the Earth

Proper Awesome
by

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

To Have it All
by

To Have it All

Hail you Almighty human!  Praises and praises!

The great good Earth sings in it’s glory.  The majesty of all of it’s creation, the birth of the living being, the living planet, the living soul.  Hail to the dawning of the new day, the new season, the new life that begins today.  The planet unveils yet another of it’s awesome wonders, the birth of the great wild, in all of its wild and wonderful ways.  The shy, but glorious wildflower, the dainty and tiny new born deer, the rushing of the spring waters as the snow fades and melts into rivers.  The passing of the snow of winter, leading to the blessing of the greening of spring.

Hail to the almighty planet, as we praise the warm and comforting springtime, with its  promise of fresh lakes to swim in, recreation for our bodies, hiking and biking for sport, athletes galore.  Out of the cramped confines of weight rooms, pools, gyms and recreation facilities, come the swarms of diligent humanity.  Running, biking, swimming, playing, the great outdoors calls to us, with the demand of the insistent call to opportunity.  Come!  Don’t miss this fabulous day.  Play outdoors in the beauty and the serenity of the great land.  Behold the wonders of the planet.  The divine forest to clean our air, the fragrant flowers to capture our attention.  The pristine, clear lakes to dive into and to play upon.  Water!  Clean and pure.  To drink, to play in, to exercise in, to cool our bodies on these hot days.  Water, straight from the master plan of the planet.

Lucky are we, to be the living, to be the life force that propels the world to a destiny at the beck and call of a human called mankind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjia7BsP4Bw  Canada’s Tar Sands – the most destructive projectanadian on Earth?

So here is the other side, the side outside the mapped, protected area of national parks.  The area of controversy and somewhat alarm as the excavation for industry takes it’s toll on the area of northern Alberta.

We glory in the divine of the great planet, as the Earth welcomes us with each new day.  Calling us to rise from our slumber and to enjoy the discovery that is presented to us.  Something new, for each day is something new.  People with wildlife, people marveling at  the great wild.

Yet the controversy continues and grows.  The plunder of the north of the province, demands the attention of all of us.  Environmental destruction, disease and illness, a growing concern of wasteland and destruction.

As Canadians, do we actually need this?  Do we need the multi-million gallons of oil that the tar sands produces? Do we need the loss of the great land, the great wild, our way of life, to swim and play and to enjoy the bountiful beauty of the great Canadian  outdoors?  Do we need to loose it all for something that we really don’t consume ourselves?  How much of this oil is for us?  Not enough to matter to us.  Not enough for the destruction, for the plunder, for the immense waste of our land, for the loss of life of our people, for the environmental damage and the illness that comes with it.  Not enough for the pollution, for the habitat loss to the wild and to us.  Not enough for the continuing damage, for loosing the fishing hole, the lakes to canoe on, our tent site and our camping spot, the shy deer and the roaming bear and the endless forest that provides our air to breathe.

Do we need this?  Do we need to throw it all away for someone else?  We are the voyageur, the coureur de bois, the adventurer who came to climb a mountain, canoe a river, homestead on the prairie.  We are the people of this great North.  To the wise and the diligent, we call to you.  Protect us, almighty ones.

written be Dr. Louise Hayes

June 5, 2015

The Awakening
by

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

by

We Have Landed

Hail, oh brilliant ones!

The rising sun warms the great good Earth and the song of the wild rings in our ears. Birds nesting and singing their love songs.  Trees blossoming and the early shoots of flowers poking their heads up high. Warm us , great good Earth. Fill our bodies with sunshine and goodness and we will praise you with our gladness, our beauty, our vibrant colours, our fragrance and our being. The world fills with the busyness of life.  With splendor and grandeur the planet awakens to the heat of the sun and the tiny insects stir in their nests and start the daily task of survival.

Nourish us, oh great planet, for we are the necessary, the tiny, often dismissed ones. The work of our labour is a workforce of love.

Sweet nectar!  The pollinators thrive in a land of such plenty, and flowers, fruit, vegetables and other plants, rise and shine to capture the attention of these healthful species.  Hardworking bees and dainty butterflies fill the air in pursuit of their own life’s work.  Thy will be done!

This is the day that saves us.  A day to plant your harvest and to rejoice in the new season of springtime.    A day where the birds are singing and nesting, when the world is warming to spring fever and the plants proclaim that the soil is rich and that they will grow and thrive.  This was the kind of day, in the kind of world, that greeted the colonialists from France.  A day when the Earth tossed off it’s winter coat and revealed the lush green foliage beneath.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening.aspx  Mother Earth News, Organic Gardening

This is the  kind of world where dreams can flow.  A promise of  hopes fulfilled.  Energized and refreshed, the land calls to the new comers.  Fulfill your dreams on this great land, prepare the soil for planting and share this world with it’s inhabitants.  The dream of a colony can be a  reality.  It can exist!

