Dear Friend,
Imagine that you are at the edge of a lake at your favorite time of day. What do you hear? Is the water peaceful and still, or wild and choppy? Who is with you? What do you see in the distance? What is the temperature around you? What does the air smell like? Do any plants grow around the lake? Are you standing, sitting, or swimming? What is under you? Take in a deep breath, how are you feeling?
I hope that you are doing well and that you have had a great week. Some of our loved ones are returning to school soon if they haven’t already started the new year. Everyone has their own feelings about school and there are a lot of variables, but I wish every student and teacher a fun beginning … May interesting lessons be taught and received well!
Frank and I have agreed, we’ll never be finished learning. I’ve mentioned before that we often visit small town libraries as we journey along. We stop in to do research, write, get caught up on correspondence, buy a used book or two…
A few of the campgrounds that we’ve visited offer educational presentations put on by their Park Services. The topics of these presentations are geared toward educating campers of all ages.
We’ve learned about White Nose Syndrome in bats, (a deadly fungus that attacks bats) especially when they are hibernating.
I know how much you like to spend time in caves. No? Not you? Well, if you are planning to spend any time in a cave, please, first read ABOUT WHITE NOSE SYNDROME
We used to love to go boldly into the very dark of a cave, (the blackness always feels like an oasis to my eyes). But now that we know about human-spread fungal spores, we will happily forego a cave experience to help protect our bat friends!
We attended another presentation at Yoho National Park, Canada. The Rangers informed campers how best to prepare a campsite before leaving to go on a hike or going to sleep. There are postings at every campground in Canada to promote safety for animals, not just for people.
• Do not eat in (or store food in) tents, or any soft sided camp dwelling. (Animals can eat through most fabric).
• Use proper bear-proof trash and recycling receptacles, don’t ever leave trash where an animal can get to it.
• Don’t feed any wild birds or animals – it does more harm than good and it is illegal.
• Put away all food and anything used for cooking or storing food, water, or anything that might have a scent (even toiletries).
• Most campgrounds have ‘bear lockers’ for storing these items if you can’t store them in your car.
“A few extra steps on the part of a camper can result in wild animals remaining alive in the wild.”
Bear-proof trash and recycling receptacles, like jigsaw puzzles, range in difficulty. It seems that each campground has a different locking configuration for everyone to figure out. You are clever, I know. You will not be stumped by a trash can. I certainly had some memorable moments – suffice it to say,
Dear Camper,
Read and practice all instructions before success is granted.
Signed,
Boo Boo Bear and the Road Runner
Well, here's a tree-hugger question: When is the last time you stood at the foot of a very tall tree? It is difficult to take it all in, the height, the age, the strength and patience it must have had to stand right there, growing through storm after storm, freezing wind, snow, rain, drought, the heat of summer. What stories it could tell! So many broken branches, scars on its bark, creatures taking shelter, the shade that it offers … And that’s just one tree.
Immense forests full of very tall trees carpet the valleys of the Columbia Icefields.
That number of trees is hard for me to fathom, they grow in dense and tall, and in between grow shrubs, grasses, mushrooms… and the wild life… all existing in the close company of gigantic mountains.
It’s August 2023 and the earth is warming. Though the glaciers are receding and even disappearing, new glacial layers will freeze with new snows usually beginning in mid-October. Some countries are trying various ways of slowing the annual glacial melt knowing that the melting glaciers provide water for people as well as wild birds, fish, animals and plant life. It is not an easy situation, there isn’t just one solution, we have a lot to learn about our relationship with earth.
The glacier melt along Icefields Parkway is evident in the many beautiful waterfalls, rivers and lakes.
There is already a plethora of information available (and new technologies are being used every day) to better explain the formation of the earth, how glaciers played (and play) a huge part in the shaping of our world, how human beings have impacted nature and the health of each other and of our atmosphere… there is always so much to learn.
Thank you for being here to read Tracks by the Post. Your kindness is appreciated here! Write to me and let me know about YOU!
We wish you a wonderful week!
Gently Be,
Leslie (and Frank)
As always, thank you, Frank, for these stunning photos of our journey, coming soon to: fbphoto.com
Meanwhile, our journey continues back in the States … For now, we say, ‘So long, eh?’ to two more of our Canadian connections:
