Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Rockin my soles in the Rockies

Nine days of hiking in the Cadanian Rockies.
Two provinces: Alberta, and British Columbia
Two National Parks: Banff and Yoho


Three hostels: Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise
Ten random rides to trail heads or hostels. Thank you kind strangers.
Kilometers: more than 80 this last week alone.
Wildlife: black bear and cubs, grizzly, she sheep and lamb, ptarmigan and chicks, mule deer, and more.
Weather: thunder, lightning, rain, darkness, wind, water, sun, heat.
Can't step twice in the same river, but I waded in the Bow River in Calgary and again in Lake Louise. I also dipped my feet in the loess of LakeLouise, and those at the base of Sentinel Pass.


Cold and refreshing.
More details soon.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Chester mountain circumnavigation

Oh Chester have you heard about Harry? He just got back from the army. I heard he knows how to wear a rose. Hip Hip Hoorary for the army.

This was a song my mom used to sing, complete with hand gestures for each word, like pointing to your nose for knows and putting your hands on your hips for each hip hip hoooray! It must have been the influence of the girl scouts singing every minute of my last adventure that had me singing this Chester song every time Ben uttered Chester Lake.

I arrived in Canmore by Greyhound from Calgary. After a short nap on the bus I woke to mountains. I felt at home and equally awed at the newness of this place. Canmore also felt familiar, a bit like Telluride. And the familiarity continued when Ben picked me up at the bus depot. While I'd never met him, his mom and my mom were good friends with the same name, and his sister Bonnie is a friend of mine from the jewish high school community. Ben sounds like Ruthie, and looks like Bon.

Saturday night we enjoyed Thai food and a radler on his porch, remarking that the smoke from earlier fires had indeed dissipated. We swapped stories and planned the adventure for Sunday.

Ben drove out on the gravel Smith Dorian road, also known as Spay Lakes road, past the reservoir and into Spray Lakes Provincial Park. This is Kananskis Country. We parked at the Chester Lake Trail Head. We began the hike to the right as our objective was Headwall Lakes and a circuit back to the car. Along the snowshoe and cross country ski trail we marveled that the weather was holding, and the sunbreaks caught the vibrant red Indian paintbrush on the trails edge. We turned left at a large carin, and climbed higher into the basin. Last years floods had damaged the bridge, so we picked our way through the braided stream crossing.

The scree fields were immense and the Headwalls made it clear I was in the Rockies. Towering geology with fabulous patterns loomed above me and stone over stone beneath my feet. I love the alpine.

The meadow and rocks were full of Dryas, yellow columbine, red and hot pink paintbrush, purple aster, saxifrage, arnica, moss campion/phlox, pink monkey flower, elephanted headed lousewort, and more. it was so nice to see these familiar flora. The chirp of the pika, the scent of the yarrow,and cow parsnip. We also saw ptarmigan and chicks. Ahhh.

We lunched at the first lake and then pushed higher. From the second second we followed the stream in the squishy green moss to nearly the end at the basin of Fortress Mountain. Climbing the scree ridge was tough going, but at least it wasn't raining, there were no bugs, and I wasn't carrying skis. We made it to the col! What views! What a valley in each direction!

The decent was remarkably steep. I was plunge stepping in loose scree, boot skiing rocks. We travevered across the slope to hit a snow patch. Ben called it glissading, I called it boot skiing. Inthe mixed corn, sun cups, and ice runnels, we skied to the basin beside a lake. The coal inthe rocks made for beautiful patterns. The descent to Chester Lake was straight forward, the meadow there was expansive and beautiful with glaciated peaks in the distance.

The final push was a slog, on a wider mountain bike road. We just wanted to get to the car, and I wanted out of my boots. We did it!

http://www.everytrail.com/fullscreen.php?trip_id=737675

Ben drove a loop back to Canmore, which wasn't shorter but offered more views and an ice cream stop. I had the Canadian maple walnut!

He drove me to Banff and I write this next morning listening to the thunder and rain drip through the trees outside my hostel window. It will be a good rest day and a chance to explore town.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Tweets and pictures from #GGCarctic14

Check this out.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GGCArctic14/tweets
Be sure to click on the tweets to see photos. You do not have to have a twitter account to see them!

