Please DO eat the daisies (and leave the orchids alone) - more Wells Gray

Wells Gray Provincial Park is known for its many waterfalls with 39 inside the park and therefore deserves its nickname "Canada's Waterfalls Park". It is also known for its many black bears but up until today we haven’t seen any. That would soon change when we would spot 8 black bears (1/2 were cubs) in just a 2 hour time period while we drove the road from the campground to Helmcken Falls and back. One cub in the two sets of twins that we glimpsed was brown or cinnamon like its Mother. The park is quite forested so the bears like to forage along the roadside clearings where the wildflowers are abundant. They were all so busy grazing that it was a hard to get a non-blurry photograph that included a head and not just a big furry butt. The one above finally stopped long enough to get a shot - perhaps it stopped to smell the flowers?
We’ve noticed that the bears seem to enjoy eating mostly non-native plants like dandelions and red clover. But much to our enjoyment these roadsides also had many beautiful patches of native lupines, rein orchids, and tiger lilies just waiting to be photographed. Sometimes Ron was even lucky enough to get both the lupines (purple) and the tall white rein-orchid (white) in the same shot (left). These orchids smell wonderful and so are also sometimes called Fragrant White Orchid or Scent-candle.

The tiger or Columbia lily (right) is easily distinguished from the larger wood lily with its single erect bloom as the tiger lily’s flowers hang or droop in showy clusters with petals curling back towards the flower base.

At 141 meters, Helmcken Falls (left) is the 4th highest in Canada of the straight plunging type waterfalls. It is just a short hike from the parking lot to the viewing platform, but remember to take your insect repellent as the mosquitoes are hungry!

Paddle Harder! - Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC June 25-26

After spending the night trying to cool off in a motel pool in Cache Creek we headed further into BC's hot interior to Wells Gray Provincial Park. Unfortunately the Clearwater Lake campground doesn't have any good swimming spots but we managed to find a spot near the picnic grounds were we could dunk or wade at the edge of the cold water being careful not to go out to far lest we get caught in the extremely fast current that could sweep us over Osprey Falls. There were signs warning about no boating yet there was a boat reeking of gas parked right beside us. Needless to say we survived the current but were rather pestered by some big and disgusting bugs that were everywhere and would suddenly drop out of trees onto our heads, get stuck in my hair, crawl into our clothes or backpacks to surprise us later, or just make a disgusting crunch sound underfoot. Apparently the fish like them though. We decided the only way to actually see this lake is by canoe (not to mention to find a good bug free swimming spot) so we rented one that evening and at 6:30 am June 27 we headed up the long and narrow Clearwater Lake on the mirror flat water toward the snow-capped Cariboo Mountains as this photo shows. We stopped at several campsites and eventually settle on Belleview Beach about 8km up where we will swim, have lunch and I'll get stung by a bee on the inside of my knee. The nerve! But better me than Ron since he is allergic and swells up miserably. On me the quarter-sized swollen red-spot disappears in a couple of hours. It doesn't mean it hurts any less though. At about 10:00am a light & cool breeze picked up off the Cariboo Mountains to the North that was just enough to keep us from getting too hot in the shade of our umbrella. A little after noon a sudden hot gust of wind off the Kootney Mountains to the south turned our umbrella inside-out and thus changed the state of the lake for the rest of the day from nearly flat to one with bow-topping waves. We decide perhaps mistakenly to head back south in the wave-whipping head-wind and across the lake to Divers Bluff to cut our 8km's back to the dock into smaller chunks. However once we set out again for the dock we decided that the best protection (not that there really was any) from the horrendous wind was on the other side of the lake. There were a few "tense" moments during our two hour paddle back to the dock and quite a few times we felt like we were paddling hard and going nowhere. However we eventually arrived safe & sound, even if we and the canoe were not exactly dry. We delivered the canoe back to its owner right at the promised time—12 hours after we had set off. Ron remarked that the strong wind didn't even help to keep us cool in the equally intense sun. What good is a wind that doesn't cool you off? However we thought that it wasn't a bad workout for our first time out in a canoe this season.

