The day before yesterday, 13 September 2023, I couldn't stop thinking about all the beautiful Shaggy Mane/Ink Cap mushrooms that I had seen growing at a certain location in Kananaskis in September twice before. So, with that as my destination, I set out for a long drive (346 km in total), leaving home at 9:15 am..
The weather forecast was good, apart from the few raindrops that fell on my windscreen. Not too hot, either. Fall colours were starting to show.
A Red-tailed Hawk was the first thing I came across, perched on a fence post way out in a field. This was followed by a small cattle drive, moving the cattle from one field, across the road into another field. I must admit that I was amused at watching the cowboys who tried their best, but failed, to catch three or four of the cows, who absolutely refused to do what they were supposed to do. A moment later, a convoy of massive cattle trucks came down the road and turned into the ranch where the cows now were. I always love seeing a cattle drive, even though this one was shorter than others I have seen.
Continuing my drive, the next sighting was a small group of Bighorn Sheep, females and young ones. A while later, I reached my mushroom destination and was delighted to find a sprinkling of these fascinating fungi. A few were already turning into black ink, but others were fairly young.
At one point in my drive, I stopped to take a scenic shot or two and found two people were standing there. One man was holding a bear tracking device and I was thrilled to bits to be able to listen to the beeping sound coming from the Grizzly Bear's collar to the tracking device. This gentleman told me all sorts of interesting information and I really appreciated his taking the time to chat. I would never have spotted the bear, very high up on a distant mountain slope. Describing what I saw with the naked eye as smaller than a distant 'speck' turned into a larger speck once I had zoomed in on my camera. As you can see from the photo I posted, the bear was a long, long way off! It kept disappearing into the trees, but then would descend the slope a little way and sometimes would break into a very short run, possibly chasing a Ground Squirrel. A young man was accompanying the man with the tracker. I wish him all the very best and hope he eventually finds a career that is interesting and in beautiful surroundings. So glad I met both these people. It made my day!
Another place I stopped was to see if I could find an American Pika. After my really bad trip and fall back in the city one year ago, this rock-covered ground was definitely not the best idea. However, I only climbed a matter of a few steps, holding tight to my hiking pole and moving extremely slowly and carefully. My reward was seeing two little Pikas, so busy collecting plants to store in their 'caves' for the winter. Not the best photos I've ever taken of these cute little creatures, but a few are OK to post. My focus was more on trying to make sure I didn't trip over any rocks.
While I was watching the Pikas, I could hear some kind of sound and eventually realized it was coming from three distant Bighorn Sheep that were standing on the highest ridge. After a while, one appeared near the highway and she stood and waited in the middle of the road for quite a while, looking up the slope for the others. I didn't see them at all, but I'm sure she must have found them in the end.
I continued my drive to another favourite scenic location, then turned around to face the long drive home. What started off as a mushroom drive turned into a great day of unexpected and much-appreciated happenings!
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