Week ending Aug 13, 2015 Enchant and Bow City

Thursday after making our yearly Dr. appointments we took advantage of the short walking trail provided by the campground. It took us just under an hour and within minutes of arriving back at the trailer the rain began again. We are glad that we are not out on the golf course.

Friday was golf day. The campground backs on the golf course so we just walked over. We discovered we had to keep a close eye on our ball as there was a hawk sitting in a tree keeping a sharp eye on the comings and goings of the golfers. When we got to hole 7 we encountered a group golfing ahead of us who were much slower than us, which was a first.  It turned out they were a couple teaching their 3 kids to golf.

Saturday we went on a recon mission. There was a campground that had been described as  quiet and  scenic with good hiking near the ghost town of Steveville on the Red Deer River. We decided to check it out. It was not at all suitable and did not have any hiking, all in all a dud. We stopped at Brooks to get some groceries.  We discovered that a Medieval Fair was in progress. If we had known that, we would have stopped in earlier and checked out the fair.  By the time we got there the day was almost over. We checked a few campgrounds on the way back to Enchant.  The first stop was the Rolling Hills Reservoir County Park  which turned out to be operated by the Eastern Irrigation District, not Newell County.  It was a bit pricey for what they offer.  Then we checked out Bow City Campground, which is on the Bow River with some hiking trails, a beach and a rather pleasant looking campground with trees will shade our trailer while not interfering with satellite reception. The weatherman is promising us temps in the 35 degree range, so we will definitely want 30 amp service to run the air conditioner. Shade trees in the late afternoon and evening won't hurt either.

Sunday was another day to watch people pack up and head for home. We are always glad to just be watching this procedure rather than being caught up in the madness. We went for a walk on the trails around the campground in the morning as we were expecting a warm day. We are pleased all our neighbours have left so that we can leave the door and windows open to allow some breeze flow through. No air conditioning here as we are on 15 amp service. We spent the afternoon watching the Nascar race.

Monday was moving day. off to Bow City. Check Bow city's history at http://www.ghosttowns.com/canada/alberta/bowcity.htm Back to 30 amp service, a real requirement because the temp is promising to be in the mid 30's. As we were  heading into the campground another Titanium was backing into a site. It was the same lady that was next to us in Enchant. She had been to Taber campground since we saw her last and she reported that it was not a great park, and as it was in the valley the campfire smoke hung over the park, making breathing a challenge.   Once we were set up, one of the neighbours 4 cats came over to check out the owl.   It got pretty close before it determined the owl was artificial, probably because the owl wouldn't make eye contact.

We were surprised that there was standing water in the grove of trees around the campground, as it is a very dry area.  They keep the trees in good shape by irrigating the 'canal' that trees are in.
 

Tuesday, promised to be a hot day. We decided to take our walk early. This campground promised to have a beach, a place to launch boats and hiking trails. We walked down a dead end road. Finally found a place that we could get down to the river. It really was pleasant. We noticed all sorts of clam shells on the shore, but as we don't know much about fresh water clams we figured the smart thing is to not eat any. We were not able to find any traces of the coal mines that are advertised to be in the area.

John spent part of the afternoon working on the trailers roof. He will get the paint all pealed off eventually. When he started feeling overheated he would come in and enjoy the air conditioning with Joan. Just before 6:00 P.M. the campground caretaker came by to discuss our stay. We had paid for 7 nights (self registration is in  effect here), but there is a family reunion booked for the weekend, so we can not stay for the full 7 nights. He told us we can stay until Friday, so we changed our registration.

Wednesday is predicted to be the warmest day of the week. In the morning we went in to Brooks, picked up some beverages, ice cream and some fresh veg's. All the hot weather requirements. By the time we got back to the trailer it was already almost 35 degrees C. By mid afternoon it was really hot.

Thursday morning we walked to the trout ponds we had heard about from our Titanium neighbour and the campground caretaker.  They were just around the corner from where we went down to the river on Tuesday.  They are the result of the coal strip mining. We wandered around the ponds and found them to be an interesting area.  One of the larger ponds is stocked with trout.  Trout escaped from some of the other ponds into the Bow River, so they quit stocking the rest. 

The area is covered with 'Silver Sage' plants.

When we got back to the campground we spoke to the people who moved in last night. They are part of the Lane family reunion taking place here this weekend and the reason we have been kicked out. It turns out that she is one of the grandchildren of  George Lane,  the well-known rancher in southern Alberta,  who owned the Bar U ranch, which is now a historic site, and all the land in the Bow City area. The campground we stayed in many times in High River is named after George Lane.

Both the neighbours and our campground caretaker told us that there is no reason we can't camp by the ponds this weekend, as lots of people seem to disperse camp in that area, so we will head there tomorrow.