Podcasts about kananaskis country

When Jasmine Lovett and her 22-month-old daughter, Aliyah Sanderson, vanish from Calgary, the search leads investigators to the stunning wilderness of Kananaskis Country—and to Jasmine's boyfriend, Robert Leeming. What begins as a missing person's case unravels into a chilling tale of betrayal, violence, and shocking discoveries. What secrets did Robert Leeming try to bury, and how did they come to light? Ancient Nutrition Go to https://ancientnutrition.com/ae for 20% off your first order Shop the Merch: www.annieelise.com Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: 10toLife@WMEAgency.com  Sources: CBC Calgary News Calgary Harold Global News Red Deer Advocate Mirror Daily Hive Calgary Sun People The Canadian Press

Meet Alex Horner - outdoor adventurer, craft beer enthusiast, and co-founder of Banded Peak Brewing. Located in the heart of the Barley Belt in Calgary, Banded Peak brews adventurous beer for adventurous people. Alex started the company with his two childhood friends in 2016 after experimenting with homebrewing, and was quickly acquired by Labatt in 2020. Named after the iconic summit in Kananaskis Country, Banded Peak tries to use as much Alberta barley as possible, totaling about 90% of their grain.Join us for a conversation diving into Alex's journey, his love for the outdoors, and his passion for crafting beers that celebrate adventure.Guest:Alex Horner: Instagram | LinkedInBanded Peak Brewing: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website Host:Mark Kondrat: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | WebsiteLMFAB Podcast:  Instagram | TikTok | Website

​Calgarians have been doing their best to conserve water, but as the emergency water situation in the city enters its second week, our water usage has been trending up. We get the latest on the repair of the massive “Feeder Main” break from Mayor, Jyoti Gondek. The death of a rare, white female grizzly bear in Kananaskis Country is being described as a ‘massive blow' to Alberta's grizzly population. We hear from John Marriott, a Wildlife Photographer and Environmentalist who's outraged by the loss of the grizzly and what he's proposing to better protect bears in the Province.   Finally, 2.5 million people in Canada are impacted by cataract disease. How much do you know about the condition and how can we best protect our eyes from damage? We tackle the topic with Ophthalmologist, Dr. Mona Daher.

Georgia Kelly sits down with Elsa Perry and Rebekah Hansen of Shelter Movers. Shelter Movers is a Canadian organization which helps survivors of gender-based violence transition to a better, safer life. Shelter Movers collaborates with local businesses and community services who refer clients that have decided to leave an abuser, and have a safer place to go. Shelter Movers makes all the arrangements to move and store survivors' belongings securely, on the clients' terms. The organization seeks to empower survivors as they transition to a life free of violence.  For volunteer opportunities with Shelter Movers, please visit: www.sheltermovers.com/volunteer/  About our guests  Elsa Perry comes to Shelter Movers with extensive experience in the non-profit and private sectors throughout western Canada. She has a background in developing and implementing educational outreach materials and programs for children and youth. Perry is originally from rural Southern Alberta, just under the mountains in Kananaskis Country. Rebekah Hansen, chapter director for Shelter Movers Edmonton, began her work in the gender-based violence sector in January 2016. Since 2018, Hansen has served on the board of directors for Boys and Girls Club Whitecourt & District and continues to support them in her role as past president. When Hansen discovered the work of Shelter Movers, she resonated with the mission and knew she had to get involved. Georgia Kelly is a third-year undergraduate in the University of Toronto's Ethics, Society, and Law program. In addition to her work at rabble, she is also an associate editor for her student newspaper, the Varsity. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

Getting babies outside starts in the womb! Supriya Rajaraman grew up in India, and has now been living in Canada for the last 10 years. She feels like she is breaking barriers in her family and culture by exploring the outdoors, especially while pregnant, and now with her little explorer.    Supriya, along with spouse Karthik, and baby explorer, Tanish, who is 9-months old, love exploring the outdoors together. Keeping it simple, and starting with neighbourhood walks at just 5-days old with Tanish, they now love taking their baby explorer hiking, and plan this year to explore all that Kananaskis Country has to offer.     Some Interesting Discussions:  The different feelings about activity in pregnancy in different cultures  Listening to your body and your intuition with activity in pregnancy, as well as your care providers' recommendations   Mothering the mother – caring for the mother postpartum     Book Recommendations:  Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May   To Have and to Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma by Molly Millwood, PhD    Don't be afraid to break barriers and do what works for your family, in all areas of parenting.     Follow on IG: @suppreya  Or on the KWE Calgary Regional Facebook Group        Check out KWE's #patch4apurpose to support 1, or all 8, charities: https://kidswhoexplore.com/product/original-explorer-patch4apurpose/    Today's Host: @adriannaadventures & @laurenrodycheberle from @kidswhoexplore Production: @kpmediaproductions. Music: @michaelferraro_music 

Canadian Rockies Experience is a Canmore based company nestled between Banff National Park and Kananaskis Country. Private Sightseeing tours, Guided Hiking, Snowshoeing and Ice Walks are offered. All tours are based on private groups in luxury SUV transportation and delivered by passionate local guides who understand the importance of accommodating individual needs. https://canadianrockiesexperience.com/

Welcome to the MWSA Podcast for Tuesday, July 13. It's been a very hot an dry summer and it's having an impact it is having on grain farmers and livestock producers. Brad Dubeau, is the  GM of the “Alberta Beef Producers,” and he says the heat means challenging times for cattle producers. Some new camping spots are opening soon in Kananaskis Country. But unless you're walking or riding a bike, they're not for you! We get details on these unique new sites from a K-Country Advocate. If you're looking to keep the family entertained this summer, there's a new "hot spot" to go in Alberta's badlands. Dustin Edwards, a Cowboy turned entrepreneur has opened “Barney's Adventure Park," the newest attraction now open in Drumheller.   What are the hottest food trends in the city? You can find out in the latest edition of  “Savour Calgary Magazine”. Editor Camie Leard, says the biggest new food trend in the city are mouthwatering fried chicken sandwiches! And if you're looking to “UP” your BBQ game this summer, The Gadget Guy, Mike Yawney has the latest “tech trends” to help take your barbecue skills to the next level. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With winter drawing close, Lawrence, Lilly and eldest sister Alexandra aren't ready to put their hiking boots away just yet. Ms. Lilly schools Lawrence on braille trails and sensory gardens, Alberta's Kananaskis Country is our featured bucket list destination. Lawrence and Alexandra take a hike in the Gatineau Hills with some tech in tow, and Lawrence reflects on a mountain-climbing expedition he took with his guide dog in grizzly bear country. It's all about hiking climbing, trails and sensory gardens this week on Outdoors with Lawrence Gunther.

Guest: Dave Dormer, Owner of Cannanaskis and local journalist.

Inside today's Podcast I have with me Anna Grist. She is a Wife, Mother, and freelance graphic designer. She enjoys spending her “extra” time hiking, writing, reading, painting, and photography! I have almost all of that on my list of enjoyments as well! Anna lives in a tiny hamlet in southern Alberta, right smack next to the Rockies, about an hour west of Calgary. Most of her life she's expressed herself through visual art, but has renewed her love of the written word and is learning how to take captive the scattered thoughts that she lets slip too many times and put them down on a page instead. She writes regularly for her blog at serendipimoosetracks.com and also writes and does the layout and design for Paper&String, a monthly online care package from Lisa-Jo Baker, Christie Purifoy, and Elrena Evans, a la the Maplehurst Black Barn. She also designs the layout for the High Country News, a local newspaper. She and her husband have two children, and twin cats Quill & Ink. In her spare time she enjoys hiking in nearby Kananaskis Country, Canmore, and Banff, with bear spray handy, and reads like a fish as much as she can. Other Resources: You Don't Have To Be Perfect by Vanessa Luu Truth and Tools Workbook and support group. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/vanessa-luu/support

Welcome to my 10 minute guided sleep meditation. I recorded this meditation by a waterfall in Kananaskis Country located in the beautiful Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Canada. Click the links below for info on my:  - RETREATS - mindfulness, meditation and yoga retreats / weekend workshops in the Canadian Rockies  - PODCAST COURSES - mindfulness, meditation and mindset podcast courses. - MEDITATION COACHING - 1:1 mindfulness & meditation coaching with Tracey via phone, FaceTime, Zoom or Skype.  - LIFE COACHING - 1:1 life and mindset coaching with Tracey via phone, FaceTime, Zoom or Skype.  Until next time...be mindful and be happy, Tracey Delfs www.balancequest.com

Welcome to my 5 minute guided morning nature-based meditation. I recorded this meditation in a forest in Kananaskis Country located in the beautiful Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Canada. Click the links below for info on my:  - RETREATS - mindfulness, meditation and yoga retreats / weekend workshops in the Canadian Rockies  - PODCAST COURSES - mindfulness, meditation and mindset podcast courses. - MEDITATION COACHING - 1:1 mindfulness & meditation coaching with Tracey via phone, FaceTime, Zoom or Skype.  - LIFE COACHING - 1:1 life and mindset coaching with Tracey via phone, FaceTime, Zoom or Skype.  Until next time...be mindful and be happy, Tracey Delfs www.balancequest.com

Did you know that Warren Buffett auctions a lunch every year to benefit a charity he supports? And the winning bid was $4.75M last year!!!   Why only Buffett? This is was the question that Robin asked himself, which later became the seed idea for the new social enterprise - Nicerr.   Nicerr is a unique meeting+giving platform that enables business leaders, subject matter experts & experienced professionals to share their knowledge & wisdom with others in exchange for small contributions to the charities they support. Since it's launch in September 2019, Nicerr has grown to feature over 85 carefully-screened professionals from a wide range of business & technology domains.   Getting advice, finding a mentor or meeting experts was never so impactful.   Check it out here: https://nicerr.ca   Robin lives in Calgary with his (much) better half, Jyoti and their daughter, Skyra. He is passionate about wildlife viewing and conservation, and can be found wandering the roads in Kananaskis Country looking for bears, cougars, wolves, moose, .. (this list never stops). If you want to know all the cool spots where the bears hang out, Robin's your man!

Every Place Is The SamePart travelogue, Part challenge, Part comedic stint. Everyplace Is The Same tries to prove the ridiculous notion that every place Is in fact the same.Special Guest: Dov MickelsonEpisode Challenge: Madrid (Spain) & Kananaskis Country (Canada)Host: Daniela VlaskalicDirector: Marco TimpanoTheme Music: Royalty FreeWanna support this podcast and get some great extras!Go to our Patreon page:www.patreon.com/everyplaceisthesame See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A drive down the Smith Dorris’s trail in Kananaskis Country led to this shot with the new Sony 135 1.8

