Purple-flowering Raspberry

I'm fairly sure that I have the correct ID for this plant - also known as Thimbleberry. We noticed a lot of these plants during our stay in Waterton Lakes National Park. Apparently, though edible for humans, the berries are tart and rather dry. Provides food for songbirds, game birds, and large and small mammals. There were no flowers left, but I thought the fruit and surrounding bracts were most attractive. I will add a previously posted image of a flower, found in Calgary, in a comment box below.

I spent 26, 27 and 28 August 2014 on a road trip with friends Cathy and Terry, spending the first two days in Waterton Lakes National Park and the third day driving east of Waterton in search of Burrowing Owls and Yellow-bellied Marmots. During our three days away, we saw so many things. This always happens when I go anywhere with Cathy and Terry - every day is a very long, fun-filled day, full of exciting finds.

Of course, we couldn't have had a more beautiful area to explore! Waterton Lakes National Park has amazing scenery and wildlife. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine - too often, it can be rainy weather. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit, lol! This storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - someone from the Alberta Tornado Watch group later told me that this storm was a mesocyclone! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, exciting (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Our road trip sure went out with a bang!

A few of the things we saw - fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including the Burrowing Owls (new to all three of us), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators.