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  • Lethbridge

    Posted on by Kerri & Matt Comment

    This time we spent some time by Henderson Lake. On our way there we visited the Japanese Gardens which we’ve never been before.

    The grounds were nice and it was very quiet. Key word on the was side of things.

    They had a bell which we both rang (and were encouraged to do so).

    It wouldn’t be a post from us if there weren’t also some animals, so here is a mass of flies.

    Then we saw a bird who would likely have enjoyed a snack.
    According to the directions we were to walk along one path heading in and another on the way back to experience the layout in different perspectives.

    Here’s the bird again from the other direction.

    And Matt eating a cookie.
    And then we had a final look before heading around the lake.
    The first stop on the lake was the Widow’s Walk. There’s probably a story for the name, but we haven’t looked it up.

    There were a lot of gulls around.

    They must be eating some freshwater crabs because we were no where near the ocean.

    We also spotted a noisy bird way up in the trees.

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  • Centrosaurus Bone Bed

    Posted on by Kerri & Matt Comment

    Had a good rest at the camp at Dinosaur. Listened to the owls and coyotes as we tried to sleep.

    Up early after “roughing” it at the campsite in Dinosaur to start walking through the valley. And those coyotes could continue to be heard through the morning section of the walk.

    We avoided the most dangerous hazards on the hike. That’s right, I’m sure you too immediately thought of the cacti.

    They’re fruiting this time of the year, but it’s not quite ready just yet.

    Lots of activity on the flowers.

    The bees get just a little coated in pollen.
    We made it to the bone bed after a little walk.
    These are all Centrosaurus, which are related to the well known triceratops. They likely all died because this was a massive plain with no where to go and a flood hit burring all the bodies together of 100’s of individuals. There were bones here.
    And there.
    And everywhere around here really.

    All these fossils are left to be uncovered in time and even just this summer they’ve taken some newly revealed material. There will be new material to uncover all the time and it’s amazing to see these ancient bones.


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  • Dinosaur Provincial Park

    Posted on by Kerri & Matt Comment

    We’re back in Southern Alberta and taking photos does not really capture what it looks like here. The wind carved landscape goes from the flat prairie down into the valley below.

    There are a few animals that can be spotted in the park.

    Mule deer like to hang out and snack on the greens and conveniently right next to the driving loop.
    The first years have such large ears proportional to their heads.

    You can tell they were from this year as they still haven’t lost all their spots.

    We went walking through the park before the sun set.

    While it may not look like it, the trails aren’t that difficult to follow.
    The landscape really starts to glow as the sun sets.

    No sunset photos though, we had a science lecture to attend.

    But we were a bit too early, so here are some ants.

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  • Mount Edith Cavell – Part 2

    Posted on by Kerri & Matt Comment

    Like the last few years, there have been significant wildfires burning through the mountains which does reduce the hiking quality as it can be hard on the lungs. Despite that we did see the glacier.

    There were still some wildflowers which provides some end of summer meals for the butterflies.

    Getting high enough up allowed for some views of the lake with some big bergs in it.

    A wider shot shows off the smoke a bit more.

    Kerri continued to try to get some pictures through the smoke but it didn’t work too well.

    So we took a photo together and then head back to to recirculated filtered air back in the car.


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  • Mount Edith Cavell – Part 1

    Posted on by Kerri & Matt Comment

    On our way out to Edmonton we stopped in Jasper to hike the wildflower meadows near Mount Edith Cavell. Before we got to the meadows we spotted some small furry friends (Pika) collecting grasses to their holes in the moraines.

    They were patient with all the hikers interrupting their work.

    Back and forth they went taking load after load of greens.

    There were others out and about in the morning as well (maybe a Columbian ground squirrel).

    The really small ones were out looking to steal things from the unsuspecting hikers and unfortunately likely handfed.

    There was one real large one, we think it’s a Hoary marmot. It stayed further away along the moraine the whole time and only stalked by the photographers on the trail.

    It seemed to be looking for something, but we don’t know if it every found what it was looking for.

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