Sulphur Storms This past week has marked the start of pollen season in the mountain west. The white spruce, in particular, released vast amounts of yellowish-green pollen, coating every car, patio set, pond, and puddle. The railings alongside trails and even the surfaces of leaves have been covered in this fine powder. On my car, places I previously touched were dusted in a manner similar to fingerprint dust, leaving a yellowish outline of my fingerprint. Spruce are part of the Pine Family of trees, and all the members of this group reproduce in a similar fashion. Rather than using insects to pollinate the female flowers, they have evolved to use the wind. When a plant relies on something as random as a mountain breeze, it better produce a lot of pollen, and this past week we saw massive sulphur storms with clouds of yellowish pollen streaming from the trees and, in some cases, entire forests were blurred in a yellowish fog as the pollen spread its way across the landscape. Members of the pine family in the central Rockies include the white and Engelmann spruce, lodgepole, limber, and whitebark pines, Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, and the alpine larch. Every tree contains both the male and female cones with each taking a different role in the reproductive process. Male cones form on the lower branches while the female cones grow higher up. The male pollen cones grow at the base of the current year's new shoots in early spring, which in this part of the mountains is usually around the latter part of May. Different species produce different numbers of male cones, with a range between 15 and 140. Once the pollen has been dispersed by the wind, the male cones fall off the tree. Each male cone is a smooth, oval structure that contains dozens of spore-producing bodies called microsporophylls. When the cone is ripe, it releases tremendous numbers of tiny pollen spores. Each of these spores sport two tiny wings called sacci that help it stay airborne. When the sky turns yellow with this pollen, it's often referred to as a sulphur shower. Conversely, female cones grow very slowly and usually take several years to mature. This leaves cones in differing stages of maturation on the same branch with newer cones forming towards the tips. A first-year cone is soft and small, usually just a centimetre or two in size. Its main job is to collect the pollen and fertilize the cone. Second-year cones are much larger in size, more woody, but still green in colour. By the third year, the cones are hard and have turned brown and now contain fully-formed seeds ready for germination. Female cones are also much larger than their short-lived male counterparts. The cones form in either pairs or clusters along the branch and they vary dramatically in size. Lodgepole pine cones are only around 5 cm long, while the cones of limber pine can exceed 20 cm in length. Each cone is made up of alternating bracts and ovule-bearing scales. These scales accept the pollen and transform into winged seeds as the cone matures. Wind pollination is an ancient strategy and was utilized by the earliest of plants. It was the go-to strategy used by plants some 125 million years before flowering plants began to conscript insects to transport their pollen to other flowers. Even this was still 50 million years before the Cretaceous, the age of the dinosaurs, arrived. Almost all land-based non-flowering plants employ wind as their primary method of passing pollen from male cones to the ovaries hidden with the ovules of female cones. The randomness of wind as a transport mechanism means that if a grain of pollen lands on just the right spot, the female ovule needs to have some way to catch it before it blows away, They do this with a pollen droplet. This is a sugar-rich droplet exuded from the top of the ovule with the sole purpose of giving pollen grains a sticky surface to land on. For the pollen to maximize its airborne flight, it has to be extremely light. To do this, it's heavily dehydrated before it's released. When it lands, it needs water and nutrition in the form of sugars and proteins to help it develop further in preparation for pollination. The droplet offers just what a dehydrated pollen grain needs. There is some evidence that prior to the development of flowering plants that some insects adapted to seeking out these sugary pollen droplets. It may have been this attraction that prompted further diversification in plants to develop nectar-producing flowers. Some of the more ancient plant families, like the pines, continued to rely on wind for their pollination despite the success of insect-pollinated flowers. As you marvel at the amazing clouds of pollen released this year, while at the same time cursing the fact that every outdoor surface is covered with it, know that it is part of an age-old strategy that maintains the world's most ancient trees. Mismatching Colours Whenever any bright-eyed university student begins to study ecology, they're quickly introduced to the pepper moths of Manchester, England. These common moths can be found in two different forms, a lighter more salt and pepper-coloured variety as well as a sooty, almost black variety. Prior to the industrial revolution, the darker variety was unknown. It was only first described until 1811. A dark moth on a light tree meant that it was far more likely to be spotted by hungry birds and so they are estimated to have represented only 0.01% of the population. These light moths almost exclusively occupied their range in 1760 when England's industrial revolution first began to darken the skies with the soot from endless coal fires. Increasingly, in industrial towns like Manchester, surfaces of buildings and trees began to reflect this sooty character and gradually darkened in colour. By 1811 when the first dark variety of pepper moth was discovered, Manchester was beginning to look pretty dismal and dark with coal dust staining many of the trees. Coincidentally, pepper moths used those same trees to hide from predators. For centuries, the light-coloured pepper moths could perch on the bark of trees and effectively disappear into the patterns of the tree's bark. As these same trees became increasingly darkened by coal dust, the moths began to lose their camouflage. Prey that can't hide, attracts predators and the light-coloured moths increasingly became the meals of hungry birds. That was when something very interesting happened. A dark, sooty variety first made its appearance. Its dark appearance gave it a distinct advantage over the lighter variety, and by the end of the 1800s, industrial towns like Manchester and London were dominated by these dark varieties. By 1895 the dark variety had risen from 0.01% of the population in 1760 to 98%, eclipsing the more vulnerable light pepper moth variety. Why am I wandering down this ecological memory lane? Because the same situation is happening around us right now, not due to soot pollution, but rather human-caused changes to the climate. The mountain west is home to a large number of animals that take advantage of the seasonal changes by turning white to help them vanish into winter landscapes. These seasonal colour changes occur in a number of animals and birds including the willow and white-tailed ptarmigan; least, long-tailed and short-tailed weasel; and the snowshoe hare. These adaptations to the annual cycle of winter snows and summer foliage have evolved to maximize their camouflage throughout the year. Predator and prey alike have evolved similar strategies to help them to stay hidden. While weasels are voracious predators, they're also on the menus of other, larger predators. The same pressures that forced snowshoe hares and ptarmigan to change colours, also affect them. Changing your colour to take advantage of seasonal camouflage only works when the camouflage matches the season. Since historic weather trends varied only slightly from one year to the next, the timing of colour change for most of these diverse species was largely tied to the length of daylight in spring and fall. While in the past it may mean that a snowshoe hare, ptarmigan, or weasel might have a short period of mismatched colour, the majority of their season was ideally suited to the prevailing background colours. Brown weasels and hares, along with mottled ptarmigan, simply disappear in the summer landscapes of the Rockies while white animals offer similar protection in snow-covered landscapes. Many times I've been scared to death while cross-country skiing when a  covey of ptarmigan, also called an "invisibleness" of ptarmigan, suddenly flush at your feet. These tiny grouse-like birds allow themselves to be completely buried by snow for warmth, only flushing when you're almost on top of them. A quiet cross-country ski is suddenly interrupted by an explosion of feathers. Changing climates is wreaking havoc on many of these animals. A white ptarmigan against a snowless alpine meadow is just as dangerous as brown snowshoe hare against a snowy forest. If your colouration is in stark contrast to your environment, you are also far more visible to potential predators. Climate change is causing many challenges to plants, animals, and birds in the north country. Warming climates can cause mismatches in reproduction schedules, emergence from winter hibernation, migration, and even connection to key food sources. If a bird's migration is timed to allow it to nest just as certain insects emerge in the spring - and then those insects emerge several weeks earlier - than the bird's reproductive success is put at jeopardy. So many of nature's key events are timed to historically predictable connected events. Animals give birth when the maximum amount of food should be available. Birds migrate at the right time to take advantage of seasonal foods in their winter and summer ranges. Animals emerge from hibernation when new foods should be available to help them regain strength after a long winter sleep. Just like the colour change schedule of animals, if the schedule changes then how flexible are the animals in their response to this change? So many annual cycles are hard-wired into plants and animals that their ability to respond to rapid changes can be very limited. Back in episode 42, I talked about a discovery in Alaska where bears were choosing elderberries over salmon for the first time. Historically the berries ripened after the salmon run and offered grizzlies a nutritious food after a long period of feeding on salmon. With warming climates, the berries are now ripening at the same time the salmon are running. The bears have to choose one food and they picked the berries. This means they no longer have the same feeding period over the summer months. No longer do they have a long period of feeding on salmon, followed by time to munch down on elderberries. The foods are now out of sync with the bears historical feeding schedule. When all of these evolutionary behaviours emerged, climates were, more or less, relatively stable. Days with snow varied year after year within a reasonable margin of error. When the climate changes so fast that winter arrives later and later, and spring arrives earlier than unless the animals can respond quick enough they'll find themselves with a contrasting coat that makes them far more visible to their predators. Like the moths in 19th century England, they can't count on their colouration to help hide them from hungry hunters. These colour mismatches have prompted numerous studies to look at how individual species are able to respond to these rapid changes. A 2012 study looking at snowshoe hares looked at their response to fewer snow-covered days each year. It found that since the colour change of hares is most likely connected to the length of day, their vulnerability to shorter winters would be a factor of their flexibility to alter the timing of their autumn and spring moults where they grow a coat of a different colour. Any hare that is white when the landscape is not, has a target on their back. Conversely, a brown hare is in danger against a snowy backdrop. Populations of snowshoe hares, more so than most animals are absolutely tied to their level of predation. Lynx evolved to eat snowshoe hares almost exclusively while many other animals will also take a hare whenever possible. The simple fact that they were born delicious means they're on the menu of any carnivore lucky enough to see past their camouflage. In the mountain west, the population of hares rises and falls in concert with predation from lynx. As the hare population rises, lynx produce more kittens which means they need more hares. As lynx increase their predation on hares, the hare population drops. Fewer hares result in a subsequent drop in lynx numbers. These two animals are connected like few others. For an animal that lives and dies by its ability to hide, having the right match between colour and landscape provides huge advantages to appropriately coloured individuals. This means that, as climate changes, those hares who's pelts allow them to best hide will have the optimum opportunity to survive and, subsequently, pass those adaptations on to their young. This study looked at the hare's ability to vary its colour phase based on changing climate realities. If individual hares are able to adjust to rapidly changing seasonal realities than those changes would be quickly passed on through the population. This study found that the fall moult which turned their coat to white had little flexibility in terms of timing. This meant it was likely hard-wired to its connection to the length of daylight. The spring moult though showed some signs of adaptation with a slight ability to slow or increase colour change based on local conditions. Ptarmigan are in a particularly dangerous situation in the mountain west. Not only are climates warming, but these birds are specialized to live at the very highest elevations. As climates continue to warm, conditions will likely see them forced up higher and higher up the mountain until they literally run out of habitat. Ptarmigan are also experiencing a similar mismatch between seasonal colour. While physiology can take too long to adapt to rapid changes in their environment, out of season white ptarmigan are known to work to soil their feathers after breeding to try to minimize their contrast to the background landscape. Many weasels are experiencing similar challenges. Recent studies of the smallest predator in the country, the least weasel, have found that it's also finding itself moving from predator to prey due to its unexpected visibility caused by lack of snow. Almost all predators are also prey to larger animals and for this diminutive weasel, being visible means potentially being someone's dinner. In a Polish study looking two varieties of least weasel, one that changes colour during the winter and one that doesn’t, it shows that climate change, like the moths of England, is showing rapid changes to populations. In many colour changing animals, there are usually individuals who don't change colour. In northern climates, this usually means that the brown weasels have a lower chance of survival during snowy months. For many weasels, predation from largely, birds of prey,  can be the highest cause of mortality in a particular year. Like the moth study in England, this study found that camouflage was the most important factor determining predator detection in weasels. As climate changes and winter snows dwindle, weasels may find that white winter weasels are more heavily predated than weasels that don't change colour. Southern brown populations will likely shift north as white weasels find themselves falling to the talons of hawks.  Changing climates are changing everything. The news stories often talk about what WILL happen with changing climates but the changes are happening right before our eyes. Last fall I watched a red fox kill an arctic fox near Churchill Manitoba while working as a polar bear viewing guide. The red fox has migrated north and arctic fox are very vulnerable to invasive predators. Alpine animals like ptarmigan and pikas are being forced higher and higher up the mountains until they simply run out of mountain. This makes them some of our most vulnerable animals. The role of seasonal colour change will evolve over the next 50-100 years. Animals that are out of phase with the season will find themselves increasingly on the menu. Behavioural adaptations, like the ptarmigan soiling its white plumage, may help, but we may also see populations migrating, changing, and disappearing depending on each animals ability to react to unprecedented rates of change. For now, marvel at every sighting of ptarmigan, hare, and weasel. They're dealing with intense climate challenges and only time will tell how they succeed to changes, not of their making. Next up…Hollywood North Hollywood North The mountain west has long been the backdrop behind many successful movies. I get a kick out of the fact that the first silent movie filmed in the Rockies was called Cameron of the Royal Mounted, and Cameron is my last name. In this early film, a Scottish immigrant becomes a member of the Mounties only to be accused of forgery. To clear his name, he had to capture a gang of train robbers and stop a band of rogue natives. Yup, this is about as unlikely a story as you could imagine in Canada. However Hollywood fell in love with the landscape - not to mention the exchange rate on the dollar - and Hollywood has been returning every year since. Movies like Son of Lassie filmed in 1944 and Emperor Waltz in 1948. 1953 was a big year. That year Jimmy Stuart filmed the Far Country, Shelly Winters and Alan Ladd filed a movie called Saskatchewan…in Alberta, Howard Keel and Ann Blyth did a remake of the classic film Rose Marie, and Marilyn Monroe almost died on the Bow Falls in the town of Banff during the filming of The River of No Return. If you watch the movie, the characters portrayed by Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchem are fleeing from a group of renegade natives by taking a raft down the Bow River. While the movie is ostensibly set in the middle of nowhere Montana or Wyoming, it was filmed in and around the communities of Banff and Jasper. One of the pivotal scenes in the movie has them rafting over the Bow Falls while a hail of arrows falls around them from the cliffs above. Since movie effects weren't as advanced as they are today, it's pretty obvious that it's two mannequins on the raft but the effect is still a good one. Even though Marilyn was not actually on the raft, the crew had to do some close-ups of her near the actual falls so they could see the look of terror in her eyes. Unfortunately, while she was posing, she fell and almost did go over the falls. In the end, she was lucky to limp away with just a broken ankle. After this point, the bell staff at the Banff Springs Hotel got to draw lots to see who would get to push Marilyn around in her wheelchair. A quick google search will turn up numerous photos of Marilyn relaxing around the hotel and golf course with her crutches during filming. In one of the other classic films of 1953, Howard Keel and Ann Blyth did a remake of the classic Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald film Rose Marie. One of the biggest tourism myths in the Rockies is that the 1936 film with Eddy and MacDonald was also filmed in this area. At the Maligne Lake Chalet, they even have a canoe nailed to the ceiling with a carved wooden sign claiming to be the original canoe from the movie. Unfortunately, it’s a complete falsehood. Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald never filmed in Canada. Their scenes were filmed in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada. There were some scenes of Mounties training that were filmed in Canada but none of the major scenes was filmed here. Today, few movies come to Banff and Jasper to film. Scenes like Bow Falls are photographed several million times each year making many of the panoramas simply too recognizable to sell the illusion that they are in Montana or Alaska. They did continue to use the mountain parks in movies into the 1960's, including 1965's Doctor Zhivago. In that movie, one of the classic scenes takes place on the train to Yuriatin, ostensibly in Siberia, but it's actually filmed in the Spiral Tunnels in Yoho National Park. When the train emerges, a keen observer will recognize the distinctive peak of Cathedral Mountain rising above the valley. According to the IMDB movie database, this scene used stock footage and none of the actual production was done in Canada. The Wikipedia page does suggest the train scene was actually filmed here with the cast members. Another long-held myth was that the train station at Lake Louise was used in the movie. That's completely false, Almost all of the filming took place in Spain and Finland over a 10-month period. Regardless of whether the actors were actually here, the Spiral Tunnels will live on in one of the most classic films of the 20th century.  The film earned 111.7 million dollars in Canada and the U.S. and when adjusted for inflation, ranks it right up there with many of today's big screen blockbusters. After Doctor Zhivago, the area around the Stoney Reserve near Morley began to be the focus of film crews. The mountain panorama that includes Mount Yamnuska is a constant presence in some classic films. Films that represent this area include my favourite Dustin Hoffman film, 1970's Little Big Man, and 1975's Buffalo Bill and the Indians starring Paul Newman and Burt Lancaster. Before long, movies began to discover the wider Kananaskis Country landscape and it's now become one of the most filmed mountain locations in Canada. Films that kicked off the filming in this area include the 1980 film Death Hunt with Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and 1988's Dead Bang with Don Johnson and Penelope Ann Miller. Others include 1993's The Last of the Dogmen with Tom Berenger, which also included footage of Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park and the classic film Legends of the Fall with Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. This movie had locations in Calgary, Morley, and Vancouver. More recent films have included 2010's Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio as well as another DiCaprio film, 2015's The Revenent. The movies and TV series keep coming back to this amazing landscape. Popular TV shows like Hell on Wheels and Fargo were also filmed in and around Calgary. If you visit the mountain west this year, be sure to study the vistas around you. You may see them in your favourite movies. And with that, it's time to wrap this episode up. Don't forget to check the show notes at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep061. As usual, if you'd like to reach out to me directly, you can comment on the show notes or hit me up on Twitter @wardcameron. And with that said, the sun's out and it's time to go hiking.

