Parks Canada

Early Spring
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Early Spring

Hail, you brave almighty ones.

Praises, you awesome ones, praises to this great good Earth.  The warm spring days welcome us.  Come out of your houses and feel the warmth of those special sun shining rays.   The spring, with it’s special power, it’s newness, it’s creation, it’s splendor.  It is beauty that we crave and beauty surrounds us .  The joy of living, of life on the planet, of the simplicity of warm breezes, cool lakes, shelter from trees, magnificent flowers.  The joy in their hearts as the nesting birds sing, the fondness of animals as they gaze at their offspring, the brilliance of flowers as they burst from their buds.  The magic of the planet casts it’s wondrous spell and spring has captured us once more.

Glorious days of sun filled splendor, rays of shining gold sent to us from heaven.  The lights is with us for hours  now, the dark of winter is cast aside and the joy of spring fills the air.  Fragrant gardens, song filled skies, colorful meadows and deep secrets hiding in the forest.  It is the season of growth and birth.  A season of wonder and delight.  The Earth spreads the word to us, welcoming us into it’s great wonder.  It is the beauty of this great planet, that brings us so much joy. Joy and discovery.

Those same old trails change each day, a new bud, a  new animal track, viewpoints, water rushing, an early spring with so much to see.  The water entices us and we’re swimming in April.  So much goodness, so much sport and  so much fun.  It extends our lives by weeks this year, everything is early.

An escape from the bustling city to the quiet of the spring filled country, a dazzling day on a mountain bike, exertion and strenuous activity to liven the muscles and tone the body.  This great country’s past time of escaping to the beaches, the trails, the forest, the mountains, the campgrounds, the parks and the great wild.  Escape to the wonder of the natural world, the world filled with surprises and unexpected pleasures.  A roadside pull off with big horn sheep playing close by, a view of an eagle with egrets on its nest, that great  horned owl peering at us as we walk along the trail. The views of spring time meadows, of glaciers and mountain tops, of long endless grasslands and still pristine lakes.  We protect all of this.  This is ours to keep.  Our cherished escape to the great beyond, the fabulous parks , the wilderness and the joy of being.  That wholesome success of a day of play, of the unpolluted water and the clean, pure air.  Those days that take your worries away and fill your lives with that sense of wonder.   More, we want more. More of this life of athletic fun, of hikes and photos, of swimming and riding.  More of those rugged climbs to test our endurance and strength.  We want more.  More of this vast land with it’s unique species and more of the beauty of our scenic wonder.  More of the wonder of the natural world and more of the healing of this great divine. This is our awesomeness, these special, protected places, these is our secrets, that we quietly share.

We are old here, but we are still young.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 11, 2016

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The Great Good

Good Day, you awesome human

Praises, to you and to yet another wonderful day.

The great planet has intrigued us yet again.  Fishes that look like elephants, white lions, new butterflies, imagination, creativity, brilliance.  Oh to be you, great mother Earth, with all of the gifts of creation.  The milleneums roll past with their constant changes, destruction and war, pestilence and strife, pollution and pesticides, garbage and waste, plunder and greed.  Still the Earth rolls on,with her magnificence and power.  Oh, great awesome one, with skills so immense, it’s unthinkable!  Power and might, life belongs to you.

Praises, fabulous creator, the life blood belongs to you.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthpicturegalleries/9753208/New-species-found-walking-catfish-Beelzebub-bat-and-two-legged-lizard.html

Hurling through space to seek your place in the universe.  Tiny by comparison, but with a mission that must be fulfilled.  Life forms on all of your surfaces.  The new, the unusual, something superb.   A new life, the unknown again, awakening our eyes to the new adventure.  So, great human, you’ve been everywhere, done it all, there’s nothing new now.  The oceans explored, space travel accomplished, the pinnacles of mountains reached.  Where to now, for the mind and body of man?  Where now, for the spirit to call us?  All feats accomplished, all stones have been turned.  All quests fulfilled.  The power of the human, so mighty and intelligent.  Technology, engineering, development and creativity.  A unique and special mind, controlling the planet, bending and twisting, changing and developing.  A constant pursuit of knowledge that intrigue and curiosity propels.  What is that?  How does it work?  How do we make that brilliant, special interest our own creation.  How to control the planet and make it’s mysteries our own.

