Week ending Aug 14, 2014 Chain Lakes

⁣Thursday we followed the walking trails through the park. We stopped at a view point with a picnic table overlooking the lake. We then followed a gully down to the edge of the lake. As we were making our way back to the swimming area Joan picked up a fish hook on the trail. We stopped and spoke to a couple fishing at the edge of the lake and gave them the fish hook. Our next stop was the little cafe by the playground. An okay place if you want hamburgers and hotdogs. We decided to pass on that opportunity.

Friday we wandered through the campground to see if there were any services here. This is a very basic place. We finally stopped at the office, which is shared with the Ranchland M.D. office to discover that there was a cattle auction in progress. We picked up a bit of info about hiking in the area.

Saturday was a day to explore the area and find a hike. We first headed to Livingstone  Falls. On our way to the falls we encountered a herd of mountain sheep. An interesting little group of animals that came right up to the truck, looking for food. By the time we carried on the truck had several muddy  nose prints on the sides. 

It had been years since we had been to Livingstone Falls. They were very different from our last visit. The flood of 2003 has rerouted the river, so  the falls are now really like a rapids. Quite a change.
 

After chatting to some people about the solar panel they were using to power their camper we struck out to the hike we had chosen. We found the trailhead area. After following what turned out to be an animal trail we got to a bit of a meadow. The trail kept disappearing and then we would find it again. John went on ahead and low and behold found the real trail, an old road. By the time we both got to the road we decided it was time to return. We followed to the road down off the hill, we were curious to find out how we could possibly miss such a wide, obvious road. The information in the hiking book we have is less than perfect, and we went right instead of left from where we parked the truck and hence missed the overgrown road. Oh well, we had a pleasant walk through a quiet forest. As we headed back to the trailer we took the Gap Road through Maycroft back to Highway 22. The gap is very picturesque, A spot through the mountains that is wide enough only for a road and the Oldman River.
 

As we got to Highway 22 we were waved down by a couple in a rental car. They had heard that the highway 40 was closed and they wanted to  know if they could get through. After our info they headed off feeling confident that they could easily get through.

Sunday was Nascar race day.

Monday we visited Fort MacLeod. We wandered down historic main street and then visited the museum and the fort. 

On our way back to the trailer we stopped in Claresholm for the first Taber corn of the season. Shortly after arriving back at the trailer Karen and Dominique arrived. They were on their way home from their visit to Fort Steele. When they left last week, they had forgotten Dominque's jacket, so needed to pick it up. We heard about their trip. After dinner we played cards. When they headed out to their tent we noticed that there was an interesting red moon out.

Tuesday morning Karen and Dominique left for home. We sat around in the sun, enjoying a quiet afternoon.

Early Wednesday morning we had a bit of rain, the first in about a week. We expected it would rain because it was moving day. We arrived at Twin Valley campground about noon. A funky little site we discovered last year, our only disappointment this year is that the water in the reservoir now has blue algae in it, so we are not able to take out our inflatable out on the water. After setting up we just sat around in the sun and enjoyed doing nothing. After dinner we did a test with our cell phone. There is no cell service in this valley, but if we walk up to the top of the hill we get service. We had noticed that when we did not have cell service we were still able to use the phone as a wi-fi hotspot. Yes that works here too. Great to know we can check our email and John can download his puzzles in the morning.

Thursday morning all our neighbours left. Yes we are alone in the campground. We went for a walk down to the wharf, read all the signs about the algae. Yesterday when we drove in the cormorant that was here last year was still sitting in the same location, this morning he must have gone fishing. John spent the afternoon messing with the satellite connections.

On Sunday, we return to Bow RiversEdge in Cochrane for a month to do our fall health stuff, so won't post another blog until we hit the road again sometime in mid-September.

Week ending Aug 7, 2014 Vulcan

Thursday evening Karen and Dominique arrived. The first point of business was to set up their tent. We just finished that job and a storm blew in.  We discovered the tent wasn`t in the best location so we moved it behind the trailer, where it was a bit sheltered from the wind.  There was a bit of hail in the rain, but not enough to do any damage to either the trailer or Karen`s new car.

