Rocky Mountains

Another variety of ground squirrel in the Alberta Rockies is this Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel. At a glance, it looks like a chipmunk because of its striping and colour but it is much larger. Most squirrels are longer than wide but the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel is quite rounded. These ground squirrels were living on the same rocky slope that the Pikas were on. I don’t recall seeing this ground squirrel before until this summer’s trip to Alberta.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Call them what you like . . . Cowboys, Mountain Men, Horsemen but the Spirit of the West truly lives in Alberta. I met up with these two men who were heading out and up into the mountains on a six day pack trip with their horses.  For a brief moment, I thought I was on location of a John Wayne movie, being called “Mam” and all.  I found out that one of the pack horses was carrying food for the horses, the other had food for the men who stated they could get by on little but it was important that their horses had feed during the trip.  They were just doing the final checks before heading down into the canyon and deeper into the mountains.  The photo of them heading down into the canyon is one of my favourites from the Alberta vacation. There is something very peaceful about it.

There are ranches in Alberta that offer “horse” vacations where you ride and tent in the mountains.  I only went on a partial day Canyon Ride and it was absolutely beautiful. I am thinking the 4-6 day vacation would be spectacular !

~Sharon

The Pika is a real cutie!   I had a blast watching these little characters hopping around the rocky slopes, each time carrying grasses and leaves in their mouths.  Sometimes they would sit for a brief moment and eat, other times stash the greens in rock crevasses.  The Pikas hardly sat still for any length of time so getting some photos proved to be a challenge.  They are about the size of a small guinea pig, have furry broad feet and rounded ears.  Their fur is chinchilla like and I saw some that were brownish and others that were more grey.

Enjoy!

~Sharon