Such a difference a couple of months makes...

It's hard to believe that the two photos above are taken from the same spot about 2 months apart.  The raging torrent from the June floods have turned into a gentle trickle from the July/Aug heat and drought conditions.

The photos are taken from the bridge on 4th Ave E overlooking Chester Creek...

Life is Good!

The mess at Chester Bowl - post flood

Jewels and I hiked Chester Bowl the other day.  First time since we got back from holidays and it was a  shocker to see all the damage caused by the June floods.

Thought I'd take a walk back today and take my camera along.  The photos don't really capture the magnitude of the storm damage.

I guess if there is a good thing to say about this is the fact that hiking is an outdoor sport done over rugged terrain... well, this is certainly rugged...

Life is Good.

Interesting photos from Pond Inlet, Nunavut

I was checking out facebook this morning.  Found a post from Jamasie Arreak who is and Inuit man from Pond Inlet in Nunavut.  He had over a hundred photos posted of various people and scenes from the Pond Inlet area fromover the years.

I was so impressed with so many of them that depict the harsh but natural life of the Inuit people from the scenery to the photos of fishermen, kids at camp as the people live of the land, and a gentleman posing with a large number of narwhal horns that were recently harvested.

A different way of life... Life is Good!

Mother Nature... SCARES THE HELL OUTTA ME!

So, last nite after our hike, I headed out to a nice little chokecherry patch we found the other day.  I was in my own little dream world plucking the nice little berries from the trees when I heard something behind me.  Sounded like someone throwing out a pail of water.. you know..how it splashes when it hits the ground.  Didn't pay much attention as there was a tower in the bushes and I thought someone might be working there.

A little later, I heard something in the bushes again and this time when I looked, I saw a bear about 15 feet away just looking at me... Well... It took about 2 seconds for me to (A) Shit my pants (B) Leap over a huge rock and onto the road - and (3) Climb into my truck.

After I caught my breath, I looked for the bear and he wasn't there.. so I backed up the truck about 10 metres and there he was .. just gazing at me as if I were his last worry in the world.  Thankfully I probably was.  After he sauntered off, I went back to my berry picking and had no further episodes.

Tonite...  I noticed our compost pile was somewhat stirred up so I grabbed the garden fork and started to reload the pile.  I noticed a hole or some kind of burrow into the pile so I started tossing the debris onto that area.. Suddenly, I heard a loud HISSSSSSSS from the bowels of the pile.  In about 2 seconds I - (A) Shit my pants (B) Tripped over the garage stairs as I was backing out  (C) Raised every hair on my arms straight into the air sprouting out of my goosebumps.  SCARED the hell outta me.  I'm not sure what it was but in my mind it was varmint number 3 in the above photos.

You'd think a tough old Manitoba farm boy like me would be a bit braver.  A little secret here... The reason Jewels makes such a great hiking companion is the fact that I think I can out run her when/if we were to stumble onto a wildlife threat along the trail... teeheehee...

Life is Good!

Hiking the Crow Creek Valley Trail - North Shore

Yesterday we enjoyed a bit shorter hike although the first quarter mile was straight uphill. Total length of the hike was about 3 miles.  We were in the Crow Creek Valley just past Two Harbours.  Weather was fairly hot but we had lotsa water and enjoyed a cool watermelon treat when we got back to the truck.

Such a nice day... and good company.  Life is Good.

Our hiking partner at Split Rock..

We enjoyed the company of Julie's daugher Annie on our Split Rock hike..  I mean, we really enjoyed her company...  Nothing like a good laugh to ease the pain of hiking 6 miles in 94F heat.

Sooo... Annie couldn't pass up the opportunity to cool down in the shallow waters of the river... and she was really enjoying her swim until she realized it was teeming with leeches.  Good thing there weren't more people around.  She might have been a bit em - Bare Assed...

Life is Good!

Hiking the Split Rock River Trail....

Yesterday we decided to hike the Split Rock River Trail.  This turned out to be one of the nicest hikes we've done yet.  The water was fairly low so the many falls we passed were rather tame... but... it was so nice to be able to walk out onto the river rocks and enjoy the scenery and tranquility of the area.

It was hot.. damn hot at about 93F and we could have hauled more water if we were a bit wiser.. but this is a live and learn pastime and we learned from that mistake.  The last part of the hike was a bit more grueling than it should have been if we were a bit more hydrated.

Hilites of the hike... well Split Rock of course.. and then down to the beach at the end to enjoy the cool Lake Superior water and the view of the light house.

Life is Good!