Got a Peek of a Pika - June 22-25

After staying in a series of BC provincial Parks we finally discovered the BC Forestry Service Recreation areas. They have the same services (pit toilets and picnic tables) without the gates and maybe even the fees! We camped right in Cayoosh Creek Recreation Site on June 24 right beside the creek (a raging river to us). On the opposite creek bank was a talus slope where we discovered this pika (above). In Euroasia that is pronounced peeka but in NA it is pie-ka. The campgrounds was also near Duffey Lake Provincial Park (below) where we had visited in 1998. It hasn't changed much execpt the dead trees are leaning a little more.

Steller! The raging river & thundering river tour June 19-21

After taking the ferry from Nanimo back to the main land we headed up the sea to sky highway towards Whistler. This highway is called the "sea to sky" highway but for us it was more like the raging river and thundering waterfalls highway. We stopped at Shannon Falls near Squamish on June 19, camped at Brandywine Falls on June 20 and Narin Falls on June 21 (right above the raging river). At Brandywine Falls Ron spent most of his time photographing Steller Jays (above). Oh, and we did do the 5 minute hike to the falls to get a few shots of it too (below)!

Starfish Orgy & Surfer Dudes - June 14-18

We camped in the rainforest at Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island where it of course rained for all but 1 & 1/2 days. Actually in the rainforest it continued to drip I'm sure long after we were gone. It was impossible to dry out our tent there. At low-tide we hiked into Schooner Cove were you would see landscapes like this Island (below) but on closer inspection of the Island's edges you would find all kinds of sea creatures clinging to the rocks - like these orchre sea stars (often called starfish but they aren't really fish) and giant green anemones.
The waves were pretty much always crashing in somewhere in the park along Long Beach which is a big draw for all surfer dudes and dudettes. Ron took these photos below at the most popular surfing spot, Incinerator Rock. There the surfers not only have to be careful about the rocks but crashing into each other. We saw several near misses. Between the rain/non-light and the fact that all hiking spots and beach access points gates are locked between 11 pm and 8am it made it pretty much impossible to get a landscape photograph at first light.

More Grebes - Salmon Arm, BC June 10-11

Eventually the road was re-opened to Golden so we drove on down through Glacier Provincial Park and Mount Revelstoke National Park and spent a night in the town of Revelstoke. The next day we moved on to Salmon Arm on Shuswap Lake (the houseboat capital of Canada). There is a major nesting grounds for Western Grebes there in the wetlands along the dock. These birds do a beautiful mating dance. But we were much to late for that but did see an adult feeding its young.

Yoho ho tra la la lah! June 8-9

After spending the night in a noisy Lake Louise campground in Banff National Park in Alberta, we continue North and west back into BC to Yoho National Park. On the highway they are stopping all cars and saying that the road is only open as far as Emerald Lake due to an avalanche that has blocked the highway to Golden. It is raining anyway so we spend the day just looking around and scouting possible photo locations and being optomistic that it will either clear up later for an evening shoot or tomorrow. We decide to camp at the Kicking Horse Campground - not that we had a choice since it is the only one open. In fact not much is open for the season yet in the park. The famous Lake O'Hara shuttle hasn't started to run and we aren't equipped for interior backpacking/camping. It didn't clear in the evening so we spend our time playing cards in a cooking shelter where it was dry and relatively bug-free. The sun really did come out in the morning though giving Ron some photography time with Cathedral Mountain (above) and a mist covered Emerald Lake (below).

Little Things in the Rockies - Kootenay, BC June 7-8

Kootenay National Park, BC was the first Park we would visit in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. There we were surrounded by awe inspiring mountains and a river rushing past our tent door, but the overcast light wasn't suitable for photographing landscapes. So we spent a little time looking along the riverbank and discovered these beautiful orchids. The Sparrow's-Egg Lady's-Slipper or Franklin's Lady's-Slipper (above) is a rare subarctic species found only in the Canadian provinces and Alaska. The more common Small Round-leaved Orchis (below) has delicate blooms that looks to me like tiny dolls wearing polkadot dresses and pink bonnets.

