Alberta Lakes

The beaver carefully dragged the green alder bough up the side of his substantial lakefront lodge.  I was not sure if it was destined to be a hearty breakfast after pulling a long nightshift on lake patrol, or part of a construction project?  I had watched from across the glassy lake as the beaver towed the prize from further down the shore, past the winter food cache to the lodge itself.  Apparently, it was not breakfast, for as soon as it had been anchored in place properly, he went on to other projects.

It was a typical morning at the small lake we had all to ourselves; and the beavers, and the loons, and grebes, and osprey, and ravens, herons and fish, and deer, and whatever had made the crashing noises in the bush last night that scared Hailey!  There was one campspot on the lake that consisted of a firepit, and a table, and we had it all to ourselves for the second night. This was at the end of an unmarked road that we had explored two days prior.  A pair of loons came by for a close look at us and were very vocal when I tried my best loon calls.  I’m not sure if they thought I was a fellow loon gone crazy, caught in a trap, or if they were simply laughing at my feeble attempts at imitation.

One of a chain of lakes northwest of Athabasca, Alberta, another nearby lake was the home of a family of foxes that had made their den under a pile of logs. Once again, I used the ‘photo through the spotting scope' technique to get some decent photos.

The kits were playful and unafraid as they wrestled and fought each other and chased butterflies, before scurrying out of sight when their mother gave the word.  The lake I was camped at was not that good for swimming, but the nearby one had a small beach and boat launch, and finally some warm weather was enough to convince me to take a refreshing dip.

I had spent the long weekend visiting friends, watching parades and fireworks in the Fort Saskatchewan area, and camping , fishing, and kayaking on a different lake north of there.  I also enjoyed a Canada day concert in the park watching long time friend and award winning country music artist, Lisa Hewitt put on another great performance, and chatted with her and her husband.

Back at home, the truck camper once again got the nod for this expedition, knowing that we would likely be exploring back roads, mud holes, and lakeshores.  For the first time, I managed to tie my kayak onto the roof, to see how that would work.

Once on the road, we assumed our traveling positions of comfort to begin another adventure.

 

A quick stop at a Canadian Tire store completed the preparations and supplies, including a quick look at a back roads map book of some of the intended destinations. I sometimes use my camera to capture the relevant pages, but in this case I bought the book to add to my growing library of maps.

Will and Kate!

Okay, so here’s how it all went down.  I was just minding my own business puttering down the road into Slave Lake to stock up on groceries and fill up on water, and other beverages.  I turned off at the McDonalds, thinking perhaps I would eat, but then I saw crowd of people lining the street, and thought maybe the rodeo was in town, or perhaps they were a few days late for Canada day, eh?

I tuned to the local radio station, only to find out that Will and Kate were making a surprise visit to Slave Lake, and had just landed at the airport, and the crowds were waiting for their arrival.

Note: For you Americans and other non-Canadians, Slave Lake was devastated by wildfires earlier this year and about 1/3 of the town burned down.  Will and Kate are newlyweds from our Royal family in England (google them!)

So I pulled off the street, and sure enough the motorcade soon came by from the airport.  Locals said they were riding in the bus, thus my earlier post, but it is more likely they were in the dark SUV.  It appeared that they were attending a reception at the local community centre for the victims of the fire – and the fire crews, etc.

So, I walked over there and stood in the sun for a while till they came out and did their walk-about.

I managed to get a few decent shots from between all the outstretched arms and cameras held aloft.  Then, they were off – in the dark suv!

I had a post ready to post for my last few days of camping, but  it got pre-empted for a day or two.

Who would have known I would stumble onto a royal visit by Will and Kate - in Slave Lake, AB!
They're on this bus!

Back from BC, BC.

Back from Bella Coola, B.C. that is!

Once again, I have waited too long to blog this, but at least there are lots of photos to save the day.

After my $112. fill up with diesel in Bella Coola, we headed out and back up the big hill into the Chilcotin once again.

A nice McClinchy river-side camp spot beckoned us on the way after passing through Nimpo lake.  The mosquitoes were few and the firewood plentiful, so it was right to sit outside beside the fire, while listening and watching the rambling river.

I was not sure if the postal strike had ended or not, but there was certainly no one on duty at the places I found!

Another small coffee shop was not sure if it was open or not?

I stopped at another empty little campground further along the river where Hailey was outwitted by the little chipmunks. In both photos the chipmunk is directly above her on top of the fence!

Speaking of fences, they sure like their fences in Chilcotin and Cariboo.  There were many styles, but almost all made from wood poles.  There are also lots of modern barbed wired fences, but they are not so photogenic.  Most are made from round logs, but a few are split pole varieties.

Back in Williams Lake, I visited the very impressive visitor centre.  While the building itself is pretty spectacular, they have a beautiful log cabin built right inside the main building!

I probably should have stopped in here before the trip out to the coast .  The visitor centre also had a good supply of free wi-fi!

Nearby, in the wilds, I discovered a colony of marmots who were not that shy about having their photos taken.

Actually, in this case, the ‘wilds’ was located less than 100’ from the back of the Walmart.  Rather strange place to find marmots I thought, but it looked like perhaps their original home had been destroyed when tons of rock was removed to build the store.  They had taken up residence in a pile of post-construction rock rubble. Incidentally, I worked with the folks at Allstays on my ‘Overnight Parking Walmart’ app on my iphone, to correct the location shown for this store – which was several miles away.  They now show the correct location on the map.  It is a new area, and my Tomtom was confused as well.

The next night I headed a bit south to Green Lake, and found this group of eagles sitting in trees along the lakeshore.  I was able to take photos through my spotting scope.

On the way back, I found the diesel for sale at $1.17/l at the Flying J east of Kamloops, using my gasbuddy app.

I’m a long way from an English major, but it still bugs me when some folks who should know better try to add new words to the language.

If you don’t see the problem with this sign, perhaps you should consider some high school! (Now I’m likely to have people point out my mistakes and typos – of which I make a lot).

I even checked the dictionary on this one, to make sure it was not an ‘American’ spelling (like: neighbor, center, labor).

Payed

Often used by people who have no grasp of the English language. The correct spelling is "Paid", which is of course the past tense of the word "Pay".

After a quick visit in Lake Louise, I was glad to find lots of room at one of my favourite camp spots on Abraham Lake – not far from home.

I have been at my ‘home without wheels’ for a couple days of mowing and laundry, and am now ready to hit the pavement and gravel again.  Last time was west.  This time could be north!  Stay tuned …