Local Photographers If you're a regular listener, you'll already know that I am both a photographer and author. It was through both of these rolls that I'm feeling very sad today to hear of the passing of Doug Leighton. Doug was a visionary photographer who introduced countless numbers of people to the magic of the Canadian west. His coffee table books and calendars were widely collected. I remember a particular favourite was a large format 11 x 14-inch calendar which thousands of people bought simply so they could frame the images. We were both published by Altitude Publishing in Canmore and I had a great appreciation for the work that Doug produced for them. It was an especially appropriate relationship for Doug. Altitude publishing was created by another pioneer photographer from Banff by the name of Byron Harmon. For the larger part of a century, Altitude Publishing represented the very best of mountain imagery, and Doug wore that mantle well. Doug left the Bow Valley in 2005 and moved to the Blaeberry Valley near the mountain community of Golden, B.C. where he passed with his family on March 28, 2018. Doug was born in Banff in 1953 and the mountains were his inspiration for all of his life. Rest well, Doug. You helped us all see the Rockies just a little bit clearer. Another local photographer, John E. Marriott has recently been honoured by the League of Landscape Photographers for his long practice of ethical wildlife photography. League magazine is a collective of photographers for whom ethical image capture is their first priority. As they state on their website: "Rather than a top-down, formal structure, the League of Landscape Photographers is a grassroots group comprised of photographers with similar values. It transcends borders both physical and digital. If your art has something personal to say about the world, if you photograph with care and respect for other people and the environment around you, if you post these values (or your own ethical values) to the world – then you are the League. " John was awarded The Best of the League for 2018. The advent of digital cameras has seen tens of thousands of so-called wildlife photographers explode onto the scene. Those of us that photograph  WILD life understand that the well-being of the animal or bird is what matters - not the photograph. John has been an advocate for wildlife for decades. He not only refuses to photograph captive or baited animals, he is a powerful opponent of such practices. Here in the Rockies, every year we see more and more people crowding animals, baiting and enticing them, offering food, and even illegally using wildlife tracking equipment to locate research subjects. Way back in episode 6, I shared a story of Banff Park Wardens finding evidence of photographers using antennas designed to help researchers keep track of animals fitted with radio collars just so they could photograph them. I've been a wildlife photographer for many years and I've seen many indefensible actions by unethical photographers, but this is a new level of low. You can listen to the story at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep006. Social media is full of photographs of distressed animals, baited owls, and all means of creating situations dangerous for the photographer, but all too often, more dangerous for the animal. Photographers like John call out this practice. He has made a career of raising the bar and educating photographers on how to capture ethical images. No photograph is worth the life of a grizzly bear, or wolf, or owl. As the League puts it: "Not only does John practice ethical wildlife photography, but he is also an activist for wildlife causes. His YouTube video series,  Exposed with John E. Marriott, highlights wildlife conservation concerns with ideas for concrete results. John is not a complainer but one who points out the facts with solid background research and then puts his knowledge into positive action. John also takes his wildlife ethics and philosophy for conservation on tour with him when he teaches other photographers. Anyone who has been on a John Marriott tour will come away not only with great pictures but also with a bigger appreciation of the issues and the ethics around wildlife and nature photography." Congratulations John. Keep on helping us all to be better photographers. If you'd like to see more of John's work, check him out at https://wildernessprints.com/. You can purchase his amazing images, wildlife photography books, or join him on one of his incredible workshops. Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold was one of the fathers of conservation in the U.S. and was a forester, educator, writer, and lover of the outdoors. According to the Aldo Leopold Foundation, he was a true believer in the development of a "land ethic" based on an ethical, caring relationship between people and nature. In 1933, he published the very first textbook about wildlife management. Throughout his life, he focused on understanding ecology and the relationships that made up complex ecosystems. While I'm working on this podcast week in and out, I spend countless hours reading long scientific journal articles. More often than not, I have three windows open on my computer: Two windows of the same article. One I use to highlight the important aspects of the study and another one so I can search for the definitions of acronyms without losing my place in the main article. Then I have another Google search window open to help me translate the arcane jingo that allows scientists to be precise but serves to exclude vast numbers of readers from understanding the value of the research. Aldo Leopold understood natural systems, but more importantly, he understood how to share that knowledge. When you read his words, you instantly are transported to a new world full of wonders and magic. I often joke that my job is to take the important science being done by ologists, whether they are palaeontologists, biologists, geologists; the list goes on - and make it cool. Aldo understood the clash between science and ecology. In his most important work: A Sand County Almanac, ironically published more than a year after he passed away, offers an insight that has remained with me for the past 30 years: "There are men charged with the duty of examining the construction of the plants, animals, and soils which are the instruments of the great orchestra. These men are called professors. Each selects one instrument and spends his life taking it apart and describing its strings and sounding boards. This process of dismemberment is called research. The place for dismemberment is called a university. A professor may pluck the strings of his own instrument, but never that of another, and if he listens for music he must never admit it to his fellows or to his students. For all are restrained by an ironbound taboo which decrees that the construction of instruments is the domain of science, while the detection of harmony is the domain of poets." That last line struck me like a hammer when I first read it decades ago. The study of ecology was slowly starting to become more mainstream. I've never forgotten the concept that the detection of harmony is the domain of poets. Ecology is all about understanding all of the instruments. Every strand in the ecological web, just like in an orchestra, is critical to the functioning of that system. Leopold helped millions of people to suddenly see that the orchestra was more than just a collection of instruments - it was the harmony that they create when combined in just the right way. Whirling Disease If you're a regular listener to this podcast, you'll already know that whirling disease has been spreading across the river systems of Alberta over the past year or so. I first spoke about it in episode 7 when it was first discovered in Canada in Banff's Johnson Lake. It is a parasite that affects most trout species and can result in massive losses. For additional background information, check out episodes 008, 020, and 029 In the past year, the parasite has been discovered across Alberta's most iconic river systems including the Bow, Oldman, Red Deer, and most recently, the North Saskatchewan River systems. Johnson Lake, where the discovery first took place, is particularly important. At first look, it's a tiny mountain lake with intensive human use. On a large scale, it doesn't seem like one lake among many watersheds would matter, but Johnson Lake is unique. The Bow River watershed is a blue-ribbon trout stream. It is also home to critical populations of endangered west slope cutthroat trout. Cutthroat trout have been decimated over the past few decades as introduced species like brook, brown, and rainbow trout have become the dominant fish in the mountain west. Native trout like the bull, or dolly varden, and west slope cutthroat trout can be outcompeted by these more aggressive invaders. Johnson Lake forms a transition zone between the wider Bow Valley river system and the upper portions of the watershed where the most important populations of cutthroat trout are found. The original plan for Johnson Lake involved a winter draining of the lake to kill all the trout contained within it as well as to kill the alternate host of the parasite, bottom-dwelling tubifex worms. At this point, 2,700 kg of fish has been removed from the lake along with 15,000 other fish from adjacent creeks. At the same time, they were able to reduce the water level in adjacent creeks which feed into Johnson Lake and capture additional fish there. Recently, as Park officials continued their work on the lake, it became apparent that there were a lot of streams feeding the local wetland which in turn fed into Johnson Lake. To remove the fish from the lake, it's critical to make sure that new migrants aren't just replacing those recently removed. Draining the lake was seen as premature as they focused on reducing reinfection. Instead, they left nets in the lake to catch as many remaining fish as possible. They've also installed a barrier to prevent fish from re-entering the lake from tributaries. For now, the focus has moved to the wetlands feeding the lake. If need be, once this work has been done, they can drain the rest of the lake if need be. It's now apparent that this will be an ongoing project as opposed to a short-term assault. The goal is to prevent the parasite from moving further upstream into already vulnerable populations of cutthroat trout. Whirling disease can be responsible for vast losses within populations and when you have an already stressed one, it can be terminal. If you visit Johnson Lake this year, please pay close attention to the warning signs. Whirling disease is not only easily transported on the soles of boots or boat paddles, it can remain viable for years. This means that you can wade into the lake today, put your waders in the garage for years, and then still infect a new body of water once you dust them off and wear them into a new water source. Let's help keep our most sensitive trout healthy. Kananaskis Grizzly Updates First up…it's bear season in the Rockies again. While deep snows may have led a few of our bears to have a bit of a lay-in this year, Bear 122 was confirmed to be up and at-em by at least March 22 this year. He's merely the bellwether of all the other bears so if you're out on the trails, be sure to carry your bear spray from now on. Grizzly bears have had a lot of challenges in the past few years, but today I'm bringing some good news. In a recent DNA study in Kananaskis Country, it seems things are currently OK for grizzly populations. The most recent study looked at a vast 10,000 square km area stretching from the Trans-Canada Highway all the way to the Crowsnest Pass in southern Alberta. DNA testing has revolutionized wildlife research. Because bears are predictable and are drawn to rub trees where bear after bear take the time to stop, rub and in many cases, leave a hairy howdy do. Researchers can visit these trees and collect these furry follicles, test the DNA and get a good idea of individual bears that were using a particular territory. One of the best illustrations of this was a time-lapse video published by Kananaskis Country that showed a great example of how many individual bears visit rub trees. Not only is it an awesome example of science in actions, it's just fun - and very Jungle Bookey. I'll leave a link in the show notes at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep059 Bears are driven by their noses and scent posts are visited by one and all as they travel through an area. In some cases, researchers added a bit of extra cologne in the form of bear lure to help attract newcomers to the trees. Motion activated cameras helped to make sure that every dance was captured but more importantly, the DNA in the form of hair samples. According to the study, they found 16 grizzlies per thousand square kilometres within the northern part of the region that includes Kananaskis Country. The southern region is still doing well with 12 bears/1,000km2. So how many bears are calling the Kananaskis home? According to this study, there are approximately 96 individuals with 52 females and 43 males in the northern section and 22 females and 22 males in the south. Yup! They can get this specific in terms of numbers. DNA doesn't lie. Hair samples will continue to be an important way to track bear populations in the future. These results will vary with the local conditions for the bears though. Grizzlies populations reflect the ecology of the landscape they call home. If food conditions vary due to drought or other conditions, the bears will follow the food. Essentially, over time, results may vary but continued research will help to determine trends in bear movement. As important as rub trees are, and as much of a traffic hub they form, they're not a place that the bears hang out. It's more of a pass by, spend a few minutes saying I've been here, and then moving on to leave the tree vacant for the next visitor. The longest that researchers witnessed bears hanging around the rub trees was 9 minutes. Many bears just spent a few seconds to a few minutes…a quick rub to say they were here and then on their way. This latest study was good news for Kananaskis Country. While grizzlies are a threatened species in Alberta, Kananaskis Country as a whole seems to be at its carrying capacity for bears. Along with this good news was the discovery that slightly more than half of the bears were females. When this happens Kananaskis Country ecologist John Paczkowski said, they encounter more cases of cubs being killed by other bears. It's nature's way of regulating their population. Even as far back as 2009, I witnessed the first documented case of a female grizzly killing the cub of another female. Both of these females are favourite bears in Kananaskis. Bear 94 attacked and fatally injured the cub of Bear 104. It has always been a puzzle as to why the attack occurred. Perhaps this might lend a clue. Banff's population has also remained steady at 13 bears per 1,000 km2. Grizzlies remain a threatened species, but this is very good news. Bears are one of the truest symbols of the mountain wilderness. They are one of our most iconic animals. With more and more and more people visiting the parks, we need to keep on trying to educate visitors on the importance of enjoying wildlife safely. The tourist season is getting ready to kick off once again. Let's all do our part to keep the bears and the people that want to view them, safe. David Suzuki Honored by the University of Alberta One of Canada's most beloved naturalists, Dr David Suzuki is set to receive an honorary doctorate of science for his years of environmental work. He has been a steady voice for decades on the importance of ecology and been a constant warrior for nature. This is a story that has opened up a floodgate of introspection among interpreters, guides, naturalists, and scientists. Many of us have been really conflicted about our own personal feelings about this most reverent of Canadian figures. Dr Suzuki spoke out at times when it wasn't cool. He never pulled a punch when conservation was on the line. He helped a generation of Canadians to recognize that nature has value. He made us focus on the natural landscape and the importance of keeping it both healthy and intact. His television program The Nature of Things is seen in more than 40 countries and has focused the world's attention on the challenges facing our oceans and fisheries, climate change, and clean energy. He is a member of the Order of Canada, our nation's highest civilian honour, and placed 5th on a list of the greatest Canadians to ever live. This impending honour has made many of us come to grips with our conflicting opinions of Dr Suzuki. I first heard him speak some 20 years ago in Canmore. I booked the tickets months in advance and couldn't wait for the chance to meet a man that had had a significant impact on my career as a naturalist. His presentation left me absolutely flat. It wasn't a presentation as much as it was a rant. It was doom and gloom and government inaction with little prescription for positive actions. It didn't make me want to go out and act at all. It seemed that all the actions had already been done. The planet was finished and all that was left was for the multi-nationals to carve up the profits. I began to realize that we all suffer fatigue when we try to protect something that's, not just important, but critical to our sense of being. I understood his frustration as ecological understanding seemed to be ignored from the larger political discourse. I decided to forget the event and remember David as I had imagined him before the presentation. Few people have done so much for the environment, even if just in terms of awareness, as Dr David Suzuki. Recently, an article in the Calgary Herald by University of Alberta environmental economist Andrew Leach caught my eye, in part because it was shared by another person for whom I have great respect, former Banff National Park Superintendent Kevin Van Tighem. In the article, Leach outlines why he would never share a stage with Dr Suzuki. Now before I move forward, Andrew Leach is no ordinary economist. He's the architect of Alberta's climate change plan. I know. For some of you, I've just lost all credibility…Alberta and climate change policy…what folly is this? For many people in British Columbia at the moment, as wars of words fill the airwaves, Alberta is nothing but an oil-hungry, tar sands purveyor of doom trying to force an unwanted pipeline down the throats of more environmentally friendly B.C. Forget the fact that our neighbour's number one export is coal, the current war of words is not moving either province forward. I'm not here to defend either one, but rather to try to understand a part of my challenges with Dr Suzuki. In this modern world, everything has a value, whether we want it to or not. Natural ecosystems and their processes contribute to the natural world. Intact ecosystems help to protect watersheds by storing water in terms of glaciers, lakes, and aquifers. Intact ecosystems help to provide connection to the creatures that call it home, allowing them to move between seasonal habitats free from disturbance. Today, intact ecosystems also help to offer protection in times of changing climates. It also allows ecosystems to change more slowly than already stressed environments where increases in temperature can become the final stressor that causes ecosystem collapse. Keeping ecosystems intact requires political will. More and more, economists are one of the most important tools helping politicians sell the importance of conservation to a province or a nation that may not see the financial return on investing in ecosystem protection. Dr Suzuki has, has for years, referred to economics as a form of brain damage. To him, all economists do is find the most efficient way to clear-cut a mountain or farm salmon, nature be damned. He has gone so far as to call it a "pretend science". Today, some of the greatest climate warriors are economists. National governments understand numbers, and a well-versed ecological economist that can quantify the risks behind environmental choices can be worth their weight in gold. Natural ecosystems help to regulate climates and provide resources that were, and are, critical to our modern lives. Critical to these discussions today are the economists! If we agree that nature has value, then just what are those values? Economists that specialize in natural systems help organizations and government to see beyond the quarterly balance sheet and hopefully, make better policy decisions. Very dear to our heart in the central Rockies has been British Columbia's choice to end the trophy hunt for grizzly bears. This decision wasn't just a spur of the moment decision. It was a culmination of huge public outcry, along with economics. Every study of the value of live bears as compared to trophy bears has overwhelmingly supported the ban on hunts. Economics showed that the viewing of live bears is worth orders of magnitude more than the value of the commercial hunt. It is the work of economists that help to quantify those numbers. As a nation, we've made grand promises as part of the Paris Accords to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. This is no small task. If we can agree that climates are warming and that Canada, and all of its component parts, need to work together to accomplish any goal towards this reduction than we can also agree that it's a monumental challenge. These goals can only be accomplished as a nation. Alberta has been working very hard to reduce its emissions and has started a phase-out of coal-burning power plants. Its carbon levy is also a powerful tool to help push the province towards a gradual phase-out of carbon-based fuel sources. Economists help to show the value of these changes on ecosystems. Bickering between provinces is not going to get the job done. Let's get it together Canada.