The reality for all of us, is that food is one of  the most important tasks of the day.  We must eat.  The soil must be prepared and tended, the seeds must be sown and the garden must be cared for.  Toil and work, dig in the dirt, a colony is an immense task of building shelter and community.

Hail, almighty one!  was the call to the king.  We have landed.  Your loyal subjects will do our duty to our king and your schemes of riches, wealth, abundance, opulence, whatever we can achieve, will all go to the glory of France.  You are the great mastermind of cunning and we will strive to fulfill your desire.

So now, the colonialists have set foot on the land and a place to construct their dwellings has been chosen.  Build your shelter, bring in your supplies.  Food and equipment to start the new life.  From grand notions and great inspiration, come deeds of immense proportions.  A small group of people, with skills and endurance, have been called by their leader to be champions of courage and self sufficiency.

So, all of you bravehearts, look to the colony of France.  There, out in the new world is a small group of people, whose destiny has called  them, to live to the adventure of this brave new day.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

May 20, 2015

by

A Time for Peace

Hail Bravehearts!.

To a strong and brave new day.
The ancients rose to a world of grandeur. Awesome planet with marvels to explore. Awesome human with daring to discover. Brilliant exchange of the marvelous wonders of the Earth, to stimulate the intellect of brilliant human minds. Where shall we go, oh brave ones? Where does the fascinating wonder take us?
The hunters and gatherers followed the great herds of migrating animals. The roaming beasts led them through valleys and plains, following a path of instinct to fertile areas for feeding and mating and bearing their young. The vast herds of wildlife, co-existing with their own predators. The migrating humans, following their food supply, the migrating predator, following their own food supply. A compatible niche of predator prey relations, of environmental sustainability, of the Earth, keeping its ecosystems intact.
The human, with simple needs of survival, but a brain in need of self fulfillment. Go there, oh brave ones and seek the destiny of your fine minds. Oh brilliant inventors, who eased the struggle of the masses, who taught the people to hunt and fish, to build and cook. The need of the brain is high. Explore and adventure, stretch your legs and your minds. Fine humans, to evolve to such greatness, of medicines and industry, of space exploration and travel, of culture and music and games and sport. Fine human, with skills so worthy, the Earth is your home and it saves you.
Plunder no more, oh great ones, for in this festive time of feast and plenty, of holidaying and cheer, of goodwill and peace, the Earth gives up more of its bounty and your stomachs overfill.
We starve!
Where is the food in a world with so much plenty? The starving, again. Our farms are productive, our industry secure. Food is wasted and the people starve.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/holiday—celebration-recipes/christmas-recipes Christmas holiday recipes

Yet in this time of celebration and joy, we cast off our burdens and sing with praises: Joy! Joy for the living, joy for the earth, joy for creation and joy for the birth!
It’s time, in our weary lives of strife and struggle, to throw off the chains of pain and animosity and rejoice in the wonder of the heavens and the earth. A time to sing, a time to pray, a time to laugh and a time to play. The joy of creation, where all is one. An Earth of beauty, of prosperity, of hope and caring. A birth of great wisdom, a holiday of peace, to all of you living, this holiday is for giving. The child of wonder, so dear and so pure. To celebrate living, only once a year!
This holiday is for everyone, regardless of everything. Christmas is a time for holiness and love, peace enduring. What represents life and love and humanity, only comes to us, once a year.
Hail, oh brave ones, in this time of gladness, spread peace and joy and love and kindness. A short season of happiness and giving, of love, laugh, life and living.
To celebrate peace, only once a year. A marvelous birth, to bring us great joy. Lay down your weapons and war no more.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
December 20, 2014

What is Reality?
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What is Reality?

Hail Bravehearts

To this glorious day! To rise to health and happiness, to support and care. A strong society of compassionate people with courage and intelligence. Properly educated, properly nourished, diverse and interested. The time to seek out difficulties, to pursue the challenges of need and growth. The leadership of negotiation, of salvation, of prominence and effectiveness. A nation of riches in diversity, cultural and environmental. To seek all of the spectrum of humanity and life and to protect us and to save it all.
A unique nation, with multi-cultural lives, flourishing under a banner of freedom and support. Hail, you almighty human for the nation building of strong, humane ties, to the roots of our past, of history, of glory, of a wholesome victory. To win, for the worlds peoples, a place of international peace.
The wars that kill us, kill the planet. We destroy, not only ourselves, but the beautiful great earth, that dies as we die. Awesome planet, your needs are small, only to ask that we tread softly and light the flames of war no more. Think differently, oh brave ones, your lives will prosper without so many, and the greed of the needy, who ask for your land, will subside with the control of your populations.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29788754 population control, does it work?

