I’ll keep this brief as we’ve only patchy wifi, but our time in Wood Buffalo was amazing, from the moment we got to Fort Smith – the NWT gateway to the park, as signposted!
What a welcome! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
Within minutes of passing a sign stating bison were in the area, we encountered several small family groupings. They are incredible to see up close (but not too close) and they are large, so very large.
Amazing!
On our drive out of the park at the end of our stay, scanning the road ahead for buffalo and bears – both seemed to pop up almost anywhere, and even though they are not small creatures, harder to spot in the shadows and undergrowth than you might think – we approached a large rock or boulder. We both commented it looked a bit like a buffalo but wasn’t quite the right shape. Slowing down and passing the “rock” we saw it was in fact a buffalo, sat down with head up, and it was absolutely huge. Huge! The head and shoulders appeared larger than the front of our truck. We rolled past, slowly and carefully, and the buffalo tracked us with the smallest right to left turn of the head. Happily, it stayed where it was, and on we travelled, astonished at the size of him, even though we’d seen several large ones on other days.
Wood Buffalo ragged pines
Amazing, and barely scratching the surface of the wonders found in Wood Buffalo. More to follow when we’ve a better connection and had time to really stop and think about it all!
Best sit and think on things…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We haven’t had too much wifi connectivity the past few weeks, but when we have had it, scanning the headlines seems to indicate peace is very far from the hearts of so-called leaders… hey ho… we half joke that whatever apocalypse occurs next could take place and we’re so far away we wouldn’t know – at least, not until we return to “civilization” only to find a pile of smouldering ashes. Probably shouldn’t joke like that…
Peace
The mighty Peace River was a sight to see as we headed north, then more north. We stopped for a few days in the Fort Vermilion area, camping in a small forested site on the north bank of the Peace River, a few miles outside the hamlet of Fort Vermilion.
Sunny skies gave way to clouds, some rain and a couple of deafening, ground shaking thunderstorms! One overcast and stormy afternoon we wandered the south bank of the Peace, taking in some of the history and enjoying the river views.
In settler terms, this area is old, one of the first to be settled in the late 1700s, the Peace River being part of a network traveled by trappers, traders and voyageurs. The old Bay House has been renovated and preserved, an historic site of some significance. It appears very grand compared to other dwellings, and that was probably the point back when it was first built, conveying the power of the HBC. I liked the paint job…
Lovely colour
Our campground doubles as a community gathering space, and what a surprise it was one Saturday evening when a large group of Mennonite families arrived to enjoy a campfire meal. Big pick up truck after big pick up truck, full of hungry people who worked quickly to set up the meal. (We weren’t staring or anything – our site was opposite the central meeting space so we couldn’t help but observe all that was taking place). Anyway, I’m not too sure about the men and boys wearing regular jeans and all while the women and girls all dressed in more traditional clothing, but that’s just my view, not really all that relevant, and anyway, everyone gathered was clearly happy and having a fine old time.
Bug repellent
The following afternoon, a group of ten or twelve young Mennonite women met by the fire. We heard them laugh, tell stories and play games. It shouldn’t have been, (and says more about my own preconceived notions) but it appeared incongruous when several of the women, dressed in Sunday finery, wielded axes with precision, starting and maintaining a campfire – just the thing to keep the (not too bad) mosquitoes at bay. At one point, all the women stood as one and glided – I can’t think of a better word – as a group away from the fire and down to the river. To pray? Maybe? They looked happy and graceful and a world away from what we think of as the normal world… It was a peaceful scene, one of many by the mighty Peace!
After the storm
By the time this is posted, we should be up into the Northwest Territories and find ourselves somewhere on the southern shores of Great Slave Lake. That’ll be as far north as we’ve ever camped in Canada – so far!
Onwards! (Hoping the sunny skies return…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I received a WordPress notification earlier this week informing me I’d been blogging here for ten years. Ten years?! Goodness, that’s quite a long time. Curiosity prompted, I went back into the archives to reread the very first post, one entitled “Why Plaid Camper?” It was a not so brief introduction and indication of what I hoped my bright and shiny new blog might be.