The fabulous planet spins it’s own wonderful web of mystery and intrigue.  Do we know it all?  Have we found and conquered it all?  Rest in peace oh great creator, you are the most blessed.  Times change, the weather hurls it impact at us,  driving blizzards, scorching sun.  The heat is warming the surface and the snow melts from our yards.  Global warming encroaches and trees start to bud.  The awe of creation is still your magic.  Creatures rise and creatures fall. The age of the dinosaur and the age of man.  The unknown belongs to you.  Where will you take us, in the magic ride? New environments?  New creatures to discover?  New landscapes to present themselves and to challenge our bodies and our minds.  As the surface is blasted with war torn madness and the oceans fill with plastics and waste, we scramble to stop the doom of the planet.  Whose doom is it anyway?

The sun rises and sets in regular motion, the moon follows it’s path across the sky, the waves pound and crash as the tides roll in and out.  Regular, like clockwork the natural process continues.  We take it for granted, it’s always been there.   Oh, and praises, human for making a garbage can, somewhere to put the constant refuse.  Garbage dumps and pile high, rotting stench,  another kind of pollution.  So much destruction for the great mother to bear.  All of her children, her marvelous creation, secumbing to the blast of wanton wastefulness and recklessness.

So this is us, the human, so awesome and brilliant.  Will you save us great planet?  Or do you other designs.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 12, 2016

 

Those Special Wolves
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Those Special Wolves

Hail Bravehearts

Howl!  Howl!  We hear your call.  The great wild sings to us in the distance.  Howl, you essential masters, call to us with all of your voices.  Call with all of your hearts, your souls and your being.  Call us into the wild, where your lives live in the bountiful beauty of the great planet.  Sing to us, the songs of your lives, stories to tell of hunts and capture, of danger and courage.  Songs of triumph, songs of sorrow, songs of fortune.  Sing, you great masters of the wild, sing the songs that we love to hear, the wild that makes us unique and proud.

Great stories, of taking the weak from the herd, of preventing overgrazing and of population control. Songs that we listen for, as we camp in the wilderness.  Do you hear it?  Listen, do you hear it?  The howl of the great wolf as he calls to his pack.  Eerie and exciting, the mystery revealed.  A great hunter, with his family, teaching and learning the life lessons of survival.

Oh essential hunter, your numbers decline.  Save us!  you call and we hear your plea. The bounty hunter slays you and murder increases.  Not us in Canada, this is not our cultural history, the fur trade wasn’t this.  The negotiated peace was cemented by the great peace of the union of a European and a Canadian aboriginal.  The tie between them was the Metis child. Not murder, not poaching, not extermination.  The balance between the hunter and the hunted was for trade and peaceful relations among the people, not for the extermination of a species.

The great wild calls us, it is a teacher to us.  So many species of plants and animals, so much natural wonder and so much sound to hear.  Varieties of rock to cling to and different soils beneath the surface.  The Earth puts those species in the places they belong.  Hail, great planet, we hear your call, as the wolf cull in British Columbia defies the sensibilities of environmentalists , and is regarded as inhumane and a disaster.  This is not Canadian culture, or our history.  This is not the fur traders, or the aboriginals. This is over hunting, over killing. We need these animals, we need wolves.

http://pacificwild.org/take-action/campaigns/save-bc-wolves  Save BC Wolves

A wolf is a beautiful thing.  A fine hunter, an adept and agile predator, with his necessary presence in reducing overpopulating species.  The small ones like rats and rabbits, or large ones like elk and deer.  They prevent  overgrazing from overpopulation, that diminishes plants and destroys ecosystems.  There must be a predator-prey balance for proper bio diversity, not just for one species, but for the entire ecosystem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb11TtPwBxo  lady reunites with wolves

Predators are not a bad thing, they are an essential part of the great wild.  Listen to the great planet as it sings to you.  The wonderful mystery of integrated life forms, sharing a space especially adapted to them.  Spaces of rock and granite, of wind and rain, of sand and sun, coral and sea, forest and dale.  Spaces of uniqueness with unusual creatures to inhabit these landscapes.  No coincidences, just planned environments with creatures, plants, water and rock, all fascinating and wonderful. A journey for our senses, our minds and bodies.  A journey of life, of discovery, of adventure.  Fresh and wholesome, protect it all.  A magnificent species, a majestic great wild, adventure in, for the joy of their being, it is  into their home, that we roam.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 22, 2016

 

Proper Awesome
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Proper Awesome

Good Day all you almighty ones!