The revolving issue of food for the hungry, quell starvation, open a food bank and feed the world. More land for farming, more land for housing, more land for more of us to share.
Awesome planet, with your fabulous diversity, trees and flowers, birds, reptiles, insects, animals and fish. The beautiful wonder of the creation of earth. Biodiversity, wondrous sites, mountains and pristine lakes. All intertwined and connected to form a fabulous great earth with so much life and living. Show off your awesome wonder, oh great planet, the flowers nod their brilliant heads and greet us with colour and variety. The bees for pollination, dying by the thousands. Food for the hungry? So many issues to address. The constant assault against the environment. Tear down the forest, destroy that ecosystem, fill in the marsh.
The planet groans under the weight of so many. Where will its precious life forms survive? Another dead lake, another contaminated river, the oceans a garbage dump of waste and over production. Too many factories, too much consumption, too much production. All creating waste and refuse. A society of consumerism and an ever increasing marketplace, showing off its abundance of riches and wealth, but still the ever demanding cries from the hungry, feed us!
The infrastructure of the city wallows in decay. Tear it down and rebuild, higher and higher into the sky, to house more and more people. Increase population density, increase urban sprawl, live in larger and larger abodes. One person per unit, takes up a lot of space.

http://www.infowars.com/from-7-billion-people-to-500-million-people-%E2%80%93-the-sick-population-control-agenda-of-the-global-elite/

Hear us, oh great planet, as we call to you for more. Just increase your size, oh planet earth. We need more room, become larger, so that we can spread out more and save us oh planet, save us all.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 21, 2014

Still for the Curious
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Still for the Curious

Hail Bravehearts

To the adventure of your lives.
The discovery of the world is an all consuming past time, full of wonder and daring. Awesome planet, to fill our world with beauty and adventure. The discovery of the variety and diversity of the planet is a constant life long pursuit. The great Earth, steeped in mystery and shrouded in a millenium of dust. Dust, hiding the treasures of the Earth, of the history of species, covering the past and hiding our roots.
Dig deep, for there is life under that dust. There is life in the air, in the water and in the great seas. Behold the wonders of the sea, for here is a food source that millions thrive upon, nations enjoy and the abundance of the sea is a world of adventure of it’s own.
Deep into the dark recesses of the earth, down into the mysterious ocean depths. Into sea channels and caverns to marvel at the fabulous array of sea life, the brilliant colours and the gardens of coral. The sea, filled with so much life and so much beauty. It captures us, it holds our interest, ever curious, always calling, the ever changing, tantalizing sea.

http://marinebio.org/oceans/creatures/ creatures of the sea.

The beach is a world of it’s own. The waves crash upon the shore, leaving behind the seas life, caught in its path. The tides cast their treasure onto the sand. Shells, coral, pretty stones and seaweed. The crashing waves, pulverizing the rocks, the shells, the corals, creating sand, pinks, yellows, beige. The soft, warm sand, massaging your toes. Warm sand to lies upon, to play in, to warm your body and to rest.
Don your wet suites, snorkel, mask and fins and tumble into the deep ocean blue. To the ocean floor where the brilliant life survives and thrives in the cool waters. Fish and coral, unusual creatures, shells and mollusks and seaweed. Life thrives in these depths and again, the earth offers a world of discovery to explore. The age old question, what lies beyond?
For ancient man has lived upon the sea, sought the sea for a food source and challenged himself to explore it. Still we search the oceans for life and living, for the numerous species that the oceans hold. Still the seas captures us, holds us and nourishes us.
Come, calls the sea, live and thrive by the great oceans and play in the water. Come, oh bravehearts and explore.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 12, 2014

The Mighty Ocean Calls Us
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The Mighty Ocean Calls Us

Hail Bravehearts!

