Neighbouring camper comes at me with a tire iron in his hand!

In this edition:

At the end of the last installment, we headed for home - as we tend to do once in a while!  But upon getting home, it was discovered that the nice neighbour (not the one with the tire iron!) had already cut my 2 acres of grassland!  So - after spending two nights in a row at home, it was time to hit the trail again.

Friends Ernie & Deb from Saskatchewan were out touring around in BC, and they wanted to check out one of my usual summer camping locations.  So we headed back out to the Abraham lake area to await their arrival.

Right away, Bailey had to check out their Jeep!

 

We hung out and got caught up for a couple days, and hiked the nearby Siffleur Falls trail.

 

Even Don came down from the Edmonton area one afternoon - and we watched the Stanley Cup final - courtesy of Starlink. 

 

The roads in the area are great now, and very scenic, but it was not so, back in the day!

After this trip, another two nights were spent at home, waiting out some rainy, wet weather.  One afternoon, the sun peeked out, and we were off!  But, unfortunately, it rained very hard, all the way back to the lake, and most of that night.

Next day, it was nice again, and Bailey showed his usual 'restraint', and raced off about 80 yards to meet some random strangers who were passing near our camp spot!  

A bear wandered by one day, surprising some tent campers on the far side of the river.  Looked like he was on the trail - headed towards Banff National Park!

 

Below is another shot from across the river, looking back at most of the random camping areas.

More friends, and their dog showed up!  Things were crowded because it was on the long weekend, and they couldn't get into the spot where I was on the river bank, but I scouted around and found a nice quiet spot across the road that we had all to ourselves.  Bailey, and their big black lab eventually agreed to terms for sharing the area!

 

We did the requisite hike back to Siffleur Falls, but also did a new hike into Whitegoat Falls

When Anders & Dianne left, there was nothing left to do, but head back to one of our favourite spots on Revelstoke Lake.  We settled in, and waited for the weekend crowds.

Bailey, still a kitten at heart, has a great time there stalking the various wildlife - and butterflies!

He still thinks he can catch random robins, feeding on berry bushes, or squirrels taunting him from 40' up in a tree. 

Cat on a collision course!

I photographed this butterfly - about 30 seconds before he caught it, but I was able to free it, apparently unharmed ;-)

But he did spot a mouse, making itself at home under the trucks hood.  Hopefully it was gone before we hit the road, as I have seen them before, popping up in front of the windshield when the engine compartment gets a bit too toasty for them.

Flowers were out in full force along the lakeshore.

A group of nearby paddleboarders out on the water to watch the sunset.

 

It was getting pretty warm during the day, so I was in the water constantly to cool off.  Bailey preferred to lay in the shade in the green grass under the rig, but also tolerated getting misted with water if he had to be inside. I also took him for his very first kayak ride, though it was  short.  He was somewhat concerned, but didn't panic or complain.  He's shown no fear when walking out on floating logs or other precarious spots, or (unfortunately) approaching total strangers and their dogs!

 

A Merganzer mother came by almost every day. I counted one with 12 young behind her!

On the weekend, a younger couple pulled in and parked on the old road approaching my spot where the now flooded highway disappears into the lake.  The girl came and talked to me, making sure I wasn't planning to leave, as they were somewhat blocking my exit.  I told her I would be here for a few more days - not a problem.  But there was a problem!  A bit later the girls boyfriend approached me carrying a tire iron!!  He explained to me that the one he had would not fit the lugs on the vehicle, and wondered if I had a larger size that he could borrow?  I dug mine out after supper, and it did the job he was trying to accomplish.  Gee, I hope no one was waiting to hear about a campground skirmish ;-)