The glorious days of summer are upon us.  Global warming is changing our world.

In an area where 30 degrees is a sometime thing, we have reached record highs in May.  The result?  A new kind of splendor.  It might be dire, but for the holidaying visitor, the new kind of splendor is an awesome grand new experience for us.

http://www.parkscanada.ca

The snow is still clinging to the mountains in places, the high glaciers, still holding their place on the peaks of those far off places, the rivers, still streaming from those sources and the avalanches still crashing down.  The quiet of the day in a remote location, broken by the sound of avalanches crashing and rumbling down a mountain side.

Spring has come early  here, with the wildflowers showing their elegant blooms, the birthing mothers showing off their delightful offspring, the warm, lush landscape brimming with vegetation and the northern lights playing and dancing in the sky.

Here is the remote wild.  A far off place where nature sings and calls to us. Venture oh wise ones, hear our call, come to visit and to know us , come to see how we live and come to understand the awesome need of the great wild.  Come, oh wise ones and bring your children, come to play in the great outdoors.

The warm, soothing waters of soft glacial fed lakes, the pristine clarity of the water and the warm, bathtub temperatures to sooth the aching stress of highways, traffic, pollution and busyness.  A warm dip in a warm lake of glacial fed water, blue and shimmering and still.

The wild orchids show a fine display in the shaded forest.  The birds sing and call to the glory of the day.  The animals watch with curiosity, then hide in the forest.  The awesome summer, with it’s warm and brilliant days is upon us.

These splendid, special places, where the Earth shows its finery, its majesty and it’s awe, have special meaning for us.  Ecological integrity, bio-diversity, unique areas of cultural and environmental significance.  Places where time stands still, where you can still see the view that the fur traders saw.  You can still navigate the rivers and portage the land.  You can camp near historic camping spots and fill your cup from water, today’s first water, melted glacial water,  the water that will enter our rivers and flow to the oceans.

Here, in the great wild, is the birthplace of many.  The birth of the rivers, the lakes, the watershed.  The birth of the wild animals, the great forests, the mountains themselves.  Here is the new beginning for you.  A step into the land of the wild.  A cultural place, a privileged place, a place of sanctuary and life.  A place where the history of the people presents itself in preservation, in endless land, in an unusual meadow.  A place to learn about our protected places, the events that built them to their glory and distinguished them from other, lesser known areas.  Here we sing and laugh and play in the heart of this beauty.  Our special land, our special life, our immensely special love.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

July 3, 2015

Environmentally Adapted
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Environmentally Adapted

Hello Bravehearts

Now you rise to a day of adventure.  Now you rise to the call of your destiny.  The spirit wakes and your soul sings and the praises of this day, fill you will life.  Praises!  For your life to be worthwhile and joyous, sing with praises for each new day.  In this moment of wakefulness, as the day dawns and the newness of the morning greets us, the world opens it’s doors and lets your eyes see.  The dawn of another day.

The birth of the Earth comes with each spring and this year the world is warmer and the spring is green and lush.  The lakes are warm and inviting.  Swimming and playing in the clean, clear  water is a welcome retreat from the hot, summer sun.  The sun shines brightly late into the day and our daylight lasts past 11 pm.  This is joy to us, the greening of the fabulous planet, the late evening sun and the warm,inviting, outdoors.  We thrive in the outdoors.   In the yellow morning sunshine and the green, lush plantings.  The Earth, so welcoming and quiet in the morning, we can hear out hearts beat and the sounds of the morning risers as they  sing!

Sing!  all of you glorious risers, sing!  The world is filled with the call of your blessings and the love songs of joy as the world sings in gladness for the gift of living.  Sing!  The songs of the wild fill the air as the mating pairs rejoice in the beauty of their efforts.  Life! Love! Creation! Sing! The joy of being, of living, of being alive!  Sing, to each other, to the great planet and sing with joy.  To live is to be and to be is to have life.  Sing for the joy of living as the world’s small creatures do.  Sing with the joy of being alive.

How awesome are we to be the caretakers of the Earth.  To be superior and in charge, to be grand and intelligent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkzDKaq2M_U  The endangered spirit bear

Here in a quiet corner of the Earth, on a lovely piece of land, lives the endangered spirit bear.  An uncommon piece of the beauty and serenity of the forests of British Columbia.  Here, in the great wilds of Canada, we have a piece of evolution, of animal adaptation to a select region of forest.