The mighty ocean is our home and the seas and wind will call us. Billowing sails and mighty ships, the stalwart companions of daring and adventure, ride through storm and high seas to their destiny, the unknown. Brave spirits, the athletic adventurer of the world four hundred years ago. The extreme sportsman of yesteryear, pursuing the call to the wild life, of weeks and months, of toil and trouble, on the high seas. Education and skills and the spirit of champions, brought forth the sailor, from all walks of life.
The sea is now their home and they live with the water, the whales, the dolphins and birds. The circling seagulls capturing their fishes and taunting with their calls for food. Food! Everyone must be fed.
The rolling waves crest at dizzying heights and the sails rip and rattle with the wind. Rain and torrents hail upon them, but the ship and mast hold fast and the rolling ocean carries them off to the unknown.
The perils of the ocean were the call for this era. Come, oh brave hearts, to the horizon. Quell your fears and enter here, where myth and danger lurk in the deep blue sea.
Ocean and ship, water and boat, rivers and canoes. The waters call us as a highway to float upon, sail upon, paddle and motor. The ocean of prosperity and need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSTK9TyUYs&spfreload=10 ocean tranquility message.

Set your nets, for most of ocean faring was discovery and food. Catch the fish, fill the hold, feed the hungry. The ocean has fed us for thousands of years and the ocean feeds us still. A line cast into the water from shore, fishing is a hobby, a past time, an occupation and a necessity. Thousands of years of fishing. Thousands of years of being fed by the sea.
The nets cast into the water, pull out the fish in abundance. Time and again, hundreds of craft, cast their nets into the sea, expecting the mighty ocean to release its bounty to them. Feed us, mighty ocean, calls mankind and the ocean plays its tantalizing game. Come into the water, out to the deep water, come to play and fish and find sport. Your sturdy craft will roll high on the waves and the rhythmic lapping of water on your boat will lull you to peaceful slumber. Spend your time on the ocean, live your lives on the high seas. For your vessel is your home and the ocean will feed you and fishermen and heroes you will be.
The challenge is daunting, but courageous contenders they would be. The spirit, the life, the call of the ocean. A new home, a new world, stretches out to them and the horizon keeps drifting farther and farther away. Do they dare to be so courageous as to follow that line? Will it take them to new worlds or tip them off the planet? What lies in the horizon or beyond?
The sea, the fabulous sea, captivated their minds and holds it still, in tranquil dreamy waves and ocean play.
written by Dr Louise Hayes
October 27, 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

A Great Escape
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A Great Escape

Good Day Bravehearts

The splendid great wild, with its remote and awesome places. Here, in a world class national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, we live and play and hike to our hearts content. The world of opportunity knocks and we respond with enthusiasm, for the endless adventure in hiking the great wild.
This week, we travel into a remote and little known mountain pass, high up in the alpine. where the curiosity of remote, wild adventure takes us. Ever cautious, we prepare for all weather, rain suites, first aid kits, water ,sunscreen, food, insect repellent, hat, gloves, binoculars and cameras, maps and gps.   It can be cold in the alpine, with changeable weather and here it can be blistering hot, or freezing rain, sometimes turning to hail or snow. We all pack bear spray.
It’s been a good year for bears. Many sightings of females with two and three cubs and the powerful grizzly bear has made her presence well known, with frequent sightings and photo chances of her and her healthy offspring. The alpine is a favorite place of the grizzly and we don’t want to startle one, so our group is large and loud. It’s better to be safe, with large numbers, so the resident predator hears us coming.

The climb is steep and the footing is uneven.  We spent three hours hiking to this remote place, high up into the alpine for a view of the glaciers on another mountain range.  The intermittent showers cooled us and the climb was not as difficult as it sometimes is.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx  Jasper National Park

Our fathers fought for this great land.  A magnificent mountain range in a far off place.  They fought for  freedom, for prosperity, for a better world and here, in a remote and little known mountain pass, we enjoy and praise the brilliance of that choice.  To protect the land, to save it for future generations, relatively untouched, preserved and intact.  A home for the wild and an escape for us.

We are early in this years adventure.  The spring was late and the wild flowers are not yet as showy as they will be.  But also, we have left the great bear behind us, to forage in the valleys until the alpine will give them a meal.  They will be here soon.

Today, the pass is for us, with only the calls of the birds and the rushing water, the insects and the wind.

The far off glacier is the head waters of our rivers and the source of our daily water supply.   Protected high up in a mountain top, the glacier lies in its own protected domain.  Remote enough, that it is rarely visited and high enough that is remains intact.  The grand great wild, providing fresh drinking water for us and the planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF05-slHnNk  Fukushima

These rare, protected places, great mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountain National Parks are home to the awesome wild, the glaciers and the beautiful flowers. The power of the earth lies in these special protected places, where only the fortunate few can roam.  Our drinking water, our air supply, our dark sky,  our much needed connection to the natural world.

Here is where we live and play and praise the foresight of brilliant people who saved this land for us to enjoy.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes