Edmonton 2025 - Waterton Lakes, Bear's Hump Trail

 

Our first morning in Waterton we woke to snow. Sunny and cool, so we took our time with breakfast and deciding where to hike.

Maya, River and I took a short stroll while the hiking decisions were being made.

They picked up stones that looked so colourful in the water.

We saw 3 Northern Flickers and a Pileated Woodpecker.

Mike was "gung ho". He wanted Aimee to hike 8 hours with him while I took the kids on an easy hike. Aimee vetoed that idea and luckily the ferry wasn't running that would cross the lake to take them to that marathon. So we all hiked together on a trail that was listed as "moderate" and short.

The trail head for Bear's Hump was just out of the village, across the road from the Prince of Wales Hotel.

We had it covered - large group, noisy and bear spray (and joking about tossing River at any wild animal to buy us some time)

The hike started as a gentle climb but shortly became a steep clamber, sometimes an a gravel path, sometimes loose rocks and sometimes stone steps. We were hiking through an area that had been burnt during the 2017 wildfire and the undergrowth was regrowing.

In September 2017, a large forest fire known as the Kenow Wildfire spread across Waterton Lakes National Park, forcing the evacuation of the townsite and park. The fire burned through 200 km2 of the park, destroying the visitor centre, stables and other buildings. Over 19,000 hectares, or 39% of the park's area, burned. Some 80% of hiking trails were affected and several remained closed for the 2018 season. from wikipedia

We started out in jackets but warmed up with the exertion and stripped down to shirts. I stopped and sat on convenient benches (some still snow covered) when I needed to get my heart rate down.

Maya and I were sitting on the bench overlooking the photo above, when I noticed something off in the distance. As it came nearer I realized it was a bald eagle. We sat and watched it circling and swooping, coming nearer and nearer until it flew over the mountain, above and behind us. We got up to continue the hike and it returned to fly directly over our heads and back the way it had come. It was a lovely experience to share with Maya.

The last 50 metres were the toughest but finally at the top the views were worth it - down to the village and along the lake to the mountains around.

Time for photos

and snacks

and more photos.

More snow up here and Avery made a little hand held snowman to carry down (he didn't make it - the snowman, Avery made it)

Took us about an hour to hike up, half and hour to go down. River had ridden up on Mike's back in the backpack known as "The Sultans Chair" but she walked all the way down, holding various family members hands and jumping down the steps.

After the hike we went to the Visitors Centre in the village to gauge which were good hikes for the kids (and Mike was still trying to talk Aimee in to a big one for just the 2 of them)

After lunch I was left on duty while River napped and the neighbours

stopped by. 

Very tame, we frequently saw these Mule Deer around the village

While I was drinking this surprisingly nice

wine, River sleeping, deer munching, my phone beeped

and I got this photo from my next door neighbour, showing my tree on the ground. Then a video came through from Rick..., followed by a call from another neighbour who didn't realize I wasn't home and wanted to check I was OK.

They reported that at about 7:30pm, there was thunder and lightening around, but no wind or rain, my tree was struck by lightening and exploded, sending wood flying in all directions. Rick and my two neighbours all said it was a huge bang and very scary.

I needed another glass of wine! As everyone was safe and there didn't seem to be major damage there was nothing to be done about it all until tomorrow.

After supper, another stroll. Mike pointing to Bear's Hump where we had hiked and looked down at the village.

The waterfall at the edge of the townsite and

great excitement to find a playground as the sun settled behind the mountains.

Edmonton 2025 - Calgary Zoo

Mike and Aimee had a few days off and there was much debate regarding how to spend them but a trip to Waterton Lakes was the final decision. Packing was an experience as there were 6 of us in the car and much of the luggage had to go on the roof rack carrier. We broke up the drive south with a visit to the Calgary zoo. We had been there in May of 2017, with Avery toddling and Maya in a stroller, but River had never been.

 

She was very excited. First up ....