Little Bear Sunset (near Bozeman, Montana) – the first photograph on OPC
In the main, I think the vague aims and intentions I mentioned way back when have been met – mostly – and continue to be met all these years later. But then I would say that, even though I am totally unbiased…
Bow Valley beauty, AB – always a happy place for us
Blogging is inevitably somewhat self indulgent, and in that spirit I think I’ll take the next week or two to reflect on ten blogging years and repost a few favourite photographs representing some memorable moments and/or happy places. Like I said, self indulgent!
A fine BC beer in a fine location – thanks for humouring me back then, Wayne!
So here we go, the greatest hits that never were – or, less charitably, just some repeats and reruns. Is it “Why Plaid Camper?” as that first post asked back then, or more “Why, PlaidCamper?!” Or maybe, more simply, why not?
Little Bear Cabin, Montana – tops the list of my favourite cabins!
I’ll end this week (before some more rerun photos) by saying “thank you” to each and every person that has taken the time to read and/or comment here the past ten years. Those genuine connections are the real why. So, shall we carry on for another ten and see where we go? And wonder what that might look like? (Erm, probably like pieces about going for a walk, visits to a campground or two in a pretty setting, and often finishing with a glass of something good by a fire?) Oh, ok – put like that, not too bad, eh? Let’s keep it going – cheers!
Cheers! (Hardknott Bar, Woolpack Inn, Lake District, UK – great beer selection and the best company, even if my brother only drinks Peroni…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Thanks, friends!” (Taken at Dry Island Buffalo Jump, AB)A different AB good mood – oh those prairie days outOne of our very best days – thank you, Jet!Any day out and about with Scout always works for usAlberta river rush! A day on (not in) the water with friends is a good day
Scout here. OldPlaidCamper is around, but you know how he can be when elections are won by old xenophobes, criminal misogynist wannabe “strong” men and- well, I could go on but then I’d sound like him, and we all know I’m more chipper and less likely to rant than him. So, while he’s off sulking, this week it’s up to me to provide a post. This is about something, or rather, a something that has been lurking and maybe even tracking us in the woods.
Hiding places
OPC can get twitchy – or squirrelly but not as cute (don’t tell him I said that) – when there’s a rustling in the undergrowth. I’ve explained over and over that there really isn’t anything much larger than a deer in our little neck of the woods, but will he listen? Yes, yes, there’s the troll house, but we’ve never seen the trolls, have we?
The troll house (no trolls though)
Anyway, there we were out in the woods last week, and, yup, there was definitely something different in the vicinity. We paused to listen. A sort of low rustling and then nothing. On we went. There it was again! It stopped just after we did. Now, I’m not the nervous sort, not like a certain almost outdoorsman we all know, but I will admit to being a little spooked. Not spooked or annoyed like I get with ravens and crows, and we all know I’m so calm I’ll sleep through a bear encounter, but this time I was ruffled. We moved on. And there it was again! Hmm.
“Wait! Did you hear that? A scurrying behind us?”
As a child, oops, I mean pup, and just like OPC, I was always drawn to maps in books that had places marked with “Here be dragons” and this was beginning to play on my mind. Could it be… no! So, perhaps it was a troll? Except whatever it was sounded too fleet of foot – not lumbering, far more nimble than that. You’ll never guess what OldPlaidCamper said? “I say, Scout, old thing, I do believe we’re jolly well being stalked by a woodland dragon! How beastly. Shall we hide?” (When he’s nervous, he sounds like a prissy child actor in a Sunday teatime BBC adaptation of one of the Narnia books. You won’t tell him I said that will you?)
Eye rolling moment
Oh, c’mon, OPC. There is no such thing outside of your, oops, I mean my, story books! (I’m beginning to struggle with the narrative voice here. It’s not easy writing this. Never mind all thumbs on a keyboard, or a monkey (as if) with a typewriter – I’m all paws. Nope, not easy…)
Where was I? Oh yes. OPC loves dragons, but, unlike trolls, they only exist in stories. I’ve never seen one – have you? OPC says dragons are more real than a Brexit unicorn frolicking in sunlit uplands, but I usually stop listening when he gets started on that. You know, unicorns.
