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.