Forget the Bears - Look out for the Trees! June 7-8

The increasing winds and threatening rain ended our time for photographing wildflowers so we decided to take the rest of the evening off and play some cards. The wind would end the games early too. In fact it affected the rest of our evening. Great smokey-yellow gusts rising from the forest on the opposite side of the river caused a neighbouring camper to seek our opinion on the possibility of it being smoke and a forest fire. Since you couldn't smell smoke or see flames and the "smoke" seemed to change areas with each gust of wind we came to the conclusion that it wasn't smoke but tree pollen. The tall and thin lodgepole pines seemed to be highly affected by the wind. In fact we heard and or saw some fall while we were discussing the possible smoke. Later a couple of guys from Calgary would come by asking if we had a saw. A tree had fallen across the campground road after they had set-up their tent and driven back out to the gate to register their campsite. This left their tent and vehicle on opposite sides of the fallen tree. It also meant the few people camping in the unattended campground (including us) were trapped inside the campground with no phone service until help arrived. Since we had planned on moving on in the morning we thought we would see if we could help move the tree. So we grabbed our mighty little hatchet and 7-inch long folding saw and walked out with them to see if the 4 of us could make the tree small enough to drag off the road. After spending quite a bit of time and energy taking turns hacking away at the tree we managed to cut off the tree's top that was extending into the woods. But the remaining portion crossing the road was still too heavy for the 4 of us to budge. At this point we decided to not hack away the entire night and the Calgarians went off down the highway seeking the nearest phone. Banff Park staff were eventually contacted (note we are still in Kootenay) and a chain-saw meant that around 2:30 there was once again access in/out of the campground. I'm glad none of the trees surrounding our tent decided to fall!
In the morning on route to the Lake Louise campground in Banff National Park, we hiked through a regenerating burn area (more wildflowers); and, into the paint pots (above) - a historical source of red ochre. The ochre beds are considered a sacred site by First Nations.

From Leader to Lethbridge, AB June 4-5

On route to Lethbridge, Alberta just south of Leader, Saskatchewan we found two different sets of antelope (pronghorn) Mothers with their young just standing in the fields. As soon as we would stop the car the new born would either lie down or take off on wobbly legs in an opposite direction to the Mother. This pair was a little different though. The little one laid down and Mom took a few steps away but then looked back. With that the little one jumped up and followed after the Mother. Not the safest thing for them to do perhaps but better for us! In the area around the Great Sand Hills we saw at least 6 new borns. Quite a thrill for us that we finally saw a pair and managed to get a few photos.
We had some non-shoooting time in Lethbridge while we got caught up on some business, bought a replacement 4GB memory card for the flakey one purchased just before we left, and got caught up on backups. There are definitie pros and cons to going all digital in photography. It is great to see your results immediately and be able to create blogs etc. But now we find that days are way too long yet it is hard to get everything done we need to do. We are always downloading and backing up images which means we can be up very late considering the long days this time of year. We generally need to be up by 4:00am for the morning shoot too (good morning light is usually from 5:00-8:00am). The evening shoot can't usually start before 5pm and may go until dusk which is getting later as we head west and towards June 21. In the time there is in-between we try to scout for photographing locations or drive on to the next destination, do backups, update our journals, heck, even catch a nap and do our laundry once in awhile. Not that I am complaining! We just sometimes need to decide we won't work all day long.

The Great Sand Hills, Saskatchewan June 2-3/06

The Great Sand Hills are huge sand dunes near Sceptre and Leader. Some of the dunes are bare sand; others are covered in native grasses, sage brush and other drought resistant plants. But they seem to stretch for miles. Ron spent hours photographing the patterns the wind makes in the sand.
These cowboy boots are nailed on a board at the beginning of the path through the hills. I guess old boots need to go somewhere.
This Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel was perhaps looking for hand-outs. The lines on its back are like an elaborate tattoo.

Saskatchewan Landing, Lake Diefenbaker May 31-June 1

You may think that Southern Saskatchewan is flat. It can be. But suddenly the flat land can drop into a deep coulee. That is the case at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park at Lake Diefenbaker. Greenish-gold hills line the lake and beckon you to go hiking. We did and found a pair of mountain bluebirds nesting at a birdbox. Here the male poses nicely on a barbed-wire fence.
While Ron was photographing the bluebirds I spotted this Common Nighthawk (below) sleeping away the day on a tree branch. It kindly posed too as it was too sleepy to go anywhere. Ron also photographed spotted towhees and a prairie falcon. But no matter how much we looked along the beaches we didn't find any piping plovers. Guess we'll just have to settle for pictures of plovers in Manitoba and Quebec only. Here are some we've taken on other trips in Manitoba: http://www.agpix.com/results.php?agid=ronerwin&keyword=piping