Categories
bikes canada

bike park squirrel was not amused

He sat there looking at me for 20 seconds, then chattered loudly and ran away with his pinecone.

 

 

And just to prove it really was in a bike park:

 

 

Ok, even that shot doesn’t look that much more bike-parky. Rest assured, there were more log rides, and some jumps, and a see-saw. And a 10km single trail loop that started out fairly smooth, but then seemed to get rougher and rougher as you went round it. My hardtail and I are petitioning against the excess of pine tree roots around Canmore. Also perhaps the rocks.

Categories
canada general travel

chipmunks and RVs – tales of the road

After living here for nearly a year, we finally visited Lake Louise and drove up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper on the weekend, in a bout of touristing with Mum. It wasn’t fatal, but camping and road trips sure are popular round here in Summer. We fought our way up the highway through streams of traffic, and battled for campground space with RVs. Vicious chipmunks attempted to eat our shoes and car tyres, and vicious panpipe and trumpet players attempted to assault our ears. We were not crushed by the relentless retreat of the Athabasca Glacier, and no tourists fell down a crevasse, despite crossing the barriers and dancing round on the glacier and posing for silly photos. Oh, and we also escaped unscathed from the man-eating Canada Geese at Maligne Lake.

 

Golden-mantled ground squirrel, at the Lake Agnes Teahouse near Lake Louise
 

 

Poppies outside the Lake Louise Chateau
 

 

Athabasca wuz ere in ’82
 

 

Train tracks outside of Jasper
 

Tomorrow we’re jumping on a ship and sailing up to the Yukon, where I’ll wrestle a moose, then tame it and ride it back to Canmore. And also drive up to Dawson City, and the Dempster Highway – well that’s the plan anyway.

Categories
general

squirrels

squirrel

There are three squirrels that come and visit the place I’m staying at the moment. There’s Hooky, with a bent ear, there’s the little one with it’s tail half missing, and there’s Fatty, the biggest of them all. They usually turn up separately, and eat the nuts that have been left out for them. If they arrive at the same time, there are squirrel domestics. These pictures are of Fatty the squirrel – he’s the boldest of them all – none of the others would even consider coming inside, but he does. He’ll also sit around on the bars waiting for you to feed him if there are no nuts out. Cheeky little bugger.