Preservation is key.  A selected animal in a selected habitat for the joy and beauty of this place.  Unique and rare the white spirit bear lives in a old growth, coastal forest that screams for protection.   The cries of “save us!” ring in our ears as the great white bear lives it’s entire existence in a small area of BC.  A small, needy population of bear, asking for just a small favor.  Oh you wise and intelligent ones, hear us as we call to you.  Protect us.

Save us so that we can sing our song and live our lives in the old, mossy forest. Save us for what we are, the rare and unusual, the environmentally adapted, the unique and special.  Save us so that we can dot your landscape with something different and something rare.  Save us, oh great masters.  Our hearts call to you from the great wild.  Let us sing!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 15, 2015

The Awakening
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The Awakening

Good day all of you Brilliant ones!

Here is today, a day of awesome splendor.  A day when the world shows off it’s beauty and thrives in the warmth of brilliant sunshine.  Here is today, a day for you.

The Earth is warm and sends it’s healing power to you.  A healthy life of intelligent pursuits, carrying you forward towards your goals.

The rejuvination of  springtime, when all of the world awakens to the early morning sunshine and the warm, streaming sunshine pulls you from your restful slumber, into the dawning of the new day.  Warm and inviting, the world awakens and the call of the wild sings to the planet.  Songs of joy, of cheerful living, songs of love to nest and nurture, songs of gathering to keep themselves together.  Sing for the joy of being, of happy pleasure, of grateful life.  The dark cloak of nighttime vanishes with the dawn and today the Earth reveals yet another of its wonders.  Another new flower pulls up its showy head and waves to the world, and nods in graceful elegance.  I have bloomed.  Here I am!  It is me!  I have bloomed.  And with this showy, colorful, fragrant blossom,  we are saved.  Saved from extinction, saved from being a mark in history, saved from devastating loss.  Here I am!  It is me!  We are saved.

Again and again, the showy blooms rise to meet this glorious day.  Again and again their colorful attire sparkles the landscape with dots of beauty.  Reds, yellows, blue and white, the showy dainties cast their spell on the landscape and fill it with the colors of the rainbow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwI2u23LRx4&spfreload=10  secret garden, first day of spring, by Andreea Petchu

Hail to the great planet,calls these precious  dainties of life.  Brilliant and bold they rise to the morning sun and wave and dance to the playful tunes of warm breezes.   The life that fills the planet with color, scent and beauty.  Flowers in a spring meadow, surprising with their brilliance.  Cold resistant and sturdy these fragile, adaptive plants fill the forest, the meadow, the plains, the mountain with an array of color, variety, design and interest that cheer the soul of horticulturalists, botanist and curious amatures.  The world swells with the awakening of spring and the wonderful plant life that we fortunately find.

A tiny, brilliant dot of a violet, tucked away along a path, blue clematis, paintbrush, strawberry and primrose, the competition for finery is unmatched in these species.  Lovely day and lovely findings.  The wild has awakened with the dawn of this day and splashes its paintbrush of color all across its land.

Lucky for us, this day, as we stroll along a mountain path and breathe the clean, pure air of mountain sunshine and rejoice.  Today the world shows off her glorious inventions and the variety and beauty of her landscapes saves us once more.  A day of simple, grand design as the planet entices us from our beds and our secure homes.  Come into my garden, calls the great, good Earth and smile at the day that welcomes you.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 4, 2015

Dream of Peace
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Dream of Peace

Good Day, you Awesome Human!

