Learning from Mom

This is so often the view one gets of Bighorn Sheep - seen from the rear. This young one was watching its mother, who was licking salt from the base of the rocky cliff at the edge of the road. Added a previously posted photo showing their faces, in a comment box below.

Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got to Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagne for me : )

Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river. It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait.

"One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces."

www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai...

Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest.

Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no sense in doing so in such dreadful weather.

As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines.

I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove along one of the gravel back roads just within the edge of the city. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home.

Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera once more - since then, winter arrived two days ago, on 2 November 2017, and it is most likely that it will stay on the ground for the next few months.