Here be dragons? Don’t be daft, OPC
This post isn’t going anywhere is it? I thought I’d write something more interesting than his usual man goes for walk with dog then drinks beer. I was aiming to be a bit more elevated. More dog goes for a walk with man then eats kibble, and ending with a soft focus photograph of a bowl of kibble and a caption saying “yum!”
I’ll humour him. “Yes, OPC, something has been lurking here!”
Oh well. I’m tired, and I need to go find OPC, see if he needs a walk and feeding, so let’s leave it here this week. He often finishes with something like that, doesn’t he? “Let’s leave it here this week!” Not me. I’m going to say let’s paws it here this week. Elevated. Oh! I almost forgot, and I’d hate to leave you in suspense – was it a dragon? Yes! Yes it was! A baby dragon:
Yes, that’s right, a baby dragon. (I know, I know, but don’t spoil it for OPC – he’s fragile after recent events…)
A baby dragon?! He insisted on calling it that, bless him. To me it looks a lot like a salamander, but try telling OPC. He is adamant it is a baby dragon. And now, when we go to the woods, he’s all “here be dragons!” each time we turn a corner. I’ve decided it’s best to let him believe it, since it seems to cheer him up, and don’t some of us need that at the moment?
Thanks for reading, and we hope you have a wonderful weekend!
As it turned out, the heights weren’t the highest we’ve hiked, climbed or scrambled in the past, but on a warm fall day, and starting at sea level, the near 1400 feet up felt high enough. Got an endorphin high for sure!
Get high
If you’re ever in the vicinity of Camden, Maine, and you’re looking for a mostly moderate (and, in parts, challenging) hike with spectacular views from the heights, then I heartily recommend the Mt Megunticook Trail at Camden Hills State Park.
Happy trails
The hike up through a red, gold and green mixed forest on well maintained trails is pretty special, and if the trail only meandered through the woods you’d be happy enough.
The bonus is, with a little leg and lung workout up some steep sections (steps made from rock slabs and a couple of short and potentially slippery boulder scrambles if it was a rainy day) you’ll emerge up top and enjoy amazing scenes over Penobscot Bay and across the low hills and mountains of the nearby Maine interior.
Some elevation
I’ll let the photos do the work this week – and, as much as I like these images, honestly, they don’t capture the magnificence of the place. You’ll just have to visit! You’d be dizzy with delight, I promise you!
Delight
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hidden dangers? Sounds exciting – they could be anywhere and everywhere. Goodness, let’s explore this some more – follow me into PlaidCamper dangerous daydream territory…
Lose yourself here? No…
I’ve rarely found outdoor places to be overly intimidating, preferring instead to enjoy and be amazed by the beauty of the natural world, at least as I’ve experienced it. I’m sure if I was ever truly lost in the woods, or really caught outside in an immediately life threatening situation, then I’d certainly feel trepidation, and be afraid. I don’t leave home unprepared, but perhaps I’m getting complacent? I should snap out of it, because maybe it’s not so safe out there…
Mostly though, I’ve been outdoors in relative safety, often due to the company of more experienced fellow travellers, people who’ve taught me, as necessary, how to safely navigate the genuinely wild and remote places we’ve found ourselves. I count myself very fortunate to have been taught and trained by so many tremendous individuals.
A touch sinister? Follow me, it’ll be fine!
But what about those hidden or unexpected dangers? Do you ever wonder how you’d truly fare if you found yourself in a serious and dangerous wild situation? I think about this quite often, although I don’t go out of my way to seek danger. It’s just… suppose danger finds you? There’s always something lurking in the woods, isn’t there?
Recently, I’ve noticed that sometimes I’ll wander along and daydream, somewhat inattentive, almost complacent because I’m walking in woods mere minutes from our current home. I’ve yet to see bear or wolf tracks, so it’s all good – isn’t it?
Calm down, imagination – just shapes in the snow, they aren’t creatures…
A little while back, I fell behind Mrs. PC and Scout, mostly because I’d been dawdling, stopping to take a photograph or to look at a particular tree up close. Distracted, I stepped off the trail in a spot a bit more overgrown than the surrounding area. It was heavily blanketed by recent snow and my snowshoe went down and then down some more.
Deeper snow off the trail
Struggling to extract myself, something on the far side of the nearest tree positively exploded into motion, up, off and away. You should have seen me jump up, out and back on the trail, heart hammering. In this place I’ve never seen tracks for anything larger than a deer or another person, so I’ll assume it was a deer. I didn’t see what it was – too busy waiting for my overactive imagination (everything ran through my mind, so many possibilities – fortunately, nothing ran out of my undershorts) and my pulse to calm down…
Yup, deeper snow – anything over the edge?
Once I’d steadied myself and caught up with Mrs. PC and Scout, (my outdoor cool and nonchalance restored, acting like I’d never been, you know, even slightly startled) it was back to daydreaming, asking how I’d cope in a dangerous or unexpected situation?
Seems like being taught and actually learning might be two different things. As for what might really get me out there? Well, why worry about a bear when a deer combined with an overactive imagination might do for me. How would I really cope? Hmm…
Daydream territory
PlaidCamper caught daydreaming – I’ll say I had a wake up call! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We left the Great Plains behind, (good song here) sad about that, nodded at the 100th meridian, and continued east (most of those nineteenth century settler wagons went the other way – ever the contrarians our wagon is a Tacoma – many horses carrying our camp kitchen loaded with various tinned and dried goods…) aiming for Ontario and the north woods. A land of lakes and trees. And lakes and trees. And lakes and trees.
Lakes and trees? Probably going the right way…(photo by Mrs PC)
For this stage of our trip, the cool and groovy mixtape DJ had spent ages curating an appropriate track list. Or he just downloaded a comprehensive Tragically Hip essentials playlist from Apple. Forget the details, it worked and that’s the main thing.
The wagon. Parked under trees. Near a lake.
The best Ontario driving day for me on this trip – and there were many days as Ontario is quite large – was the stretch east of Thunder Bay to Kapuskasing. Rolling hills covered with trees, lakes every three seconds, and if there wasn’t a lake, then a river or wetland, glimpsed through the trees. The entire day was one beautiful sight after another. The roads were pretty good, better than I’d expected, mostly empty and that made for a great drive. Gosh, that lake was pretty! Through the next bend and surprise, gosh this lake is pretty. And so on. Loved it! All in for this patch of Canada. Fully Completely.
Lakeside stop. Time to rest the horses, and water the livestock.“Did you just call me livestock?!” Offended face.
If not for the destination further east in mind, we might have been tempted to slow down and hang out for longer in the Ontario north woods. We’re already planning some camping trips for another time – it really was spectacular country!
Near Kapuskasing, not long after sunrise
The road is calling, so we’ll leave it here – or back there, in lovely northern Ontario, with Gord and the boys on the radio. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
And maybe a little blue – the colour, not my mood…
Early morning lake – a little blue
I was sat in my car the other day, enjoying the rain, having timed the top of the hour construction traffic opening to perfection. After waiting for thirty five minutes, I congratulated myself on being early and adjusted expectations accordingly.
Enjoying the rain
At least the views were good, and I found myself thinking about the survival show “Alone” I’ve been watching the last few weeks. As in most things, I’m about seven seasons behind, and knew nothing about the show, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered that the first two seasons (possibly others, I’ve yet to find out) were filmed just up the island! Very exciting, and it added a little extra something to my viewing, being so familiar with the landscapes, if not the challenges, the participants faced.
“Straight ahead, then turn right, paddle a day or so, and after that you’re on your own!”
Not every participant enjoyed the density of the coastal forest they found themselves alone in. I’ve never been truly alone in the forest, or as deliberately lightly (for want of a better word) equipped as they were. I’ve always found the forest to be beautiful, slightly intimidating, but not downright frightening, although it is a dangerous place, as most places can be with or without proper preparation.
Green
Anyway, I was sitting in the car, staring (in a moody yet cinematic way) at the wall of green to my left and wondering how long I could survive alone in that particular forest? The answer? Not long enough to win. I think maybe a week or two, if I avoided injuries, and convinced myself to eat enough fish, crabs, and seaweed to supplement the squashed mouse diet. Even though I’m a confirmed introvert through and through, I could not be by myself for the fifty something days I think the first winner completed.
Fifty something days? No problem! Without beer, you say? Wait a minute…
As the top of the hour came and went, and the traffic didn’t move forward, I began to wonder, peering through the rain soaked windshield, “Is there anybody in the vehicle in front, and the ones behind?” “Am I alone out here?” “Is this the start of an elaborate reality TV show that Mrs PC signed me up for and she forgot to tell me?” “I’m getting hungry – is that a mouse?”
Green and blue
And then the lights on the car in front came on, and it inched forward, the gate having reopened at the same time the door closed on a budding reality TV career. Fifty something + days? Yeah, I could do that…
I was sat in my office yesterday morning, toiling away on reports no one was likely to read, and wondering where had it all gone so right for me to be indoors on an unexpectedly sunny day? The drive to work had been about perfect, with the sun breaking through light mists, illuminating the low mountain tops and giving the bay a silver-pink- blue glow. Even the usually tetchy kingfishers appeared happy, and ducks were splashing prettily in the shallows outside the door. Yes, poor me. Still, lucky ducks, hey?
Yesterday morning – too nice to be inside
As I began a scintillating paragraph to get page 578 rolling, my phone rang. Oh no! An interruption, and just when I was getting to the interesting bit. “Hey old man you busy?” “Yeah, got to finish these papers today, can’t miss a deadline, you know how it is!” “Oh, ok. We’re in R’s truck, a few of us are heading up Mt. Ozzard to check on the new mountain bike trails, and thought you’d like to see what the young ones have created. But if you’re busy…”
Ozzard on the right (picture taken Wednesday evening)
Fifteen minutes later, I was in the back of a pickup, bouncing along logging roads to the foot of Ozzard. What can I say, I’m dedicated. To getting out and seeing what our youthful charges have been up to. I was almost finished anyway…
Ride a bike down here? No thanks!
As we climbed the trail, slipping and sliding on a mix of mud and snow – yup, the snow had stuck under the trees and in the shade – I delighted in having the freedom to be able to slip away from the office, walk up a mountain, and call it work. Like I said at the top, where did it all go so right?
Hard at work…
Anyway, a short post as promised. Did I finish those reports? Do you really need to ask? Of course – hold on, let me finish – of course I can get them done by Monday. I’m not specifying any particular Monday…
Thursday morning. Easily distracted (silver-pink-blue? I think so…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday afternoon – sun setting on what turned out a pretty good day
We have been past the turning to Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park countless times in the last ten years. Little? Nah, not stopping for anything little, not when we’re surrounded by big western Canada. Well, weren’t we shown to be a little(?!) silly…
Before the drop
We had to be in Qualicum Beach for an afternoon appointment, and the combination of never wanting to be late and having to get through before the daily construction closures (completion Summer 2020, budget $30 million) around Kennedy Lake, meant we had time on our hands. Alright then, let’s check out the Little Qualicum Falls.
Fall at the falls
We parked in an almost empty lot and headed up the trail marked Upper Falls. I do like to let gravity do the work later in a hike whenever possible. The trail was muddy but not impassable after a week of heavy rain, and we could hear a distant roar of cascading water up ahead. Promising!
Promising
The falls were spectacular! Huge volumes of water crashing down narrow chutes, throwing up mist and spray glinting in the late morning sun. What a sight and what a sound, and not little at all! Cascades of water, churning and tumbling and completely exhilarating!
Delighted we saw the falls, our descent after was decent, as we smiled all the way down, wondering why we hadn’t stopped there sooner?!
Noisy!
When we got home, having been held up by construction closures (new completion date late Fall 2022, new budget $58 million) we decided we must try a bit harder to explore the little delights closer to home, and not to pass turnings signposted to “Little” anything unless we promise to visit inside ten years…
Exhilarating!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 