Kananaskis.

Friends of ours who we have known for almost 30 years,  originally also from South-Africa recently spent a few wonderful days with us in Calgary. They visited us before in 2010. We took them to see another part of  Kananaskis on a cloudy day.

The Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail. Canmore to Highway 40 This gravel road is used for the “backdoor” access to Peter Lougheed provincial park.

Whitemans Pond near Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Friend’s photo.

Deer on The Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail.

Near Ha Ling Peak trailhead.
Gravel road above Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Friend’s photo.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.
Friend’s photo.

“The large, spiraled horns of ram bighorn sheep are distinctive. Bighorn sheep are brown to grayish brown in color, with light under parts, a white muzzle and an obvious, light rump patch. Ewes and young rams have spike-like, curved horns. Bighorns are the largest of all north American wild sheep. Adult rams weigh up to 135 kg (300 lb.), but adult ewes are much smaller, averaging 70 kg (150 lb.). Sheep have soft hooves with hard outer rims that give them good footing on precarious ledges. However, the two parts of the hoof are not independently movable. Thus, bighorns are not as agile as mountain goats on difficult terrain. Bighorns do move quickly over rocky mountain slopes when alarmed. The eyesight of bighorn sheep is acute; they can detect movement over a kilometer away. The rut occurs from November to December. Lambs are born the following spring. Sheep are mainly grazers, feeding on grasses and forbs. They may also browse on alpine willows. They make frequent use of mineral or salt licks. Bighorns spend their summers high in the alpine zone on grass-covered slopes. In winter they may migrate a considerable distance to reach south or southwest-facing slopes where snow cover is minimal. The Fish and Wildlife Division estimates the provincial population (in Sept.) to be about 5,800 animals. This estimate is based on population counts in selected areas and hunter harvest information. ” –Alberta wow.

Alberta, Canada
Friend’s photo.

Buller Pond Day use.
Friend’s photo.

“Buller Mountain was named in 1922 after Buller, Lieutenant Colonel H.C. DSO. It is located in the Kananaskis Range in Alberta.” –Wikipedia

Elevation: 2,805 m

 

“Buller Pond is on the west side of the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Road about 36km south from Canmore and 32km north from the Kananaskis Lakes Trail Junction.”

 

Loon on Buller pond.

“The eerie calls of Common Loons echo across clear lakes of the northern wilderness. Summer adults are regally patterned in black and white. In winter, they are plain gray above and white below, and you’ll find them close to shore on most seacoasts and a good many inland reservoirs and lakes. Common Loons are powerful, agile divers that catch small fish in fast underwater chases. They are less suited to land, and typically come ashore only to nest.” – All About Birds.

 

“Buller Mountain was named in 1922 after Buller, Lieutenant Colonel H.C. DSO. It is located in the Kananaskis Range in Alberta.”

Buller Pond Day use.
Buller Pond in winter.

Mount Assiniboine.
Friend’s photo.

 

“Alberta’s Kananaskis is the Rockies best kept secret. To the southwest of Banff National Park, ‘K Country’ as it is known, is an unspoiled paradise. Full of picture perfect mountain scenery, wildlife and flora, Kananaskis can be visited at any time of the year. There are excellent cross-country skiing trails, which become excellent hiking trails in the spring. Whether you camp, stay in a lodge or in a luxury hotel, all the facilities in ‘K Country’ are of an excellent standard.” – Alberta’s Kananaskis.

 

“History: Kananaskis is said to be an Indian word meaning “meeting of the waters”. The Kananaskis river and passes were named by Captain John Palliser, who led a British Scientific Expedition through this area around 1850.” – Bivouac.com

Upper Kananaskis Lake.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.

“Rocky Mountain bighorns inhabit the mountains from Canada south to New Mexico. They are relatives of goats, and have balance-aiding split hooves and rough hoof bottoms for natural grip. These attributes, along with keen vision, help them move easily about rocky, rugged mountain terrain.” – National Geographic.

 

“Wild sheep live in social groups, but rams and ewes typically meet only to mate. Rams live in bachelor groups and females live in herds with other females and their young rams. When fall mating arrives, rams gather in larger groups and ram fighting escalates. Usually only stronger, older rams (with bigger horns) are able to mate.” – National Geographic.“Lambs are born each spring on high, secluded ledges protected from bighorn predators such as wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions—though not the golden eagles which target lambs. Young can walk soon after birth, and at one week old each lamb and its mother join others in a herd. Lambs are playful and independent, though their mothers nurse them occasionally for four to six months.”- National Geographic.

“Bigghorn sheep have brown coats and a white rump patch. In the autumn, the coat is rich and glossy, but by the spring it becomes faded and grayish. The pelage is never fine and woolly, as in domestic sheep, and is instead short and coarse. Once a year, in June or July, sheep shed their hair and can have a scruffy appearance with patches of matted hair until the new coat grows in..” – Canadian Geographic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friend’s photo.

Wildflowers.

Opal Falls, Alberta, Canada

Opal Falls.
Friend’s photo.

Gate near Opal Falls.

The prairies.
Friend’s photo.

The prairies.
Friend’s photo.

We had lunch at The Twin Cities Hotel in Longview, Alberta, Canada

“The Twin Cities Hotel, its name a reference to Little Chicago and Little New York, was completed in 1938. The hotel was built by former professional hockey players Red Dutton and brothers Paul and Tiny Thompson.”- Highriver times.

Twin Cities Hotel – Saloon Film Locations

Kananaskis Country.