Welcome to Episode 50 of the Mountain Nature and Culture Podcast. I'm your host, Ward Cameron and I'm recording this on November 25, 2017. I can't believe this is actually episode 50. When I started this project almost a year and a half ago, I'm not sure I believed I would actually ever get 50 shows recorded. All I could do was focus on the next episode. Each new episode triggered a new round of research, reading, scripting, recording, editing, and uploading. For me, it's been about the process. Those of you that know me, know that I will always talk about finding the story in the science. Stories are everything to me and I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by an endless number of very talented scientists, historians, park managers, conservation officers, and other lovers of the mountain west. Stories help us to learn, understand, and care for the amazing landscape and culture that surrounds us. Before I started this project, I considered myself a naturalist and guide, and never really got involved in controversial issues. When I really began to do the research though, there were many things that simply needed to be called out. Some of these included: • ill-advised bike trails in Canmore and Jasper National Park • free park passes in National Parks already bursting at the seams • the loss of Bear 148 in Canmore due to flagrant violations of bear closures • and Canmore's wildlife corridor challenges. At the same time, I was amazed by some of the incredible science that is taking place that sheds new light on our landscape and the plants and animals that call it home. A few highlights include: • amazing research on Columbian ground squirrels taking place in Kananaskis Country • revelations on the importance of gravel river ecosystems • a new climate change research centre in Canmore • the reintroduction of bison after 130 years in Banff National Park • new discoveries on dinosaurs across parts of Alberta and British Columbia • the dismantling of the concept of an "ice free corridor" migration to the new world for our earliest indigenous ancestors • a study showing grizzlies will choose berries over salmon if given the opportunity • New insights into ancient Neanderthal medicine and most recently, • A study showing that cougars are not as solitary as scientists once thought. I've also had the opportunity to share a number of historic stories as well including: • The story of outfitter and guide Bill Peyto who's image graced the town entrance for years • The story of the search and discovery of the lost Franklin Expedition ships • The history of snowshoeing • The story of the man behind Waterton Lakes National Park's name • The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, including the stories of surveyors Walter Moberly and A.B. Rogers, and railroad chief William Cornelius Van Horne. • The trials and tribulations of gold seekers during the Caribou goldrush and in this episode • The history of scurvy and its impact on Canadian exploration. I'm going to keep looking for new discoveries to keep you up to date on all of the great stories behind the scenery. I hope you'll be with me to celebrate 100 episodes in another year or so. What stories would you like to hear? You can send your suggestions by visiting the show page at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep050 and enter your suggestion in the comment field at the bottom of the show notes. I love hearing from listeners and this is your opportunity to influence the direction of future episodes. Thanks for being a part of the story…and with that said, let's get to it. New Directions for Wildlife Crossing Structures Back in episode 34, I talked about the great success that Banff National Park has had with its highway mitigation program of wildlife fences, over and underpasses, and highway twinning. The park has pioneered the use of these structures to both reduce the number of animals being killed along our highways while also improving connectivity across the Bow River valley. If you'd like to check out that episode, you can hear it at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep034. I also mentioned that new designs were being investigated to help the program evolve as it expands to new locations across North America. A design contest was held by Arc Solutions and it invited companies to submit new designs using a wide diversity of materials and construction methods. As more and more destinations adopt similar methods of protecting connectivity and wildlife, it's important that the structures evolve to fit the location, the species being protected, and in some cases, the available budget. We need to avoid looking at a wildlife overpass as if it was a bridge. While they are both structures designed to span some form of crossing, the similarities end there. Bridges are usually narrower and usually much longer. This means they need to be engineered in a very different way. Wildlife overpasses are usually wider and span much shorter distances, such as a few lanes of highway. The more squat design of wildlife overpasses provides more opportunities to alter the design to solve unique challenges. Since they don't have to be over-engineered like a long span bridge, they can incorporate more innovative designs and use lighter materials. In addition to the ability to vary the materials, they could also use more flexible or modular components. While Banff gets a lot of credit for its extensive work on expanding the use of connecting structures in North America, the first wildlife overpass was built in France in the 1950s. A number of European countries have followed that lead, in particular the Netherlands, where they have more than 600 crossing structures. They also boast the longest overpass, the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailo, which spans 800 metres and crosses a canal, a highway, and a rail line. In Europe, wildlife overpasses are generally referred to as Ecoducts. The goal for the future is to avoid one-size fits all solutions and to be able to take better advantage of material design and landscape contours. New highways, and upgrades to older roads with a history of animal-vehicle impacts are all candidates for considering connectivity as a key component of the planning process. According to Arc Solutions, crossing structures should be: • "considered as early as possible in the transportation planning process so as to avoid the more costly problem of retrofitting or rebuilding; • cost-effective in terms of materials, construction and maintenance; • ecologically responsive to current and anticipated conditions; • safe for humans and wildlife alike; • flexible or modular for possible use in other locations; • adaptive, to facilitate mobility of wildlife under dynamic ecosystem conditions; • sustainable in terms of materials and energy use, and responsive to climate change; • educational, revelatory and communicative to the public; and • beautiful, engaging and remarkable." One of the other benefits of the crossing structures in Banff National Park has been their ability to continue to teach us about how wildlife use the landscape. By constant monitoring of their usage over decades, we begin to understand our wildlife populations, and in some cases, how individual animals move through their territory. Banff is also unique in its focus on making sure the structures are also effective for large carnivores. While elk and deer were quick to adapt the underpasses, it took years for our more wary carnivores to begin to regularly use them. It was largely for this reason that the decision was made to build the first two overpasses when Banff began its second phase of highway twinning in 1996. In order to spur innovation in overpass construction, Arc Solutions sponsored a design competition in 2010. It brought together landscape architects, engineers, ecologists and an array of other professionals to focus on new ideas on how to improve connectivity across landscapes. The goal was to design a structure in Colorado's West Vail Pass along I-70. The competition spurred designers to look beyond a simple function only focus, and to try to push the envelope to create something entirely new. The competition attracted more than 100 firms on 36 teams. The judges narrowed down the entries to 5 finalists. The teams created some incredibly beautiful, yet innovative designs that were functional in achieving the goals of wildlife connectivity. There was a wide variety of materials used, varying from laminate timber, steel, glass-reinforced plastic, and wood-core fiberglass, amongst others. They all took modularity into account in order to create scalable designs that can vary with the landscape and either be extended or have components that can snap together. Also critical is how they all incorporate real-time opportunities for monitoring for both research and educational purposes. Cameras integrated into the structures can connect with phone apps, websites, schools, or kiosks. Unfortunately, the winning design has yet to be built on West Vail Pass. The wildlife still die in large numbers on the pass. Unfortunately, this section of highway has the reputation for killing every species of wildlife in Colorado save three. Whitetail deer, elk, grizzly and black bear, bighorn sheep, wolf, and even wolverine are regularly lost. Locally, it's referred to as the "Berlin Wall" for wildlife. Hopefully, like Banff, funds can be found to build this and many more structures across the mountain west in Canada and the U.S. Vail Pass may be called the "Berlin Wall" today, but just 30 years ago the Trans Canada between Banff and Lake Louise was referred to as the "meat grinder" for the same reason. Today it's a source of inspiration for destinations across North America dealing with challenges of animal impacts and connectivity. Hopefully new designs help to reduce the costs associated with building more and more crossing structures. In a related story, a recent study has found that female grizzlies with cubs have a definite preference for wildlife overpasses as opposed to underpasses when crossing the Trans-Canada Highway through Banff. The study showed that while male grizzlies seem to use both kinds of structures, females with cubs have a definite preference. The study looked at 17 years of crossing data over 5 of the 44 structures within Banff National Park. All of the bears preferred the more open structures like open-span bridges and overpasses as opposed to the more narrow box culverts and tunnels. Males would use the more confined structures, but definitely preferred a bit more space. Despite their preference for open structures, males still made many crossings on the box culvert style underpasses. It may be possible to create crossings focused on male bears which would help reduce the likelihood of females with cubs encountering males while using the crossings. In Canmore, a long underutilized underpass at Stewart Creek is seeing some renewed interest by both grizzly bears and wolves. This underpass is on one of the previously approved wildlife corridors in Canmore. While the corridor is used by a variety of animals, the underpass under the Trans-Canada Highway has not seen a great deal of wildlife traffic. Part of this may be the high level of human use in the corridor, with many of those people being accompanied by off-leash dogs. In recent months though, wildlife cameras have revealed a significant uptick in wolves and bears crossing through the underpass. In the period between Sept 24 and Nov 23, there were 8 wolf crossings - the first evidence of wolves using the underpass in the 20 years since it was first built. 2017 has also seen 8 separate crossings by grizzly bears so far as compared to 22 crossings in total since 2009. This year represents 36% of the total crossings in that timeframe. Banff also saw a slow adoption of underpasses by carnivores when they were first built, but in time, they became comfortable traversing them. Of the 8 wolf crossings, several were repeat visitors. It's believed that there are at least 3 wolves that have been counted more than once. In particular, collared wolf 1501, the former alpha male of the now disbanded Bow Valley Wolf Pack. With repeated use, the underpasses can become a typical part of their natural travel patterns. In Banff, the historic movement of wildlife determined the location of the 44 over and underpasses built through the park. In Canmore, the wildlife corridors are being designed by people and not the by the animals that have traversed the valley for centuries. We build house after house in the traditional movement corridors and then pull out crayons on a map and say "let's put the corridor here!". Wildlife don't read maps. They read landscapes. In Banff, the crossing zones are often terrain traps, places where habitat and landscape naturally funnel animals to potential highway crossings. Years of winter track surveys of carnivores helped park managers to locate the most important crossing areas for wildlife. They didn't try to force them to go anywhere, rather they let the animals tell them where they wanted to cross. Wildlife corridors and the crossing structures associated with them are critical to the long-term success of the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor. Canmore still has a lot of battles to help ensure the safety of the corridors within its town boundaries. An uptick in use at one underpass does not signal a win for what companies like Three Sisters and Silvertip would like the community to think is due to their efforts. We all need to keep the pressure on to make sure that Canmore doesn't turn into a cul-de-sac in the greater north-south movement corridors for wildlife. Let's celebrate the increased interest by some of our iconic animals, while continuing to push to make sure that it is a trend and not an anomaly. Next up - the scourge of scurvy Scurvy through the Ages In the 21st century, it seems almost inconceivable that someone could contract scurvy, a debilitating disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. With today's modern medicine, scurvy seems to have joined diseases like polio and smallpox in the dustbin of history. That being said, a story in the Canadian Press dated June 9, 2016 talked about an abused teen in Calgary that was likely suffering from scurvy at the time of his death at the age of 15. It was a horrific story of abuse and shows that even ancient, almost forgotten diseases can reappear if basic nutritional needs are not met. When we turn back the pages of time, scurvy really was one of the most devastating scourges affecting travelers throughout history. It seems to strike people when they were far away from home, and correspondingly, away from good nutrition. The cause of scurvy was not proven until 1747 when a Scottish doctor named James Lind showed through a controlled experiment that the use of citrus fruits would cure the disease. This could have, should have, ended the story of scurvy, but alas, history is often not so forgiving. The cause of scurvy has been repeatedly discovered, forgotten, and rediscovered time and time again over the ages. Even the Greek Physician Hippocrates who died in 370 BCE talked about the disease, as did Egyptians more than 1,000 years earlier. Move the clock forward to the 13th century and Crusaders were regularly plagued by scurvy. However by 1497, Vasco de Gama's crew were well aware of the benefits of citrus fruits. Alas, had the Internet existed so long ago, maybe the local discoveries of cures might have been more widely known. The common denominator seemed to be soldiers, explorers, or mariners traveling far from their homes and lacking the fresh fruits and meats that would have been part of their normal diets. The longer they relied on stored, preserved foods, the more likely that the symptoms of scurvy would strike them. Even Canadian history is riddled with tales of scurvy. One of the earliest explorations in Canada was that of Jacques Cartier in 1535-36 (the same man responsible for giving Canada its name). By November of 1535 Cartier's crew, along with a large group of Iroquois were suffering terribly from the disease. By February, 50 of his 110 member party were beyond all hope of recovery and 8 had already died from the disease. According to his journal, the disease: "spread itselfe amongst us after the strangest sort that ever was eyther heard of or seene, insomuch as some did lose all their strength, and could not stand on their feete, then did their legges swel, their sinnowes shrinke as blacke as any cole. Others also had all their skins spotted with spots of blood of a purple colour: then did it ascend up to their ankels, knees, thighes, shoulders, armes and necke: their mouth became stincking, their gummes so rotten, that all the flesh did fall off, even to the rootes of teeth, which did also almost fall out". The crew was losing hope, and it seemed that only prayer could help. Cartier had one of the recently deceased crew autopsied to see if a cause might be determined. His heart appeared rotten and when cut into, issued a great deal more rotten blood. His lungs were black. There was no answers in the autopsy, only more questions. The crew continued to dwindle until only three healthy men were left on the ships. When all seemed lost, Cartier encountered a native by the name of Domagaia who: "not passing ten or twelve dayes afore, had bene very sike with that disease, and had his knees swolne as bigge as a childe of two yeres old, all his sinews shrunke together, his teeth spoyled, his gummes rotten, and stinking. Our Captaine seeing him whole and sound, was therat marvelous glad, hoping to understand and know of him how he had healed himselfe...He answered, that he had taken the juice and sappe of the leaves of a certain Tree, and therewith had healed himselfe: For it is a singular remedy against that disease." Domagaia immediately: "sent two women to fetch some of it, which brought ten or twelve branches of it, and therewithall shewed the way how to use it... to take the barke and leaves of the sayd tree, and boile them togither, then to drinke of the sayd decoction every other day, and to put the dregs of it upon his legs that is sicke: moreover, they told us, that the vertue of that tree was, to heale any other disease: the tree in their language called Ameda or Hanneda..." "The Captain at once ordered a drink to be prepared for the sick men but none of them would taste it. At length one or two thought they would risk a trial. As soon as they had drunk it they felt better, which must clearly be ascribed to miraculous causes; for after drinking it two or three times they recovered health and strength and were cured of all the diseases they had ever had. And some of the sailors who had been suffering for five or six years from the French pox [syphilis] were by this medicine cured completely. When this became known, there was such a press for the medicine that they almost killed each other to have it first; so that in less than eight days a whole tree as large and as tall as any I ever saw was used up, and produced such a result that had all the doctors of Louvain and Montpellier been there, with all the drugs of Alexandria, they could not have done so much in a year as did this tree in eight days; for it benefitted us so much that all who were willing to use it recovered health and strength, thanks be to God." Other translations refer to the tree as Annedda. Unfortunately, Cartier did not list a careful description or proper name of the tree in his Journal. More recent research suggests that it might be the eastern white cedar, white spruce, or the white pine. All are very high in vitamin C and can make a rejuvenating tea for those suffering from scurvy. The lack of a proper identification, meant that scurvy would continue to plague future explorers. In 1609, Marc Lescarbot's History of New France talks about another expedition: "Briefly, the unknown sicknesses like to those described unto us by James Cartier, in his relations assailed us. Fore remedies there was none to be found. In the meanwhile the poor sick creatures did languish, pining away by little and little, for want of sweet meats, as milk or spoon-meat for to sustain their stomachs, which could not receive the hard meats by reason of let proceeding from a rotten flesh, which grew and overabounded within their mouths; when one thought to root it out, it did grow again in one night's space more abundantly than before. As for the tree called annedda, mentioned by the said Cartier, the savages of these lands know it not… There died of the sickness 36 and 36 or 40 more that were stricken with it recovered themselves by the help of the spring". Soon after, the voyages of Samuel de Champlaine were also ravaged by the disease. In 1613 he wrote: "During the winter there was a certain sickness amongst several of our men, called sickness of the country, or scurvy…There died 35…We could not find any remedy to cure this sickness… "We passed by a bay where there are a quantity of islands and saw large mountains in the west, where is the home of a savage captain called Aneda; which I think is near the Quinibequy River. I was persuaded by this name that here was one of the race who found the herb called Aneda, that Jacque Cartier said had so much power against the sickness called scurvy…which torments these men, savages as well as our own, when they arrive in Canada. The savages knew nothing about this herb, nor know what it is, even though their language contains the name." Had Cartier only taken a little more time to describe the plant so that future explorers could benefit from his good fortune at finding a cure. It was 1747 when James Lind finally issued a cure in his publication A Treatise of Scurvy, where he described the cure. Unfortunately, the book attracted little attention. As a result, scurvy continued to kill. During the Seven Years War which lasted from 1756 until 1763, the Royal Navy records showed 134,708 men listed as either missing or died from disease. Of that number, the vast majority succumbed to scurvy. Scurvy continued to plague explorers as they expanded across Canada. Even during the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In Pierre Burton's book, The National Dream, he writes: "No life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year" In one of my favourite books detailing the surveys of Walter Moberly's party, one of his men, R.M. Rylatt kept a journal for his mother. It was published under the title Surveying the Canadian Pacific. I highly recommend it if you can find a copy. At one point Rylatt wrote: "My mouth is in a dreadful state, the gums being black, the teeth loose, and when pressed against any substance they prick at the roots like needles. At times the gums swell, almost covering the teeth. To chew food is out of the question and so have to bolt it without mastication. My legs also becoming black below the knee...My breath is somewhat offensive and I am troubled with a dry cough. In fact I feel like an old man" Rylatt was lucky. He survived the ordeal, but scurvy would continue to afflict other surveyors stranded for long periods in the wilderness with little access to modern medicines. Ironically, Rylatt was also surrounded by a myriad of coniferous trees that would have solved his problems with just a simple tea. If only Cartier had been a little more clear with his journal descriptions. In 1867, England's Merchant Shipping Act required every ship in the British Navy to serve daily rations of lime juice. As news spread, the Brits became known by the ubiquitous term "Limeys". Today, scurvy still persists, in particular amongst impoverished nations and within homeless populations. It constantly amazes me how a simple vitamin deficiency was responsible for the deaths of so many thousands of people over the centuries…all for the want of a little vitamin C. And with that, it's time to wrap this episode up. As I begin to work towards the next 50 episodes, I'm happy to have you along on the journey. For me, I'm always looking to find the stories in the science, the history and the culture. If you know of a good story, drop me a line in the show notes at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep050. You can also send me an email by using the contact page on the site. If you're looking for a snowshoe, hiking, step-on, or photography guide for your mountain adventure, look no further than Ward Cameron Enterprises. We have been sharing the stories behind the scenery for the past 35 years and would love to help you make the most of your mountain adventure. If you'd like to connect personally, you can hit me up on Twitter @ Ward Cameron. I'm excited to say, that's a wrap for the first 50 episodes, and the Chinook has melted a lot of the snow from the mountain valleys so it's time to go hiking. I'll talk to you next week.