Splendid day. Warm and snowy. The birds are singing gaily from their roosts. The elk lie in the meadows, relatively calm, after a long autumn of elk battles and rutting. The peaceful does with wombs full of the promise of another successful spring of calving. The big horn sheep, also resting, caring for the silent burden of their soon to be offspring.
The great wild! The drama of the wild as it plays out its role, in the never ending cycle of creation. Born to this place, the wild entices us, with its riches of spectacular views, muscle strengthening climbs, varieties of lifeforms and the gift of providing us with natural wonder to explore.
A peek into this place, of grand beauty and grand design, which fills out hearts and souls with wonder. Oh mighty planet, to give us this gift, from a highway, cut through the mountains. Those of us who have time, will exert ourselves more and climb to a pinnacle on a well traveled trail, for a look at what lies on the other side. A steep bit of climbing, a scramble, an effort, but where it takes us is to the grand view of the wild. A view of what lies on the other side of that mountain range. More forests and rivers, cascading waterfalls, animal tracks, mountains and valleys to explore. We are the hungry. We thirst for more and more. Show us your splendor, oh great planet earth, as we strive to reach your mountain tops and intrude into the land of your wildlife, to photograph those elusive species, and brag.
The world turns for us, on these snow covered days, as we strap on snowshoes and venture out to play. A daunting world of snow and ice, but for us to trudge through, a winter’s delight. Animal tracks. There’s plenty of life in this snow covered domain, but no one shows their faces today. Instead, it’s us, joining the tracks in the snow, plodding and chatting and breaking trail. These small few hours of exertion, to remind us of by gone days and years of exploration, as the well traveled adventurer set off to discover this new land. Tracks of snowshoes in the forests, tracks along the winding creek. An easy day of healthful activity, to fill our lungs with pure, clean air, to strengthen our bodies and refresh our minds.
The luck of an easy day of refreshing activity. The joy of adventure into the quiet winters solitude. A brush with nature as she plays out her part. The wild calls us and the wild whispers. Save us, oh mighty ones. Don’t plunder here. Spare us from the weapons of mass destruction and a world of madness and we will give you the peace of a quiet winter’s day, with snow on the mountains and the crisp, crunchy snow beneath your feet.
Let this stand of the earth be your playground, oh great ones, and may you forever venture into the wild and breathe.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 19, 2015

The Real Santa Claus
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The Real Santa Claus

Hail Bravehearts

The holiday season is upon us, filled with love, light, peace and happiness.
Joy to the world, even nature sings!
Some lucky people witnessed the unusual event of a caribou sighting at Marmot Basin Ski Area, Jasper National Park on December 17, 2014. Eight handsome caribou, made a grand appearance on the ski run. These are eight of only 41 left in the Park.
The significance? Come Dasher, come Dancer, come Comet, come Vixen, come Prancer, come Cupid, come Donner, come Blitzen, and the rarest of them all, the Mountain Caribou.
My photo shows a female caribou and her calf on a snow patch, taken from the top of the Mt Edith Cavel Meadows, in July 2014. We needed binoculars to see them.

http://www.thejasperlocal.com/caribou-make-rare-appearance-as-closures-loom.html Caribou sighting at Marmot Basin, Jasper,Alberta, December 17, 2014

The Christmas season is heralded by a merry old gent in red who brings us gifts of Christmas joy. No poverty during this warm season of friendship, worship and brotherly love. The real Santa Claus is not an elf, but a real person, so revered for his abilities to enact miracles. A marvelous human being with powers so great that he could raise the dead and bring gifts of gold to the needy.

Miracles! The holiday season is filled with joy and fellowship. A miracle of humanity and community sharing, of peace and goodwill. The merry old gent, who fills your stocking, is a saint of immense proportions for humanity. His story is told and his contributions deserve our continued respect. Jolly old St. Nicholas who helped to ease the needs of the poor in his day, is remembered still as Santa Claus.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/ Who is St. Nicholas, the real Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Happy holiday season.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
December 24, 2014

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Again, the European

Good day, almighty human

 

We sing our songs of praises to the great works of the mighty human.  Strong and courageous, he leads us in battle.  Fight the fight of victory and win the battle, be the unbeatable foe.  His words echo in our minds, our hearts follow the courageous leader, and our souls sing the destiny that the champion creates.  

Hail!  Calls out the almighty human and we respond. Hail!  Yes, we will follow, the awesome deeds to victory, the battle must be won.

To build a nation from the great wild and to turn the country into a unified force of goodwill and compassion, each to one another.  An awesome scheme, a grand and glorious notion, a courageous adventure.  From our roots as kindred spirits, surviving and thriving in the great north, we carve our niche in the world and plan and prepare for the great life.  A life  of living the great adventure. The dreams of brilliant forefathers who planned and prepared.  Wealth, riches, the fabulous new world.  The glorious ambition and awesome challenge, to build a nation from the endless stretches of wooded land and rugged landscape.  To carve a niche on the planet and to call that negotiation a nation.  All lands under one contract, all peoples under one law, to live and to die, for the energy and enthusiasm of the quest to build a country.