Waiting for white rocks to move

We had been waiting for white rocks to move.
Bears are harder to see in this season than in the winter. Even armed polar bear guards can stare at white rocks sometimes waiting for it to move. In the winter, the yellow cream color of a polar bear stands out against the brilliant white of snow. Much easier to spot.

None of us could see it, at first. While we lunched on the rocks at Parks Canada Cape Merry, a bear was spotted across the river at Fort Prince of Wales. Indeed, a white rock was moving. It was really far away, just a pixel spot on my zoomed in photo with the big lens on. Our bear guards said, "close enough!", as they couldn't carry a firearm on Parks Canada land. Still, we were thrilled! 

The next day we ventured out on the land with naturalist and guide Paul Ratson of Nature First. He's about my height, with a big belly and a seasonal gray beard. Summer season beard. "can't have a beard in the winter up here unless you want to carry a block of ice around on your chin. Worse, is when your face gets stuck to your sleeping bag." He's donning sunglasses, and a paperboy cap, binoculars around his thick neck, and a lethal riffle slung over his grey sweatshirted shoulder. 

We were going rock hopping. A hike on some Precambrian shield rock dotted with lichens. If the black lichen is wet, he says, it is a slick as grease. Mind your feet. We leave the van and fan out on the squishy land as to not create a trail. We walk on caribou lichen, Dryas (also known as arctic avens), and some snow birch. The hummocks give and recoil on the active layer above the permafrost. Isostaic rebound is a term applied to the land in general here that is rising up after the glaciation. Think of pushing on a pillow due to pressure, and then watching it rebound. Arctic tundra is doing the same, slowly over time. Thus, the Hudson Bay is getting smaller as land mass rises.

We gain a small ridge and the group is stopped. I am awed by the view of the Hudson Bay to my right and take a few photos. Then I hear Paul say blah blah wait blah bear. BEAR! I turn to my left and not more than 60 meters away is a sow and her cub cuddled up sleeping in a day bed. My heart is beating fast...nerves for these girls, excitement, and panic that I can't change my lense fast enough, thinking the bear would soon be gone. That couldn't be farther from the truth of the situation. Paul explained we would stay here and watch. The bear sees us as we see her, but she decides our next move, not us. 

In fact, the actions of a cub could decide what we do next. Cubs are categorized in three ways. A coy is a cub of the year. A yearling is a cub about a year old. Subadults are cubs 2-4 years old. Our cub was a yearling that Paul estimated to weigh 150 pounds. Mama was about 700. For over an hour we had the best episode of 'tundra tv'. Our private viewing of the intimacy of raising a cub on the land. We had the best seats in the house. Solid rock beneath our feet, steady breeze to reduce the bugs, and warm sunshine overhead. Mama bear lifted her head. Then cub stirred. I spotted the fox on the ridge. That was what she smelled, Paul suggested. The fox moved closer. At one point I had the fox and bears in the same tight 300mm frame. I could describe their movements in detail but will simply say that I was awed humbled and so lucky to witness this scene. The mama shooed the fox away and went back to the day bed, while the yearling cub took a swim in the pond beside the bed. We were there! 

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Wind water waves and wonder

July thirteenth. It rained all night last night. There may even have been thunder. It was a watershed regardless. We woke to  60km/ hour winds, but dry skies. Over breakfast I overheard another guide tell her client that their kayak tour was off. So I called Sea North to confirm our zodiac tour in the Churchill river estuary. She told me the boys were down on the dock, checking it out and she asked me to call back in a half hour.  When i phoned back, she suggested that we get on a jet boat that would be more stable in the chop. We agreed.


I drove part of the crew in the van, and Sue drove others in the suburban, stopping once to avoid a Canada Goose and her goslings cross the road. (why does the goose cross the gravel road?) in fact, the goose hit the grass on the other side, but then turned back to charge at the car!

As we got shuttled from town to the dock, Kim glued her face to the window of the bus. "that is not a wave," she said of the white caps in Hudson Bay. "I swear that's a whale." sure enough the bay and estuary were teaming with playful mothers and young calves in the chop. We braced the crazy winds with captain Remi, and Dustin and Jules for crew.

