Will work for peanuts

Ya better have something for me!

LAKE LOUISE, AB, CANADA - - We've been internet deprived for the past few days so the following blogs are catch-up until I look at more pictures.  We're pirating  this signal from a hostel we've stayed in before in LL.  The weather has been iffy with a lot of rain, but, if you check the following blogs you can see that the animals have been out.  Lydia's blog has some different pics and don't forget to check her "more pictures" Flicker page.  We had a wolf wandering along right beside the "Magic Bus".  I was driving so no shots on my cam.  

Black Bear Shuffle

The lunch time shuffle...seen along the Icefields Parkway

Both sides of the fence

Sign language

Bear's eye view of captive camper

LAKE LOUISE (AB, CANADA) - - Lake Louise has lots of bears.  Bears love a free meal.  Bears can scare the heck out of you when you're not expecting it.  So, the tent and soft-sided vehicle campground in Lake Louise is surrounded by electric fence.  We have not seen any bears in our stays here, but the fencing makes you feel safe...or maybe like you're in prison.

Spectacular Edith Cavell

On the road to Mt. Edith Cavell

Avalanche warning with Angel Glacier in the background

JASPER, (AB), CANADA - -One of our favorite areas in Jasper National Park is Mt. Edith Cavell.  Named after a British nurse in World War I, who was executed by the Germans as a traitor for helping over 200 military individuals escape Belgium where she  worked as a teacher and refused to leave once WWI began.

Life In The Fast Lane

Goat jam outside Jasper ( Canada)

Fortunately this Elk didn't wander onto the highway

'Mama' Loon taking a stretch break from her nest

JASPER, (ALBERTA), CANADA - - Sights along the way in Jasper

Not seen lately in Florida

Beggar on the trail

Please, I haven't had breakfast yet!!

LAKE LOUISE, AB, CANADA - - Some of 'trail' beggars we meet are more animated than others.  This chipmonk thought he was Mike Tyson while trying to extort some food on a lake side trail at Lake Louise. 

Front yard ornament

Great Northern Railways engine

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Some people have pickup trucks or abandoned cars on blocks in their front yard.  The Issac Walton Inn (Essex, MT)  figured having a train engine was even better.  The Great Northern runs the northernmost transcontinental rail route...from Minneapolis to Seattle.

The Gang...Relaxing after a hard day

Couch potatoes

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Porky (left) and Maddie relax after a hard day at the campground.

Train-ing time

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Our campground is less than half a mile from the train tracks.  The freight trains (Burlington Northern Santa Fe, above) run 24-hours a day.  So it's not unusual to hear the engineer laying on the ??horn or whatever at 2 a.m. as he blasts through the area.  And the engineers REALLY like to make sure everyone hears them coming.  But we hear trains back home in OB so it's really no big deal.

Shaggy

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Appropriately, the area where these pictures were taken is called 'Goat Lick' The shaggy guy in the top two photos came out from beneath the bridge we were standing on to meander along side the stream before heading up hill to meet with his 'gang'.

Catch-up

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Pastoral sunshine on the ranch...somewhere in Montana.
     The Sharp-tailed Grouse (bird #1) in a previous blog was shot while we traveled on the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway (a road definitely worthy of the "scenic" designation).
     Bird #2 is a Yellow-headed Blackbird.  The other bird in the previous blog is still unidentified.  The photos were shot in the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville, MT.

Clouds and cones

WHITEFISH, MT - - Low clouds, high snow and Ponderosa Pine cones seen along the way to Whitefish.  We've arrived at our destination for the Summer although we don't have to be at 'training' for another 6 days.  So, it's off to more adventures.  Yes, I forgot to find out the types of birds from my last blog. 

Bird quiz

SANDPOINT, ID - - This is a test.  Mainly because I can't find my bird book to identify the above  avian species.  ID will be provided in the next post.  We're hit and miss with spots with wi-fi. 

Signs you don't see in Florida

RED LODGE., MT - - We've found a coffee shop with wi-fi so here's another adventure.  Last night we stayed in a US Forest Service campground.  Fee: $5, of course there was no water, showers, steak and lobster, etc.  Our distinctive camp site number logo and the sign below tells you a little about the area.
     We were heading down from Dead Indian Pass and found Dead Indian Campground.  This route is part of the Nez Perce 'War' of 1877.  Chief Joseph, Lean Elk and what remained of the fleeing tribe were trying to make it to Canada and freedom.  Two troops of US Army cavalry (one behind, one ahead) were attempting to block their route.  On this day, the Nez Perce eluded capture.  However, the Indians had to leave a badly wounded warrior and he was found by the Army and killed.  Thus the name 'Dead Indian Pass'. 

More fun

CLICK ON THE LINK TO LYDIA'S BLOG ...ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE...TO CATCH UP ON MORE OF OUR RECENT ADVENTURES. 

A bit of history

RIVERTON, WY - - Friday, we were meandering our way somewhere on a scenic back road in the Medicine Bow National Forest.  The cloud cover was dropping as was the temperature.  (There's still plenty of ice covering the small lake in the bottom center of the photo.  The pull out where we stopped had an info board about the Snowy Range Mountains and 12,000'+ Medicine Bow Peak (to the left). 
     A small plaque nearby served to honor 66 individuals  who perished in 1955.  Interest piqued, I checked Google.  United Airlines Flt. 409 left Denver headed to Salt Lake.  The Douglas DC-4  was prop-driven and assigned a flight plan at 10,000' - - plenty of altitude for the surrounding mountains if you stayed on course.  It is believed that the pilots, 80-minutes late at take off, decided on a short cut, and (apparently due to a faulty altimeter)  flew head on into Medicine Bow Peak.  It took five days on the steep, snowy slopes to remove the remains.  At the time, it was the deadliest plane crash in U.S. commercial aviation history.