my travels in pixels

Unless you are in the top of Australia (think estuarine crocodiles as the freshies are harmless!), we normally never have to worry about walking into something that might potentially eat us. Here in North America they have cougar (probably my biggest fear) and bears. We also watch out here for snakes (rattlers in the desert), bison, elk and moose as they can kill you too. This week we really had to watch all around us in case a bear just appeared behind us. Be careful when you come out of the restroom! As you can see we finally got to see the sow and cubs. We had been looking for them ever since we arrived, but no show until this day. These cubs are a lot bigger than the ones we saw last year, it just goes to show that if it is a mild winter they can start eating sooner, and get bigger quicker. Mum sent the cubs up the tree for safety Cathy spotted some movement in the forest up near the Cameron Lake carpark. There was a mating pair in there, a cinnamon sow a...

Waterton Lakes National Park - Week 1 We have returned for our second year to Waterton Lakes NP in Canada, two weeks earlier than last year. It is normally quite cool at this time of year but the weather like everywhere it seems, is different this year. The first few days were in the high 20ºC's, days are sunny, sometimes with a cold wind. The wildflowers are out spread across the green meadows and the smell is divine. Cinnamon black bear - boar This bear had just walked through the carpark. He started to walk towards the trail that leads to Akamina Lake. Wildlife will take the easy route whenever possible, so if there is a trail there they will take it. Sure enough he started walking down the trail, so we followed him. Keeping a healthy distance behind and with a can of bear spray of course! Then he stopped and rubbed himself up against a tree. He never did continue down to the lake, but went into the forest. This black bear is very blonde. Most of the tourists here ...

Waterton Lakes Townsite Campground Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta Canada Why we chose here? It is inside the park close to both the Akamina Parkway and Red Rock Parkway Location: Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta Canada Sites: 237 Facilities: 94 x FHU pull throughs, 46 back in electric & water, 97 unserviced, Hot showers, restrooms. Water is available throughout the campground, dump station Groceries: Waterton grocer Reservations: Yes, $14 fee – you need to book on the weekends Cell Coverage / WiFi:  The campground has free WiFi Price Paid: $27.40 unserviced - there were no others available, $32.30 E&W, $38.50 FHU Date of visit: June 2015 Other: Maximum 2 weeks stay, Parks fee of $20 a day or annual Waterton or National Parks pass. Fill up propane before you come, it is available from Pat’s but is double the normal price. Would we come here again? Yes. I would book different sites for weekdays and weekends if I couldn't get...

Waterton Lakes Part 2 Waterton has a lot of walking trails of which we did: part of Cameron Lakeshore because it became impassable due to flooding, Akamina Lake, Crandell Lake off the Akamina Parkway, Forum Falls and campsite which is on The Wall trail, and Blakiston Falls. The day before we left we were going to Bertha falls but a thunderstorm squashed that idea. They give you a great map showing all the walking trails, with a description, elevation, estimated time and length. So we would start our day early looking for the sow and cubs and then go off and do a walk, go back to our campsite during the day, have dinner at lunchtime and come back before dusk to look for the bears again.  Canada Day fell in the middle of our stay which brought warm sunny days and lots of people, I think it’s the start of their holiday season.   Lindsay went back to the hotel to find out why he didn’t get a reply from his complaint and we were asked to come back ‘on the hou...

Waterton Lakes NP, Alberta Canada All that fuss over nothing about taking food over the border. You don’t need to declare any food going into Alberta, only British Columbia and some other place. They didn’t even ask us about our alcohol. Did we have firearms, bear spray or any other personal security device. Did we own our truck and trailer and where were they registered and why?, Did we have flights booked to leave the US? Now that we don’t have the i94 visa stapled into our passport, I’m not sure what the procedure will be if we want to officially leave the USA at the end of a six month period driving across a international border. When we arrived at our campground just outside of Waterton, there was a sign on the office window to say the campground was closed due to flooding, but the Fraser’s are to go to site 47 and just follow the map! Good thing we booked last week. They had 11”/28cm of rain in two days! Older Canadians still talk in inches. Dave told us that the campground...