Bonus weather, and another short trip.

I think we were enjoying living life on the beach at Trout Lake when I last posted?

We then headed for home on the range - where we sometimes hang out when not camping!  I thought it might have been our last trip of the summer season, as labour day was well behind us and the weather was starting to show signs of cooling off.

I don't like the Blue Jays being big bullies around the bird feeders, and that awful screech they make - although admittedly beautiful they are.  So I fashioned a hanging scarecrow from an old pair of coveralls that sway menacingly in the slightest breeze.  The Chickadees, Nuthatches, and occasional Downy Woodpecker don't seem fazed at all, but so far, it is keeping the BJs clear.  They also tend to empty a feeder in a day, while the smaller birds can make it last a week or more.

Of course, I had to take the requisite iPhone shots at night with only moonlight for illumination :-)

Then, the stars aligned, and one more short trip came into focus, to get us on the road one last time before converting to winter mode.  The first stop was a sort of benefit concert, and get together of Jasper and Hinton people - in the aftermath of the devastating fire in Jasper.  It was to be held at the historic Entrance Ranch, just outside of Hinton.  On the way up, we chose the less-travelled route up the Sunchild road to the Brazeau reservoir.  There are a number of provincial rec area campgrounds in there, but they were all closed for the season - just fine with me!  So, we ended up at a primitive boat launch, far from any traffic or noise.

 Luckily, this sign advised us not to drive through the closed gate ;-)

In the morning, I was able to take some aerial photos of the area, with all the trees starting to change colour.

Once at the Ranch that evening, we immediately set to telling some stories (and tall tales!), with former work cohorts and band members of the band, before the evenings entertainment.

The evenings entertainment was provided by the 'Wardens' band, with two opening acts!  The whole show took place upstairs in the cavernous loft of the historic barn, with admission by donation.

Next day, we toured through Jasper National Park, and townsite on the way to the next stop.  Roughly a third of the entire town burned, as a result of a catastrophic fire that raced in from two directions at once.  No one was lost in the evacuation, but sadly, one Alberta wildland firefighter died while combatting the blaze.  He was based at one of the fire camps in Rocky Mountain House that I helped manage on occasion.  I lived and worked in the Park for 12 years, so seeing it in this conditions was quite shocking, as expected.  Sorry, no photos of burned bush or buildings :-(

The next planned stop on the tour was for a Celebration of Life for a well known Lake Louise local horse outfitter, whose husband I often crossed paths with in the backcountry.  She was a well known and respected member of the community until her untimely passing. 

I exited the park for the night along the way, and found a scenic spot along the banks of the North Saskatchewan river.

Someone had built a rustic outhouse - with a great view.

The Celebration of Life in Lake Louise was well attended, and of course, there were lots of old friends and aquaintances there - as I had also spent 15 years living in Lake Louise till my retirement.

From there it was back 'home' again for a while.  Lots of things to do. I pulled the 'summer' camper off the truck, and installed the hitch for the 5th wheel. Many of the contents in the camper were transferred over, including the heater.  We've had frost for a few nights, starting on September 16th, so winterizing the camper was in order, but it's a really easy job, and I can complete it in about 10 minutes, using only about a litre of antifreeze.  The 5th wheel remains winterized since we arrived back in April, and it will remain so until we start heading south again in a few weeks.  Since the truck now has heavy duty leads from the batteries to the rear of the box to accomodate the DC-DC charger I installed this summer for the truck camper, I  installed similar heavy cables that connect with the batteries in the 5th wheel, so at least while driving, the batteries should get way more charge than they would ever get through the tiny wiring in the 6-pin trailer plug.  I also cleaned up all the battery connections in the trailer, and installed bus bars to make the wiring a bit less confusing and easier to modify when needed.

Bailey is kept busy with the local squirrels - and getting vacuumed!  Check out the video!

Took Bailey in to the local vets for his first visit - just to get his vaccinations updated, confirm his chip, and check out his itchy ear.  He's been checking out the trailer regularly, so I think that means both of us are about ready to head south!

Long time gone!

 Recently, someone reminded me that I used to publish a blog now and then!  Sure enough, I checked, and I did post a blog back in mid-July!  That only seems like a century or two ago now.

Since the weather has cooled off substantially in the last week, and I find myself at home, with light rain falling, I guess there is no excuse now to delay further?  So, I think this is the latest, and longest blog post I've ever done.  Kick back and have a look!

Apparently, I was making a rare visit to my home base in Alberta when the last post came online back in July?