Ancient archaeological Site found on the Coast For as long as I can remember, archaeologists have been talking about the ice free corridor that ran from Alaska, across the Bering Strait to Russia and all the way past Calgary. We were told that this was the route that the ancestors of all the first nations on the continent would have taken as they migrated from Asia to the new world. Back in episode 6 (www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep006 I talked about some chinks in the armour of that tried and true theory. Two studies cast some serious doubt on the ice free corridor migration. In one study, researchers looked into a large glacial lake called Lake Peace that sat smack dab in the middle of the corridor. It would have completely blocked the route of any traveler looking to make their way through the corridor. As they examined the sediments below this lake, they learned that food animals like bison and jack rabbits didn't show up in the sediments until around 12,500 years ago. They theorize that the landscape did not support enough food for anyone migrating through the area before that time. The lack of food resources would have stopped any large scale migration. By the time this route would have opened up, archaeological sites farther south would have made these travelers followers rather than leaders. Other studies have shown possible human sites in Monte Verde South America at least 15,000 years ago and in Florida 14,500 years ago. It seems there must have been another way to get south. A second study looked at bison populations through the ice free corridor. Researchers investigate 78 skulls from now-extinct steppe bison and examined the mitochondrial DNA. They also carbon dated the fossils. Prior to the opening of the corridor, both populations had been separated for a long enough period to be considered different genetic populations. It wasn't until 13,000 years ago that the two groups of bison began to intermingle. The fossil dates also imply that the corridor opened up from south to north as opposed to the other way around. Based on the dates of some of these other sites, like Monte Verde, people had already made it south of the corridor by that time. Scientists have long speculated about a possible coastal migration route, but for years, there was not a speck of evidence of an actual coastal migration. Part of the reason is likely that some areas would have been submerged by rising ocean levels as the glaciers melted. Finally, recent discoveries off the coast of British Columbia have found a 14,000-year-old site on Triquet Island, a lonely island some 133 km north of Port Moody which is located on the north end of Vancouver Island. 14,000 years makes this site one of the earliest cultural sites on the continent, with the exception of a few already mentioned in this story. It also shows there may have been a viable coastal route long before any ice-free corridor opened up. The first nations that call Triquet Island home are the Heitsuk Nation. For generations,  their oral traditions have talked about an area of land that never froze during the ice age. The Hietsuk stayed there as a refuge during those years. For the Heitsuk, it is an affirmation of their long-held oral history. It is also yet another example of first nations oral histories proving to be more factual than some of the western histories. After all, it was first nations stories that led to the discovery of both of the lost Franklin ships over the past several years after remaining hidden to history for more than 170 years. The site revealed fish hooks, spears and fire making materials. All it took was a small amount of charcoal from one of the fire pits to carbon date the site. One of the most puzzling parts of the story is that in the area of Triquet Island, the ocean levels remained fairly consistent over the millennia. This allowed for the island to remain inhabited throughout many thousands of years. As archaeologists excavated through the layers of dirt, with each representing a layer of time, they could see an evolution of hunting and fishing techniques. The research was led by Alisha Gaubreau, a Ph.D. student at the University of Victoria, along with a scholar from the Hakai Institute. This research organization focuses on long-term studies of remote areas of coastal British Columbia. This is an amazing discovery and may help to spur a flurry of new studies across a variety of scientific disciplines as researchers try to ferret out additional clues to potential coastal migration routes. Does this mean that nobody walked through the ice-free corridor - absolutely not. They may not have been the first to see the lands south of the corridor, but I still like to think of them as the first Calgary Stampede. A Ribbon of Steel was just a National Dream When we look at the opening up of western Canada, two great events stand out. The fur trade which opened a vast land to exploration, and the Canadian Pacific Railway. This ribbon of steel really is the tie that binds this nation together and without it Canada might not exist...at least not in the way it does today. Prior to our building an all Canadian railway, a lot of talk drifted north from the U. S. about annexation of the Canadian west. One American politician was elected with the rallying cry of 54-40 or fight! Forget the 49th parallel, they wanted everything up to the 54th. That would have put a real dent in western Canada especially when you realize that communities like Banff are just on the 51st parallel. When we hear about the ‘Oregon’ territory, it was NOT the state of Oregon, it was a much larger area. It included present day Oregon, Washington and the lower half of British Columbia. It was much later that the various states were delineated. Well lucky for us, but unlucky for Americans, American intentions were diverted south by the Civil War. What that horrible conflict did for Canada was it bought us time, time to cement our sovereignty over our western lands. Prior to B.C. joining confederation, it had already experienced a gold rush in 1858 that saw some 30,000 prospectors flood into the territory. As a result, the British government created the colony of B.C. that same year. Just 6 years later, in 1964, they instituted a kind of representative government. Simultaneously the colonies in the eastern part of British North America were talking about Confederation. A legislative assembly with a regional governor was established in 1866 which placed Victoria as the capital. Some debate occurred in British Columbia about joining the fledgling nation of Canada in order to provide some security against American aspirations in the western portions of North America, especially after the U.S. purchased Alaska in March of 1867. While there was support in B.C. towards joining Canada, there was also some staunch opposition. However in 1869, when Canada purchased Rupert’s Land and the Northwest Territories from the Hudson’s Bay Company, suddenly the new nation was right up to the eastern boundary of the colony. A three person delegation was sent to Ottawa and after some heated debate, politicians in Ottawa did what politicians do, they sat down with their counterparts from British Columbia and they began to make promises. They said: “if you join Canada we’ll build you a railway” and British Columbia said ‘sold’. In fact, they joined Canada so fast that they joined as a full province on July 20, 1871, when this country was just 4 years old. That may not sound impressive, until you realize that Alberta and Saskatchewan did not become provinces until 1905, more than 30 years later. Nobody knew better than British Columbians how important this link with the rest of the country would be, but also how impossible it would be to build. The government dispatched an army of surveyors across the western wilderness in order to find a route for the transcontinental railway. Pierre Burton in his book The National Dream stated: “no life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year Pierre Burton in his book The National Dream stated: “no life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year “No life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year They explored great sections of Canada--the first engineers scaled mountains that had never before been climbed, crossed lakes that had never known a white man's paddle and forded rivers that were not on any map. They walked with a uniform stride developed through years of habit, measuring the distances as they went, checking altitudes with an aneroid barometer slung around the neck and examining the land with a practiced gaze, always seeing in the mind's eye the finished line of steel--curves, grades, valley crossings, bridges and trestles, tunnels, cuts and fills” Seventy-four thousand kilometres of Canadian wilderness were surveyed during the first 6 years of the survey. Of that, 12,000 was properly charted. Many of the people we refer to as ‘surveyors’ were really just the first step of the process. Men like A.B. Rogers really should be referred to as the pathfinders. A long line of others would need to follow their footsteps once a route was determined. First came the axemen who cleared the route of brush, making way for the chainmen. They would break the line into 30m or 100-foot sections and place a stake at the end of each section and labeled with how many chain lengths it was from the start of the division. Behind them came the transit men. They’re the mathletes of the crew. They’ll look at each bend in the route and estimate the angles of the turns. They note river crossings, changes in landscape and obstacles the route may encounter. And finally, come the levelers who placed elevation benchmarks every 1,500 feet or 457 metres. By 1877, 25,000 bench marks had been placed and more than 600,000 stakes had been pounded in by the Chainmen. It wasn’t long before the chief surveyor, Sandford Fleming found it difficult to find men that were tough enough to endure the challenges of survey life. By mid-summer 1871, he had already dispatched some 800 men on 21 survey parties but many of them were unfit to the task. As he wrote: "Many of those we were obliged to take, subsequent events proved, were unequal to the very arduous labour they had to undergo, causing a very considerable delay and difficulty in pushing the work." He also had to deal with political meddling and nepotism. He was constantly pressured to hire family members or friends of eastern politicians. With unfit and incompetent men in the wilderness, entire crews simply abandoned their posts when the going got tough. In the season of 1871-2, two parties simply quit and wandered home when the temperatures started to get cold. The surveyors traveled through areas where the local first nations had never before seen a white man. On surveyor, Henry Cambie came across a group of natives that would simply not believe that hair actually grew on his face. Another surveyor accepted a seat on a bear skin rug next to a young native woman, not realizing that that was the equivalent of a marriage proposal. After a few tense negotiations, he managed to trade her back to her father for a nice ring that he had been wearing. In the winter of 1875-6, the expedition of E.W. Jarvis in the Smoky River Pass in the Rockies really highlighted the hardships these surveyors endured. In January, Jarvis, along with his assistant C.F. Hannington and dogmaster Alec Macdonald headed out from Fort George with 6 natives and 20 dogs. The weather dropped to -47C. One evening Macdonald knocked on the door of their winter shack completely encased in ice from head to toe. Another day, as they got the dogsleds ready to go in the morning, the lead dog stood up, gave a feeble tail wag and then fell over dead with his legs frozen solid right up to the shoulder. They carried few supplies and just two blankets each and a thin cotton sheet for a tent. After a time, they began to suffer from ‘mal de raquette’ or snowshoe sickness which left them lame simply from walking hundreds of kilometres in large snowshoes. As can often do in the mountains, they experienced a brief chinook wind on one occasion with the temperature increasing from -42C to +4C in a single day. The sudden change left them exhausted. Another morning, they were mushing along the frozen surface of a river when they had to stop suddenly when they found the entire dog team on the thinly frozen overhang of a waterfall. Beneath their feet, the river plunged 65m. Another evening, they made camp beneath the beautiful blue of a glacier. In the middle of the night, huge blocks of ice broke off of the glacier and came crashing through their camp. They described: "masses of ice and rock chasing one another and leaping from point to point as if playing some weird, gigantic game" Surprisingly, even though a chunk of limestone more than 3 metres thick bounced past them, they were left somewhat dazed but even more surprisingly, unharmed. By March, their dogs were dying on a daily basis and the men began to believe that they would never see their families again. At one point Hannington wrote in his journal: "I have been thinking of 'the dearest spot on earth to me' - of our Mother and Father and all my brothers and sisters and friends--of the happy days at home--of all the good deeds I have left undone and all the bad ones committed. If ever our bones will be discovered, when and by whom. If our friends will mourn long for us or do as is often done, forget us as soon as possible. In short, I have been looking death in the face..." In the end, though they did survive. Hannington had lost 15 kg and when they finally reached Fort Edmonton and received fresh food and water it brought on spasms of dysentery and vomiting as it had been so long since they had eaten proper food. In the end, they covered 3036 km over 162 days on the trail. Fifteen hundred of those kilometres were done on snowshoes with the final 530 carrying all of their supplies on their backs because, by this time, all their dogs were dead. Usually, about this point, people come up with a pretty good question...why? Clearly, the work left a little to be desired and the pay, well the pay was even worse. The answer to that question can also be summed up in one word – immortality. They hoped that somewhere along the way their name would linger on a map or, hope beyond hope, that they would go down as the man who had found the route through which the transcontinental railway would pass. We’ll continue this story in future episodes. Golden Eagles People often have a vision of the mountains with eagles soaring overhead and wolves howling in the distance. These idealized pictures often hide the harsh realities of mountain life. It's a tough place to earn a living. In 35 years of guiding, I have yet to hear a wolf howl, lots and lots of coyotes, but nary a wolf. Never has a cougar crossed my path, wolverines, yes, but no cougars. The mountain landscape is a place of secrets with animals and birds constantly striving to survive in a landscape that constantly conspires against them. Travel to the north coast of British Columbia and you've entered the land of milk and honey for many animals and birds. You'll find yourself tripping over bald eagles and great-blue herons. The density of black and grizzly populations can be an order of magnitude higher than it is here simply because there is more food. Golden eagles are a northern specialist. They thrive in high latitude landscapes hunting many of the small game animals that share their environment. They are also the most popular avian national animal. Golden eagles are the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan. They are an exciting siting in the Canadian Rockies, but in 1992, biologist Peter Sherrington stumbled upon something truly unique on an outing in Kananaskis Country in March of that year. As he looked up from the top of a small summit, he noticed a tiny speck high above him. As he studied it, he realized it was a golden eagle. Cool, I've just won the wildlife lottery for the day. Before long though, there was another speck, and then another. Any time you see a single golden eagle is exciting, but to see more than one, astounding. By the end of the day, he had counted more than 100. It didn't take Sherrington long to realize that something was out of the ordinary. As he put it in a recent story in the Calgary Herald: "Every time we looked up, there were more golden eagles,” he said. “Everybody thought of the mountains as barriers, but we established they were very serious avian highways.” Sherrington has spent every spring and fall since staking out the area as the research director for the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation. Now at age 72, he has the opportunity to share the spectacle with thousands of visitors each year that flock to the area to see the spring and fall migrations of golden eagles. Just how many eagles pass through this area every spring and fall? When the foundation first began tracking eagles, there were some 4,000/season. Last year only saw 2,500. In fall of 2007, they witnessed almost 5,500 golden eagles. According to Sherington, this is "the greatest eagle migration in the world, and it's right on our doorstep. It truly is a world-class phenomenon." The drop in numbers of the years that the foundation has been counting the eagles is a reflection of the environments that they call home. They overwinter in the states where they are occasionally captured in traps meant for coyotes. However, it may be more a reflection of snowshoe hare populations in their summer homes in the far northern areas of Alaska and the Yukon. It won't be long before the eagles begin to point south at the end of the summer nesting and hunting season. If you'd like to volunteer with the foundation or learn more about their work, you can visit them on their website at www.eaglewatch.ca. Next up, British Columbia abdicates its responsibility for managing wildlife New BC Wildlife Agency Announced Conservation organizations in British Columbia are reeling after the provincial government announced the creation of a new Wildlife Management Agency to be funded by hunting revenues. In late March 2017 the B.C. Government announced that all the revenue from hunting licenses would be reinvested into wildlife management in the province. B.C.'s Minister of Forests, Steve Tomson called it "a significant investment and significant initiative on the part of the provincial government". He went on to state: "This will have great benefit for wildlife populations and wildlife management in British Columbia. It will benefit rural communities throughout the province," Along with a proposed budget of $5million in the first year and revenues of 9-10 million on subsequent years, $200,000 was budgeted as part of a consultation process to determine the structure and priorities of the new agency. British Columbia organizations related to hunting are applauding the move, including the B.C. Wildlife Federation, Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., Wild Sheep Society of B.C., Wildlife Stewardship Council and the B.C. Trappers Association. All five agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in supporting the new agency. Not a single, not consumptive conservation organization has stepped up to support this new agency. As a biologist, this seems like the hunting groups are lining up to manage the organization and that seems a little like the fox guarding the chicken coop to me. Time and again, hunting organizations focus only on huntable species. How do we protect the remainder of the 136 species of mammals, 488 species of birds, 20 amphibians and 16 reptiles? On June 27, twenty-three organizations focusing on protecting wildlife in British Columbia sent an open letter to the province. The organizations include the B.C. SPCA, Bear Matters, Get Bear Smart Society, Humane Society, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Wildlife Defense League, Wolf Awareness Inc and Zoocheck Canada, amongst numerous other stakeholders. In the letter, they state: "The wildlife of the province belongs to all British Columbians and has by law been held by the government in trust, to conserve the wildlife itself, and to ensure the rights of all members of the public. The British Columbia Wildlife Act states that “Ownership in all wildlife in British Columbia is vested in the government.” That means that elected representatives can be held accountable for their wildlife decisions through general elections and in courts. Indeed, a groundswell of public unhappiness with the way our wildlife has been mismanaged (grizzly bear trophy hunt) was a significant issue in the recent election." It continues "In announcing the proposed new agency, Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett stated in the media that “The government is afraid to manage wolves, or afraid to manage grizzly bears in some cases because of the politics of that. Hopefully, an agency that is separate from government can make decisions that are in the best long-term interest of wildlife and just forget about the politics and do what is best for the animals.” The letter continues: "We are sorry to learn that Minister Bennett believes our government representatives cannot apply the wildlife laws and science in an unbiased manner, since we believed that’s what they were elected to do. However, they are accountable to voters, whereas an independent agency would not be. It would have no duty to represent all British Columbians, and would be far more susceptible to influence by special interest groups." Finally, the letter calls for the government to: Cancel the plan for an “independent” agency. Increase the wildlife management staff and funding of government ministries. Recognize that BC has a biodiversity crisis; it requires a shift in focus from juggling numbers of game animals for hunters, to applying the science of ecology. Recognize that all British Columbians are stakeholders in our wildlife. All interest groups should be equally empowered. Only about 2% of the total BC population are registered hunters, whereas a huge majority of British Columbians care about the welfare of our wildlife and ecosystems. A wildlife agency that is not tied to the government for accountability would mean that there was no requirement for the province to intervene in wildlife matters. It creates a situation where special interest groups can move in and manage based on their own agenda. In addition, if the funding is based upon hunting revenue, there is an inherent motivation to increase that revenue by granting more hunting permits. It's a negative spiral that could easily result in priorities being shifted away from things like wildlife viewing and towards consumptive uses like hunting and trapping which fund the program. Numerous studies have shown that wildlife viewing brings in much more money to the provincial coffers than does hunting. This is particularly true for iconic species like whales and grizzly bears. Birding as well is a huge economic driver. And generates 10s of millions of dollars annually to the B.C. economy. Under the species at risk at, the B.C. Government is required by law to develop recovery plans for designated species. They cannot simply sidestep federal law by saying that we aren't in charge of wildlife anymore. I stand with these organizations against a government that is abdicating its responsibility to manage wildlife in a sustainable way. If you want to get involved, send a letter to your MLA if you live in British Columbia. Every voice counts.