Penguins We could see them above and below the water and River squealed with excitement.

As I was awaiting the arrival of a new camera, I was using my phone to take pictures and it does not give good quality when I am zooming in on something.

 

The high point for most of us was the River Otters. 4 of them were running around in their enclosure and then diving into the water to swirl and play. 

I just wanted to sit and watch them but we still needed to finish the Canadian Section.

The bears were also a big hit. The enclosure had a brown bear, black bear and a gold coloured bear.

 

Most of the enclosures at the Calgary Zoo are large and the animals have a lot of room to roam with many elements to interact with. The animals are also regularly moved to different enclosures to give them some variety in their environments. We never saw the "pacing" that is the behaviour often found in large animals confined at a zoo. There are also lots of viewing areas and the public can walk around the enclosures so it is usually easy to see the animals. The exception to this was the Hippo enclosure and pool which was ridiculously small for the 2 large animals.

Avery kept hoping for "exotic" animals and the Peacock was our "greeter" when we crossed the river to the island that holds the savanna and rainforest creatures.

The Meercats are so cute 

and inquisitive that I took way too many photos of them.

The Lemurs have a huge enclosure and you can usually go into it and walk around with them but today was too cold for them and they were inside. A notice at the entrance had listed Polar Bears and Red Pandas (one of my favorites) as being unavailable that day.

Last time we were here the fish were Avery's favourite part. This time he was more into the reptiles and happy to see a Boa Constrictor.

We walked through a couple of huge Aviaries, one with hawks and owls and another with colourful rainforest birds. We saw more animals than I can name here and River got to see the Zebra that she had been asking for. We left as the park closed and drove another couple of hours South.

After settling into our hotel (sort of a one bedroom cottage) and having a quick supper, Avery, Maya and I took a short walk in the village. This is the Prince of Wales Hotel (not where we were staying!)

The Prince of Wales Hotel has stood proudly on a bluff overlooking the Waterton Village since 1927. An iconic marker for Waterton Lakes National Park, the hotel was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992. from watertontourism.com

Even in the evening the surrounding mountains are beautiful and I was looking forward to seeing them in the daylight.

Edmonton 2025 - 1st week

 

Before leaving for Edmonton I took a quick trip to Northlands Nursery. The Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart replaced one that had died last year, in the front bed, and the rest went down on the bank to the lake.

Mike picked me up at the airport and our first job was to sex and band the Quail. 

 Mike has 3 coops in the garage with 14 Quail. The ideal ratio is one male for 3 or 4 females. With too many males they fight. After watching a video on how to tell the males from the females we got a system going. Mike would catch one and turn it upside down. I would determine the sex and then put a zip tie on the males leg. Maya would snip the ziptie close to the leg. We discovered that there were 7 males. He needed one for each coop so the other 4 were for the "pot".

 

Maya and Mike decided which ones to keep. This one is Snow. Once the "keepers" were identified they were all named.

The eggs are tiny. 3 of them equal 1 chicken egg.

There are 7 females and we are getting 5 little eggs each evening. 2 are "freeloading"

 

Next job was picking up the municipal compost and purchasing soil. Mike planted potatoes and I planted herbs, lettuce and spinach in the planter boxes on the deck.

Mike and Aimee are exploring the lakes around Edmonton with the idea that they may, some day, buy a lot or cottage on a lake. On one of Mikes days off we went to Isle Lake where

he kayaked and

I went for

a walk.

Maya relearned how to crochet and got thoroughly addicted. Crocheted for 2 days straight and finished a scarf.

If River doesn't get a nap she just suddenly crashes. This was while eating dinner!

The weather has been lovely most days. Cool overnight and then up into the 20s during the day. Buds are emerging. This is one of their apple trees about to blossom.

Meanwhile Rick has been sending me pictures of a rather needy

Rasta,

a clean and shiny Spellbound, ready to launch

and his first photo with his new camera.

Video of a musk rat taken when Mike was kayaking.