The west stretched onward in a glorious and encouraging land.  The mighty forests, the endless prairie, the majestic mountains and the far off ocean.  A dream of grandeur, to unite the nation. The negotiated settlements of trading posts, furs for blankets, ammunition, food and craft.  The people prepared for a land of settlement, believing in the sound judgment of their leaders and the peace and prosperity that their brilliance would bring them.  They arrived in anticipation of a new life, a new world, and a new venture.  Farmers, merchants, fur traders.  The energy of freedom filled their bodies, their minds, their hearts and their souls.

“Come!”  called the land. ” Meet my people!”  and the courageous new comer came forth to meet the challenge and be victorious.

It had been 500 years since the Vikings had abandoned the settlement at L’Anse Aux Meadows and again the European came to the call of adventure and to establish himself in the new world.  A fort, a home, a colony.  The French from France now became the new masters of the brave new world.  Again the call for settlement came from the land north of the 49th parallel.  Colonize.

http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/pioneers/pioneers2_e.html

Although the British, Spanish and Portuguese were fishing the oceans off the Newfoundland shore, it was the French who decided to rise to the challenge and to meet the task of colonization.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/cartierbrebeuf/index.aspx  Parks Canada.  Wintering place of Jacques Cartier.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

July 20, 2014

Cavell Meadows
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Cavell Meadows

The Meadows have finally opened. It ‘s late for this year, being the second week in July, and we braved the sweltering heat wave at 35 degrees, just for another peek at the outstanding Cavell Meadows.
It’s 8:30 am and already the warmth of the day is upon us.  A few vehicles are already in the parking lot and some early tourists have focused their cameras on a site, way  up the side of the mountain. Way up, only a speck of white, is a lone mountain goat. We view his early morning activity through the borrowed cameras of the tourists. Their good fortune for this photo opportunity is far better than mine, since their equipment will give them that superb, possibly once in a lifetime  shot,  that my cellphone camera can’t manage.

Packing light sometimes has its downfalls and this is one of those times. I’m grateful to the tourists for giving me the opportunity to view the goat through their lenses and to see the wonderful photo that they have been able to take.

We continue on our way.  The runoff from the Angel glacier is streaming in torrents into the lake below.  The heat of the day, already melting the skirt of this Angel, and we wonder how much longer we will be seeing this beautiful sight.  We make our way up into the meadows, so full of colour, it’s a spectacular sight.  Although this is an annual hike, we never tire of the splendor that awaits us in this easily accessible alpine terrain.   The wildflowers are unbelievable.  Heath and arnicas, paintbrush and avens, they stretch on and on and on, with a backdrop of mountains and the beautiful hanging  Angel Glacier.

Our destination, is the climb to the summit of the meadows.  A rough path of scree and a scramble at the top, that make the already steady climb, more challenging at the top. We’ve planned for a seven hour day, with time for photos and a relaxing lunch when we reach the summit.  The steady uphill hike, takes us through outstanding alpine meadow, to the well worn, rocky path above.   Then on to the scramble at the finish which will take most of the morning.  The views become more and more fabulous and the marmots come out to play.  Today, they are not shy.  They don’t hurry away.  Instead, they pose for photos and watch us with curiosity.  We are one of the first visitors to the meadows today, and since it’s so hot, one of the few.

The climb through the rocky scramble is difficult at times, but the finish greets us with an expansive view of the valley on the other side.  We can see the Whirlpool River, Leach Lake and a long stretch of the Athabasca River.  Unfortunately, the haze of wild fires burning in the south, cloud our view, so the landmarks aren’t as distinct as they usually are.  We peer into the valley below.  There are many snow patches, which is a good sign.  Usually caribou inhabit lands like these.  They like the snow patches to cool their bodies on hot days.  No sign of any.  That is, not until a pair of biologists on the grizzly bear study, join us at the top, and the keen eyes of one of them, spots a caribou and her calf in the valley below.  I pull out my binoculars and hand them around for everyone to have a look.  We linger for about twenty minutes, watching these animals, listed as a threatened species,  until  finally she moves out onto the snow patch with her calf, and lays down beside a large rock.

http://www.mountaincaribou.ca/content/recovery-plan

Mission accomplished.  We have the sighting that we wanted, but not the photo. Impressed and satisfied, we make out descent, through the glorious meadow and back to the nearly empty parking lot.

Now on to the next most splendid venture, the lake.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes