again.
The Ugly
Both Banff and Jasper have a system for designating that a campsite is taken. You pay the fee and place a slip on the post. As an added assurance they recommend that if you are leaving for a while that you should leave something at the site to show that it is occupied.
At this particular campground the sites along the river were not much more than a picnic table on a plot of ground between the river and a parking area. We paid our fee and went off for a nice afternoon of hiking and an evening at a restaurant.
Upon returning we found a large camper in our spot, complete with their own outdoor rug. Not only that, there were several other cars, not directly at our site, but close enough to encroach on the space, and none of these cars had paid the fees for the night. We approached the camper, showed him our tag on the post and our belongings on the table. His response was " How can you show up at 8:00 at night and expect to have your site? What are you complaining about?"
Well, let's see- you are in our spot, you aren't moving, and you have not paid the fee. Unfortunately there was no Camp Host or ranger to mediate the situation. We chose to move on and sleep in the parking lot. It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth!
The Sad:
The Sad part is the shrinking glaciers. As a first time visitor I wouldn't know the glaciers were shrinking as I had nothing to compare against.
The glaciers were there, but apparently not in their former glory.
What will be left for future generations to enjoy?
Monday, August 12, 2019
Wow, Bow Lake
The views in Banff National Park are breathtaking. Every day, every hike is another gift to the senses. These pictures are from Bow Lake. It took me a while to think "Bo" instead of "bough", as I have been more in a nautical frame of mind.
Friday, August 9, 2019
Monday, August 5, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Oh my goodness!
There really is very little that I miss from our land-based life, not that I couldn't make a short list of things that I miss, but right now I am experiencing a difficulty that is much greater than I had when living in a house. That is, leaving the house for an extended period of time. Not counting the packing and getting ready for the demands and realities of our destination, leaving the house was relatively easy. Make sure the plants are well watered, feed the cat, arrange for a friend to repeat those steps as necessary, lock the door and drive away.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Boobies, boobies and more boobies!
Boobies on the beach, basking in the sun. Big ones, little ones, fuzzy ones, brown ones and lots of boobies with blue feet!
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