Happy Birthday!

Yeah, Canada Day!

Canada day in Fort Smith isn't bad.  Sure there aren't miles of street performers or hoards of people dressed in red and white and sporting all sorts Canada themed clothing.  But for a tiny little town the parade wasn't bad.

The entertainment in the park was actually really good even if there were no big name acts.

And I certainly wouldn't get to enjoy a free meal back in Ottawa.  The fish fry was great!

Here's a nice shot of Charlie...looking so patriotic!

The one big thing I missed? Fireworks :(  It's not only dangerous when the risk of forest fires is high, it's also pointless when it doesn't get dark.

This photo is one from Cross Lake at New Years...just to make me feel better.

I hope you had a fun Canada Day too!

Oh Crap!

I'm a little behind in my posts so I'll try to catch up.

My weekend in Hay River was lovely.  Beautiful scenery, fabulous weather, and pleasant company.  The plan was to get up bright and early on Sunday and drive back so I could participate in the Photo Scavenger Hunt that my Photography club was putting on that afternoon.

This is where the title comes in. When we went to turn onto the road heading to Fort Smith we came up to this...

Apparently  there were two places along the road where there were fires burning on both sides of the road. Clearly I was not going to make it to my photo club event.

With nothing to do and time to kill, we hit the road again; this time heading up towards Yellowknife.  We drove for 1 1/2 hours, crossed the MacKenzie River on the fairy, got gas and headed back.  I must say this was a very boring stretch of road...straight highway and trees on either side.  The fairy ride was the most excitement.

Check out the cool old truck we saw.

I must confess that I was very disappointed that I was missing my photography club outing, but after having one of these I felt so much better.  I love the claims they make on the label...now if only I had the Island breeze and Reggae music to go along with it.

Once we got back to Hay River the road was open again so we could go a merry way. Of course there were Buffalo, with cute little babies this time.

Double crap! This one took me by surprise. Only about 100km from Fort Smith we spotted this...

Then a road block where we had to wait to be escorted through the smoke.  Really I thought they made a big deal out of nothing.  I've driven through thicker fog.

It was a little disconcerting to know that forest fires were burning so close to where I'm living, and not having a body of water between the two of us.  When it comes to being stranded by a forest fire, I much prefer being on the side where there are roads leading out.

A feast for the Eyes, the Belly, and the Soul

My visit to Hay River was by no means over; The drive into town provided many extraordinary views of the valley and the river below as it winds its way along.  It brings back so many wonderful memories of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and destinations much further South.  Who new we had so many similar things in our own back yard.

Here are just a couple pictures of the valley to tempt you into visiting this fabulous part of the country.

You may remember my winter pictures of the Hay River Fisherman's warf and the vast emptiness of Great Slave Lake. Here is the little fish market as it's meant to be seen.

And the feast for the belly it provides...Soooooo good!

A short distance from the fish market you can find many secluded little spots to hit the beach along Great Slave Lake. Since it may be my last trip this way for the summer, I definitely wasn't going to miss the opportunity to swim in a lake north of the 60th Parallel.

 I can tell you that although this lake is the second largest in Canada it sure is shallow near the shore.  I thought I would have to go halfway to Yellowknife before it got any depth to it.  This probably wasn't a bad thing though as it made the water nice and warm.  In the picture below the water really was only about mid-thigh but I figured if I didn't get in soon, you'd never see me in the picture.

One other cool thing about the North...the long summer days.  This photo was taken at 1:00 am.

Fall Spectacular!

Not quite what it sounds like but boy the falls were spectacular.

Last weekend I made a trip to Hay River again to check out some of the nearby falls and the extraordinary canyon that winds through the whole area.  I am constantly blown away by the scenery of the Northwest Territories and I feel quite sure that I'm not alone in my misconceptions of the area. I was thoroughly convinced that it was flat, virtually treeless, and without anything that could remotely be considered beautiful...Boy was I wrong!

The first stop was Louise Falls where I was rewarded with a panoramic view of the valley far below.

After climbing down the spiral staircase, a dizzying adventure on its own, I hiked along the edge of the cliff where I was able to take a few great pictures.

Just a few kilometres down the highway was Alexandra falls, even bigger and more majestic than Louise Falls.  Hiking down the river trail was mind blowing.



I couldn't help but imagine someone canoeing along, having a bit of fun in these tiny little rapids only to discover (too late) that only a short distance away was this...

Wow! In the picture below I was standing just a few feet from the edge of this spectacular water falls.

After hiking along the short trails to view these two falls, I felt like a kid again and my old passion for hiking was firmly rekindled.