I managed to fit in both a doctor's appointment and a visit to the dentist during this time.  Weather was nice and hot, and I'd have all the house windows open at night to cool it down, then close them during the day to preserve the coolness.  Fortunately, I have a very cold basement, so I can always go down there if I need to cool off.  I've even slung my hammock from the rafters down there for a cold night's sleep.  Being at home also includes time to mow the grass on my 2.5 acres of grassland (I don't call it a lawn!).

 

Bailey was in charge of ensuring birds took no more than their alloted quota of birdseed!

While home, I wired up some solar panels to power a Bluetti power supply for a friend - with valuable assistance from Bailey, of course!

Some commuter traffic on the road ...

We took an overnight trip to Drumheller, and checked out a property for sale.  It was warm enough there that Bailey allowed multiple spritzs of water mist to stay cool.

In late July, my old home town of Jasper, Alberta was evacuated because of an approaching wildfire - that eventually destroyed about 1/3 of the town, as well as burning forest for miles and miles around .  About that time, my phone company accused me of not paying my bill, however my bank statement showed it had been paid on time!  Later photos showed that my bank branch in Jasper had burned to the ground during the fire :-(.  Although all the transactions were electronic, I wonder if there was a short outage while the bank made alternte arrangements?  A few days later, it was all fine ... with the transaction, not with Jasper :-(  

Before long the weather reports beckoned us back to lakefront free camping north of Revelstoke, BC.

 

After a few days there, it was time for a change of scenery, so we headed south from Revelstoke, across the ferry on Arrow Lakes, down through Nakusp, to a place on the shoreline near Burton.

 

From there, we backtracked a bit, then headed eastward towards New Denver and Silverton - where multiple wild fires were burning, and the highway was closed south of Silverton as a result.

 

After an overnight visit with an old friend and roommate in the Nelson area, we headed across the ferry from Balfour to Crawford Bay across Kootenay Lake, which is the longest free ferry in the world! Then, down towards Creston for a couple of nights.  The first was spent along a dike in a wildlife conservation area, with lots of waterfowl.

While visiting with a college classmate in Creston, I took the opportunity to tour the brewery where my favourite Canadian beer, Kokanee is produced.

From there, we headed back home to hide out for the long weekend!

Don & Donna had the same idea, so they arrived with their 5th wheel to camp in my yard for the long weekend.

We did a few day trips while they were here, including some lakes nearby, Red Deer, and the Ya Ha Tinda ranch.  

Some of the government horse on the range there, likely including the ones evacuated from the Jasper fire.

After their departure, I got busy with some overdue work to get my 5th wheel ready for winter migration.  I changed the connectors on the solar panels, to allow more flexibility, tested the fridge, cleaned the roof and sealed around all the vents and skylight.

After all that hard work, it was definitely time to take a break and go camping again ;-). We headed northwest again, and paid a brief visit to my old fire camp, before continuing on to Abraham Lake, where Don & Donna were now camped with some of their friends.

Bailey immediately launched himself off a 4ft bank, with only 2ft of remaining leash!  Oops!

Met this guy who camped nearby on his cycle trip around the world.  Apparently he's already gone across Europe and Asia, New Zealand, and now he's on the way across Canada. His little trailer is covered with solar panels.  I didn't ask him the story about the bra hanging on the flag on the rear corner of the trailer!

From there is was back home for a short spell of only a day or two, before heading off to Saskatchewan!

We spent a great week in Prince Albert National Park, with a convenient free camp spot just outside the park.

 Bailey celebrated his first birthday on this trip, and is now enjoying his first bag of adult cat food!
Bailey checking out the local Red Fox.

Spent some time biking and beaching in the area.

Checking for mice, or road-kill birds behind the front bumper.  Lots of bugs in Saskatchewan!

 

After the park, our next overnight stop was at the Forks of the Saskatchewan river, east of Prince Albert.  Here, the muddy north Saskatchewan meets the clear South Saskatchewan river.  I canoed past here on a high school trip - just a few years ago!

After a night on the road near Wainwright Alberta, we made a lightning visit home - for a total of about 18 hours to do laundry, mow the grass, and head right back to BC!  This time, we would hide in plain sight for another Labour day long weekend.

 

Beavers hard at work building a food cache for the winter!

And, finally, after the long weekend, we took the ferry south again, but this time to one of our favourite fall camp spots on beautiful Trout Lake.

Sometimes, there seemed to be 'Catastrophic' problems with the Starlink signals ;-)

 

Who knows?  This may be my last blog post till Bailey and I start heading south for the winter!  See you down the road.