"keep shooting, and delete the water shots later," Remi says. I shot 560 shots of super close whales.


Full moon over the tundra.
First clear sky in days.

More soon.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The group

Check out a post by a girl guide on our first day!

Monday, July 07, 2014

Work permit and golden boy

I've never flown into Canada before. I've always driven across, with my own luggage in the car. I've never had to fill out a declaration form. I've simply answered questions with responses like, "no fruit sir; we are going skiing;I'm staying with a cousin; we will bring and leave them a bottle of wine.". In my excitement to work with a group in Canada I checked the "business" box on the customs form.

Little did I know what hassles that caused. I was detained in customs for over an hour, while I graciously and honestly explained the unique situation of my job. The hang up is why would the Canadian girl guides hire a US company to do a job Canadians could do? Why didn't I have a work permit, or a letter of introduction? A few phone calls and checking categories and checking boxes and filling out forms and paying a large sum of money, my passport now holds a Canadian work permit. It is a colorful piece of paper stamped above the NA, folded in thirds vertically and in half again to fit in my passport. Occupation: outdoor sport and recreation guide. Conditions: cant take classes, can't work for anyone else, can't work in other location than stated, and must leave canada by August 16. So much for being a ski instructor at whistler, I joked with the customs agent.

When the sliding doors opened from the silent and empty customs holding area to the baggage claim, I heard my  name almost immediately. Michelle, our transport, recognized my shirt, and  took me to the girls guides who were playing UNO by baggage claim in their uniforms.

Michelle tranported us to the hotel, passing the legislative building topped with a 13 foot high golden boy. A gift from France in 1919, in 14 k gold, the golden boy was held up during the war in the hull of a ship going back and forth. He didn't arrive until 1920 and was put on top.

Girls enjoyed pizza and we made our hand contract to start the expedition in style.


Sunday, July 06, 2014

Could YOU name the provinces of Canada?

As I'm learning, this gave me quite the chuckle:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/americans-fail-canada-again

check your own answers here:
http://www.bridges4kids.org/images/canada.gif

Tunter, Inuksuk, Avati--Welcome to the Arctic Environment

The word "tundra" comes from the word tunter in the language of the Sami people. It means "treeless land". Sami are also known as Lapp people, from the far north of Norway. It seems I'm going full circle. The photo below is the demarcation of the Arctic Circle from the train in Norway.


Inuksuk is a stone messenger that stands at the top of the world. They guide Arctic travelers and mark where to find food or how to get home. It can even be a way of saying "welcome." I was welcomed with these two Inuksuks in Vancouver for the Olympic Games of 2010.
Avati means "environment" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. 

Saturday, July 05, 2014

Research and curriculum materials


Preparing for a trip in another country always includes books from the children's section of the library.  Lucky for me I can reserve a number of juvenile books online and have them held at my local branch for easy pick up. The picture books in the top photo are going back to the library this weekend. They gave me a great sense of the highlights, stories, and concepts to convey to my high school explorers.

The lower set of books and materials are going with me.  (clock wise from top left) The binder of travel information is for the other adults in the program. Night Spirits is a collection of first person narratives regarding the relocation of the Sayisi Dene people from their caribou hunting grounds to the town of Churchill and the subsequent power dynamic and violence, poverty, and alcoholism. Chasing Ice is a remarkable documentary film about climate change by scientist and adventurer James Balog. I'll be sharing it with the explorers and leading a discussion. See it if you haven't yet. Peilous's Naturalist Guide to the Arctic is must. A map of Manitoba. Spirits of the Snow, a gift from my father years ago on native lore on the people of the north. Gretel Erlich's signed copy of Future of Ice, her remarkable inspirational poetry and prose on climate change (what book of her's isn't remarkable, poetic and inspirational--ahhh!).  Barry Lopez's signature Arctic Dreams--I first read on route to Iceland and Norway. Meditations on the Earth--a collection of quotes and sentiments for reflection I hope to share with my explorers. My journal--given to me by Global Explorers with a polar bear on the cover.  Paper work for the expedition--tons of it!