This week we'll look at efforts to reintroduce grizzly bears to the north Cascades of Washington State. The plan may include some Canadian bears to help repopulate an area that has excellent habitat for bears. We'll also look way back into the earliest history of bison on the North American landscapes. With this summer looking to be the busiest ever, I'm promoting a new Rocky Mountain Pledge to help visitors enjoy the mountain landscapes in a safe and sensitive way. Finally, we'll look at the challenges of human use in designated wildlife corridors. Story 1 - North Cascades Grizzly Reintroduction The long history of grizzly bears has seen them removed from most of their historic range. Today they are limited to only the wildest of western landscapes. Once they ranged across most of western and northern Canada and south as far as Mexico. As people began to migrate westward, the grizzly bear was a natural competitor for many of the resources that these early pioneers sought. For this reason, like the buffalo, they were gradually wiped from the map of most of the United States and many areas of Canada. Like Banff is doing with bison, other landscapes are hoping to do with grizzly bears, in particular, the north Cascades ecosystem in northern Washington State. Like the south coast of British Columbia, grizzlies have been largely squeezed and hunted to the extent that there are only a few bears in this particular landscape. Today, there may be less than 10 bears wandering the north Cascades - a landscape that could easily support a few hundred bears. There is a growing movement to reintroduce grizzlies to the north Cascades. Now while we proudly boast about reintroducing buffalo, we need to realize that grizzlies ain't no buffalo. Compared to grizzlies, bison are a piece of cake. They are incredibly adaptable ecosystem engineers. Like beaver, they change the landscape to benefit their expansion. Grizzly bears are local specialists. You've heard me time and again talking about the importance of knowing the seasonal food preferences of bears in order to stay safe in bear country. Unfortunately, every bear population has a different list of seasonal foods. Bears in Banff have never tasted a salmon. Each bear must spend years with its mother learning how to survive in the landscape that it calls home. You can't just airlift a bear from one landscape and hope that it can survive in another - especially when it doesn't know what the locally available foods are. To be successful, the north Cascades need to find bears with a familiar palate, bears that are familiar enough with the local flora and fauna so that they will be able to adapt to a terrain largely devoid of competing bears. If you can find the right bear and put it into the perfect landscape, then you may have a winning combination. Wells Gray Provincial Park in southern British Columbia might be able to assist in such a reintroduction program. Its population was listed as 317 bears in 2012. The plan would involve removing just a few young bears to seed the reintroduction. Over the next five to ten years, 25 bears could be reintroduced from more than one seed population. The plan can only move forward if the local populations can sustain the loss of some of their young bears. Populations in decline or in a precarious balance, obviously would not be able to become donors. The north Cascades are in the midst of a huge public consultation at the moment…and even though this is taking place in the U.S., Canadian comments are also welcome - after all, Canadian bears are likely to be included in any successful reintroduction program. The public comment period is open until April 28, 2017.You can add your voice to the discussion here: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=327&projectID=44144&documentID=77025 The history of the north Cascade grizzly has been a difficult one. During the period of 1827 to 1859, 3,788 grizzly hides were loaded onto Hudson Bay Company ships from trading posts in the area. No bear population can survive such an onslaught. It would feel really great to help grizzly bears begin to march south again as opposed to having their range continually squeezed further to the north. What do you think? Story 2 - Bison vs wooly Mammoths Bison wandered the Canadian landscape for thousands of years. They helped to define the great plains as one of the chief ecological engineers helping to keep forests at bay and support huge populations of insects, and in turn, insect-eating birds. It's easy to toss out numbers like 'thousands', but just how many thousands of years? Just when did bison first appear on the North American landscape and how did their arrival impact the plants and animals that preceded them? New research by University of Alberta biologist Duane Froese and Professor Beth Shapiro of the US Santa Cruz Genomics institute have pushed those boundaries back by a factor of 10. Scientists have long debated the tenure of bison on the North American Landscape. Bison fossils from across the continent have often suggested different histories. One thing scientists do agree on is that the original migration of bison to the continent was from the north. This study looked at the oldest bison fossils known in order to try to narrow down the period in which they first thundered onto the North American landscape. It is still believed that they crossed the land bridge across the Bering Strait, but when? During ice ages, the bridge formed when ocean levels dropped due to great extents of water being locked up as ice. As glaciers shrank, so did the bridge disappear as rising ocean levels submerged its ephemeral passageway. By looking at the very oldest fossil sites in the Yukon Territories, they looked at the mitochondrial DNA found in these fossils. This DNA is usually inherited from the female and allows scientists to trace a long maternal lineage. This study pushes the tenure of bison back…way back to 130,000 years ago and possibly as far as 195,000 years. These were not the bison we know today but were the ancestors that would gradually become the bison that Banff is so proud to have reintroduced recently.  Bison would have taken the landscape by storm. They discovered a place already populated with wooly mammoths, camels, sabre tooth cats, and wild horses. Bison don't simply move in, they re-engineer the ecology of their adopted homes. Before long, they became one of the principal grazers of the Great Plains and were well-established thousands of years before the first humans set foot on the North American continent. Story 3 - The Rocky Mountain Pledge I was listening to the Roadtreking podcast recently and host Mike Wendland did a story about the Yellowstone Pledge. The story really struck a chord with me. As a naturalist and guide, I've watched and reported on, the challenges inherent in increasing numbers of visitors heading to the Canadian Rockies every year. When I heard about the Yellowstone Challenge, I thought, why not adopt a great idea and see if we could help it to adapt to a wider geographic area. So here's my pitch! Yellowstone, like the mountain west, has become number one Americans bucket list of travel destinations. Surprisingly, the same site that introduced me to the Yellowstone Challenge has a picture of Moraine Lake on their home page today with the headline: "Why Canada needs to be on your 2017 RV Travel Bucket List". Like Yellowstone, we run the risk of becoming a victim of our own success. 2017 is Canada's 150th birthday and we are all proud as a nation, especially during some of the turbulent times that are taking place in other parts of the world. As a Canadian, I'm very proud to showcase the Rockies to visitors every year. However, like Yellowstone, we struggle to create an atmosphere that will encourage visitors to feel the same way we do about the importance of keeping the wild in wildlife, and of protecting the landscapes that will be the focus of so many selfies in the upcoming months. Yellowstone developed the Yellowstone Pledge. It is a series of promises that it's asking visitors to take to help make sure that their visit will combine amazing experiences with minimal impact.  Let's jump right into it - here's my suggestion for the Rocky Mountain Pledge To be a steward and help protect myself and the park, I pledge to: Practice safe selfies by never approaching animals to take a picture. Park in designated areas and avoid blocking traffic. Make sure my actions do not add additional stress or danger to the wildlife I am lucky enough to view Stay with my car if I’m stuck in a wildlife jam. Follow speed limits and pull over to let cars pass. Travel safely in bear country by carrying bear spray, making noise, and hiking in groups. Keep my food away from animals. Recycle what I can and put my garbage in bear-proof containers. Report resource violations by calling 911 or talking to a member of the park staff.   You can read more about the Yellowstone Pledge by visiting: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/yellowstonepledge.htm Like any pledge, it's critical that we ALL take the pledge and share it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and our other social networks with the hashtag #RockyMountainPledge. Maybe we can help to create a movement that can translate to some of the many visitors that come to the mountains every summer. This year we will see record numbers of travelers that have never experienced a landscape like the one that surrounds us. Don't judge them by the looks of wonder that will be all over their face. Rather, we need to help educate them. Everyone in the mountains needs to be a part of the message this year. We need to spread the Rocky Mountain Pledge far and wide and help visitors to understand how these 9 simple pledges will help to ensure that their grandchildren's grandchildren will be able to share the same experience when Canada celebrates its 300th birthday. I for one will take the pledge…will you? Story 4 - Humans in the Corridors A recent study by Alberta Environment & Parks looked at current wildlife corridors in and around Canmore and they came up with some disturbing stats: humans represent 94% of the use of wildlife corridors. Researchers Melanie Percy and John Paczkowski collected 1.5 million images from wildlife cameras. These were broken down into 178,000 separate events and of those, wildlife accounted for barely 6%. Even more disturbingly, 56% of the total events included humans with dogs. Of those, 60% of the dogs were off-leash. Let me say that again…60% of the people with dogs in the designated wildlife corridors had those dogs off-leash. The town of Canmore works in conjunction with the province on wildlife corridors in and around the town and while they have developed some recommendations around wildlife corridors, clearly something has to be done. While wildlife are becoming more and more limited in their movements within the Bow Valley, these designated corridors need to be protected for their movement - and not for illegal off-leash dogs. For too long in the Canmore area, dog owners have rarely been charged for having their dogs off-leash. Perhaps utilizing wildlife cameras in known corridors can help file more charges against flagrant violations of laws relating to dogs on leashes. At the same time, we need to make sure these wildlife corridors are clearly marked so there can be no doubt when people begin to stray off designated trails and into wildlife corridors. Banff National Park has excellent signage where designated trails intersect with critical corridors. Great examples are along the Sulphur Mountain Road and around Johnson Lake. It is very difficult to 'accidentally' wander into closed areas and so it becomes much easier for Wardens to lay charges to violators. Banff also uses automated cameras for protecting sensitive sites like the restricted area around the middle hot spring along Sulphur Mountain Road. As developments like Silver tip, Three Sisters, and Smith Creek move forward, every corridor in this valley will become increasingly precious to animals trying to move through the area. The corridors in and around Canmore offer critical connections between Banff National Park to the west and Kananaskis Country to the east. Towns like Canmore become roadblocks to the movement of these animals. As humans, we tend to build towns at crossroads.  At Canmore, we have the confluence of numerous valleys offering access to Spray Valley Provincial Park, Wind Valley, Cougar Creek, Slogan Pass and others. We need to make sure that connecting corridors remain viable so that animals can continue to move freely within the valley.

