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!