Friday after drying out Karen’s tent we went to visitor information to pick up info for Karen’s vacation, stopped at the liquor store and picked up some clothes pegs.  We also wandered through the trekky museum in Vulcan. The rest of the day was spent visiting with Karen and Dominique and making plans for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday we went for a drive. Our first stop was Brant, a little town we have seen the sign for many times when traveling between High River and Vulcan.  Its only claim to fame now is a water pump in the middle of its main street intersection. Brant was named after the annually migrating Brant Geese. 

Our next stop was Frank Lake Conservation area. We have driven by Frank Lake for years and never seen the conservation area, but this trip we were on a different road that took us past the south end of the lake  where the conservation area is located with its walking trail.  We decided to investigate Azure, a very small town, in fact all that is left is a grain elevator that is on private property.  We then went to hunt for “Old Women Buffalo Jump”, a highlight marked on our Alberta backroads map.  The reason no one knows about most of the many buffalo jumps around Alberta is that they are unrecognizable as Buffalo Jumps and there are no historic signs pointing them out.  After much discussion we decided we found it, but it is not nearly as spectacular as Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. 

By this time it was time for a snack, what better place than the candy store in Nanton.  After Nanton we checked out Chain Lakes campground for future use. It was the long weekend and surprisingly there were still a couple of sites available. At this point we decided to head for the nearest Walmart to pick up a large tarp for Karen, to protect her tent and hopefully keep her dry. Off to Okotoks. We picked up a tarp and a few other things and then headed back to Vulcan, going through Mossleigh. We had a busy day seeing all sorts of things on roads less traveled in central Alberta.

Sunday we relaxed in the campground, and watched the car race. 

Monday was another exploration day. We headed to Arrowwood, a small town Joan had wanted to visit for some time. Many years ago a lady from Arrowwood had worked with her at a City of Calgary election. She had been told about a great western wear store there. As we left the trailer John said he had to navigate because he wanted to go on some back roads. Off we went. Joan blindly following John’s instructions, to drive along roads beside the Arrowwood Creek valley.   We turned onto a road, that quickly turned into a rutted lane.  After a couple of miles of this, we figured we needed to follow the power line, another two track lane, to head back toward a grid road, which we could see in the distance. Finally we arrived at the road.  It turned out that we had turned a mile early.  The backroads book showed only  an entrance into a field at the previous turn.   Glad we have a big truck that can handle minor off-roading. We eventually got to Arrowwood. We discovered the great western wear store has been closed, apparently for quite a while.  

But we did notice that there was a very small RV park,  with full service and cement parking pads, perfectly level. Rates were amazing, so another place not too far from High River where we can stay when in the area.  We then stopped at the bridge over the Bow River north of town. The bridge was washed out last year by the flood.  There are signs of work on it, but it is still not repaired and looks as it it could still be some time before the repairs are complete. I guess the biggest complaint about this bridge wash out is that the Siksika reserve is on both sides of the river and it must take a long time for the people on the Arrowwood side to get to Gleichen.  We then headed back to Vulcan stopping to take a look at 2 other towns marked on our back country maps, Anastasia, now reduced to a farmyard and Shouldice, a group of homes with no businesses.  We stopped for a picnic lunch next to a field of ripe peas.

A few miles down the road, we were driving through the small community of Queenstown when we noticed a stage coach.   We don't see many of them in our travels.

 Tuesday Joan went to the hospital to get her blood work done in preparation for her CT scan booked for August 15th.  Then we did laundry.

Wednesday morning we headed for Chain Lakes Provincial Park while Karen and Dominique headed to the Crowsnest area. The only service it has is 30 amp power. We discovered that the provincial parks have a deal to 'stay 3 nights pay for 2',  providing all 3 nights are from Sunday to Thursday.   It works out that if you stay for a week, you to stay for 7 days and pay for 6. We have come to the conclusion that the provincial parks must be having trouble filling up, since we haven't seen this offer before.  Shortly after we had paid at the self-server registration kiosk,  the warden came by to find out why we had only paid for 6 days.   Despite the explanation Joan had written on the envelope,  he still needed us to explain that our week included  Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights, which entitles us to get the 3rd night, in this case Tuesday,  free.

Although we had our choice of most of the sites in the A loop (which can not be reserved), most of the sites filled up later in the day.