Story 1 - Summer Camping Reservations Filling Up Fast In Episode 17, I suggested that anybody thinking of camping in the mountain national parks this summer make a point of booking their sites as soon as the summer reservation system opened on January 11. As it turned out, the reservations went far quicker than anyone had anticipated.  According to a story on the CBC website, some 9,300 reservations were made in the first 4 hours after the site opened up. This is a whopping 55% increase over 2016. Outside of the mountain parks, Alberta's provincial park reservation system opens Feb 21 and it will likely also be a frenzy of activity. Think of it like you're booking concert tickets. Divide and conquer. Get multiple people trying to grab your booking on different computers and you can up your chances of grabbing key sites before the dreaded 'no availability' message. It's a race these days and if the provincial sites in Alberta and British Columbia reflect the trend set on the national level then it will be a race to the booking page.  Story 2 - 5.7 Million Investment in Radium Hotsprings For those of us that like to bask in the hot springs for which the Canadian Rockies are famous, this story brings news of some long needed renovations to the Radium hot springs in Kootenay National Park. The hot pools, like many older facilities under the care of Parks Canada, have been showing their age in the past few years. Radium Hot Springs was the first major building project in the western parks following the end of World War II. It's an important heritage building so the renovations will focus on both protecting the building and improving the facilities for the future. While disturbances to guests will be minimized, it will be necessary to implement some temporary closures. The work began in 2016 and is scheduled to continue throughout 2017. There renos have several primary goals. One is to create a themed diner and replace all of the associated electrical and mechanical systems, along with changing the floor plan. This first phase is scheduled to finish sometime this month. However due to the age of the facility, other mechanical and electrical systems within the complex will also have to be replaced and upgraded. This will include improvements to the geothermal heating system and the water system. They’ll also be replacing all the water lines and the filtration system for the pool The pedestrian bridge and walkway are also being repaired and upgraded, including improvements the lighting and adding additional landscaping. Story 3 – Layers in the Rock Have you ever noticed the way a good covering of snow helps to bring out the layers in the surrounding peaks. In summer, the mountains tend to look like one large rock, however, when the snows come, the individual layers suddenly stand out starkly against the sky. Looking up at mountains like Rundle we are struck by the steeply angled layers, and we often forget that these rocks were once submerged deeply underwater. I often find myself amazed by the discovery of a fossils like brachiopods, a small clam-like animal, at elevations exceeding 3,000 metres or 10,000 feet--especially when I realize they've been dead for hundreds of millions of years.  Story 4 -  Small Town Canada On January 11, Country Living Magazine out of the U.S. published a story titled "40 Canadian Towns you haven't heard of but should visit ASAP". The article was motivated by Canada's celebration of its 150th birthday this year. The magazine takes a very brief look at 40 towns that are worth getting to know, not just because it's our birthday, but, well just because they're awesome. As a long-time small town dweller I was curious to see some of the places they might recommend. I was pleasantly surprised to see their number one spot - Jasper, Alberta. The article commended Jasper as having some of the best aerial views  in the Rockies. Jasper is not only the focal point of Jasper National Park, but it is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. Situated along the banks of the Athabasca River, Jasper is the most southern community along the Arctic Ocean Watershed. The Athabasca River will eventually join the great Mackenzie River system in the Arctic. Second on the list, and dear to my heart, is Canmore, the town I've called home for the past 30 years. It describes it as a wildlife corridor where bears, cougars, wolves, and elk roam freely. Canmore is a former coal mining town that has become known as the gateway to Alberta's Banff National Park as well as Kananaskis Country, Alberta's best kept secret. Over the years, it has grown to dwarf Banff townsite as it sits outside the mountain national parks and has historically had less restrictions on development. While it has been feeling the squeeze of development over the past few years, Canmore truly is one of the gems on the Canadian Landscape. Cochrane, ranked third on the list. While hardly a small town, was selected for its western Canadian cowboy culture. Nearby, Glenbow Ranch and Big Hill Springs Provincial Parks are two nearby attractions. After Cochrane, the list takes a trip west towards Bowen Island, Prince Rupert, Tofino, and Oliver, British Columbia. It then veers eastward before returning to Banff, Alberta in the number 18 spot. Banff needs no introduction. It was the site of Canada's first national park and the past and current headquarters for exploring the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I hope that many Americans, who are the target of this U.S. publication, will read the article and take the time to visit these Canadian gems. Just remember, this is going to be a busy year and you'll want to plan your visit. Canada is a vast landscape with a myriad of amazing destinations. If you want to check out the complete list, check out http://bit.ly/2j941Bt   

Story 1 - Buying Your First Pair of Snowshoes What should you look for when buying your first pair of snowshoes. First, you'll need to answer these fundamental questions: Where do you want to go? How steep will the terrain be? How deep with the snow be? Will it be powder or packed? Are you looking to walk or run? Answering these questions will make it easier for store clerks to match you with the right snowshoe for the types of outings that you are most often going to be undertaking. Like cross-country skis, there are snowshoes designed for a wide variety of terrains and activities so finding the right match is critical. In time, you may find that you want a pair for tracked conditions, another for deep powder and maybe even a third pair for steep ascents. For now, though focus on your main goals when buying your first pair. If this all sounds confusing, there is a pretty good way to test the waters without investing in the purchase of new equipment - you can choose to take a guided snowshoe program, or you can rent some snowshoes and try them out on your own. Most guided snowshoe tours will provide the snowshoes for the day so you can get an introduction into the sport while at the same time testing some snowshoes. Here at Ward Cameron Enterprises, we would love to take you out into Kananaskis Country or Banff and help you get a feel for this incredible sport. We have all the gear you need as long as you have good winter clothing and a sturdy pair of snow boots. Drop us a line a info@wardcameron.com if you'd like to learn more about our early season packages.   Story 2 - The Crowds...they are a Comin' 2017 represents Canada's 150th birthday. In celebration, the federal government has decided to make entry into all Canadian national parks completely free of charge for the entire year. This is a bad decision that should be reversed immediately. Banff and Jasper National Parks are already operating way beyond capacity. Adding another several hundred thousand visitors into the mix is simply poor management of our parks. Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen slammed parks for making decisions that affect the town without offering any consultation or assistance to deal with the huge influx of vehicles that the town will need to accommodate next year.   Story 3 - Super Duper Moon This month has a number of astronomical delights for those of us that like to watch the night sky. Topping the list is tomorrow's Super Duper Moon. A supermoon is defined as a full moon that takes place during those months where the moon is at its closest approach to the Earth. We've had several of the 'super' moons this year. Last month's full moon was a super moon and so will Decembers, but no moon in the past 68 years will be as large or as bright as the one on November 14, 2016. I know this is short notice, but if you listen to this be sure to check out the sky tomorrow for a spectacular show, weather permitting. The next time you'll be able to see a similarly dramatic supermoon will be November of 2034, so don't forget to mark your calendar.   This week also marks the peak of the annual Leonid Meteor Shower so if you're up in the early hours of November 17 and have a clear view to the east and can wait for the moon to dip behind the horizon, you may have an opportunity to see between 10-20 meteors each hour.    

Story 1 - Breaking News There have been several news stories since our last episode. The first one deals with an unexpected challenge related to bears and buffaloberries…Calgary outdoor shops have been having a hard time keeping bear spray in stock. You may have to look around a bit to find a canister if you don't already have one. Well, at least people are beginning to stock up on bear spray. In other news, there is a proposal for a gondola to the gondola in Banff Townsite. The road to the Sulphur Mountain Gondola has been getting busier and busier and routinely gets backed up for an hour or more during peak times. This 66 million dollar proposal would see a gondola built from the townsite to the Upper Hot Springs/Sulphur Mountain Gondola base with stops at Tunnel Mountain Trailhead, The Banff Centre, and the Fairmont Banff Springs along the way. It will be a tough sell to parks as it would need expansion beyond the townsite boundaries in order to build the large parking lots designed to catch vehicles at both entrances to town in order to funnel them to an expanded public transit system as well as to the townsite gondola stations.  New funding is coming to Kananaskis Country and surrounding parks. The Alberta government has announced 25.6 million dollars will be spent improving and expanding camping facilities in the Kananaskis and nearby areas. The money will add more sites with power, additional trails and improvement to camping facilities. This is welcome news.  Jasper National Park is also seeing two major developments. First, there will be a major development at the Mount Edith Cavell Day-Use Area. In 2012 and 2014, large blocks of ice broke off of the Ghost Glacier high above the tiny lake at the base of Angel Glacier. The first one sent a huge tsunami-like wave that caused major destruction to the day-use and parking areas. The 2014 incident was smaller but still caused significant damage. This fall's development will require the area to close Sept 19 so they can move (and enlarge) the parking lot out of the danger zone and improve the trail systems.  South of Jasper townsite, the Valley of Five Lakes Trailhead parking area is also seeing a major upgrade. This will result in it closing as of Sept 6 for the season to allow workers access. Over the past few years, the popularity of this low elevation trail system has resulted in cars spilling out to the highway for miles as hikers jockey for a place to park. This will expand the parking lot as well as improving the washroom facilities and adding additional picnic tables to the site.  Story 2  - Another Wolf Put Down by Parks A second female wolf from the Bow Valley Pack has had to be destroyed after getting into human food and garbage. This is yet another terrible hit for the beleaguered Bow Valley pack and leaves it with only 3 adult wolves and 2 remaining pups from an original 6 at the start of the season.  This wolf pack has had a very difficult year. Hopefully the remaining wolves can stay clear of human food and continue to wander the landscape around the town of Banff.  Story 3 - Ground Squirrel Research I was lucky to be able to take in a presentation by 5 biologists studying ground squirrels in Kananaskis Country. Led by lead researcher Danielle Rivet provided some really good information on general ecology as well as some of the impacts of climate change on two different populations of ground squirrels. Surprisingly, climate change does not simply mean less winter snow and an earlier rise for ground squirrels, especially in high elevations like Ptarmigan Cirque. In fact research has shown an increase in late season storms which may have a very different effect on the little guys. They were kind enough to let me record the program and so I've edited it down a bit for time but I hope you enjoy it. I certainly did. Many thanks to Danielle and the rest of her team: Sophie Tuppen, Jorden Gladden, Elena Plana and Elly Hedt.

Story 1 - Buffaloberry and Bears Update This has been another busy week for black and grizzly bears in the Rockies. With the bumper crop of buffaloberries this year, the number of close encounters has been growing steadily. This week. Kananaskis Country has issued a warning for the entirety of Kananaskis Country. In Canmore, mush of the area between the Peaks of Grassi and the town is closed to human use to give the bears room to feed. You'll want to check trail reports ahead of leaving your home at this time of year to check if there are any warnings or closures that may affect your plans. This is also a great time of year to think about leaving the valley bottoms and hiking into the high country. Trails like Ptarmigan Cirque and the Centennial Ridge Trails in Kanananaskis are great examples. Since buffaloberries grow at lower elevations, these higher trails leave the berries, and with them, most of the bears behind. Story 2 - Tips to Beat the Crowds on Busy Holiday Weekends We also look at some ways to beat the crowds this weekend. With record numbers of visitors this year, the secret is to head out earlier than everyone else - the earlier the better. I would recommend 7 am or earlier. This allows you to beat the crowds and have the kind of experience you truly want. With destinations like Lake Louise and Moraine Lake being routinely closed due to the crush of traffic, going early is the best way to make sure that you are in control of your experience. One of the community challenges related to buffaloberries is the challenge of fruit trees attracting bears into the community on years, like 2015, when the berry crop fails. Jasper is leading the charge in this respect with a program designed in partnership with Parks Canada that partners the owners of fruit trees with volunteer pickers who will harvest their crab apples or choke cherries and make the fruit available to people that may want to use it. This is definitely a program that Canmore and Banff could benefit from modeling. Story 3 - Wildlife Overpasses in Banff In our final story, we play some live tape from a recent coach tour where I talk about the wildlife over and underpasses in Banff National Park. These are an amazing success story and they are gradually being copied in other jurisdictions as well. When the program began in the 1990s, Parks began by building underpasses beneath the highway in conjunction with fencing to keep wildlife off of the roadways. At first it seemed like the large carnivores were reluctant to use the noisy bridge style crossings. As a result, when they designed phase 2, they added two large overpasses at a cost of 1.8 million dollars each. The good news is that they work. The even better news is that we've learned that good science takes time. We've now had more than 20 years to study the over and underpasses and we've learned that, in time, the large carnivores have adapted to the underpasses. They prefer the more open overpasses, but parks can build 3 or 4 underpasses for the cost of one overpass. To create a good balance, they put overpasses at critical crossing locations and underpasses at secondary crossings. From the day that the first underpasses were built, park wardens and biologists have been keeping track of every individual crossing. They know how many times every species of animal has used each of the over and underpasses and, as a result, have compiled an amazing amount of detailed information on the movements of large carnivores and hoofed animals. They are a great testament to Parks Canada's long-term commitment to our wildlife populations.

Well it's official. We're now on the iTunes Store. You can subscribe directly by searching for us on iTunes or simply by clicking the following link: http://apple.co/29V9UOh. Subscribing is the best way to make sure you have access to every episode as soon as it's uploaded. We also appreciate any reviews from happy listeners. Every review helps more people to discover this podcast so please give us a rating and help the message spread. Story 1 - Citizen Science If you regularly find your way high into the Alpine, why not help out scientific research taking place in the Rockies. The High Elevation Localized Species (or HELS) initiative is designed to keep real-time records of sightings of hoary marmots, mountain goats, pikas and white-tailed ptarmigan. Each of these animals are alpine specialists and so it can be difficult to collect ongoing date simply due to the remote and often widely separated locations that these animals call home. By crowdsourcing sightings from those of us that like to play in the mountains on a regular basis they can begin to gain a much clearer understanding of their range, behaviour, movement and population. Participating in the program is easy. Head to www.BowValleyNaturalists.org and follow the links to the HELS reporting area. You'll simply be asked to register followed by a simple reporting process. Important information includes the species, number of individuals, any details of the sighting and the location. If you don't have gps coordinates (as most of us won't), you can pinpoint your location on a digital topographic map. Story 2 - Bear 148's Wanderings Bear 64 was one of the greatest bears of the past several decades. She called the town of Banff home and helped scientists learn more about the use of wildlife over and underpasses as well as the bears use of important seasonal foods. She passed away in 2014 and now her female cub, bear 148 has taken over her territory with gusto. Recently she took to exploring her home and decided to take a bit of a walkabout. She travelled east along the Trans Canada Highway all the way to Canmore, and after passing the Legacy Trail on the highway (and causing a brief closure), she headed up to the Spray Valley and wandered all the way to the south end of Spray Lakes Reservoir. After turning north, she made a beeline back to the town of Banff covering the distance in just 20 hours. Now that it's buffaloberry season, she'll be looking for good patches to spend the next month or so until the first frost of autumn brings the berry season to an end. If you're travelling the trails in and around the Bow Valley be sure to make lots of noise. When bears are feeding on these berries they are completely focused on feeding and may not hear your approach. It's up to you to be vigilant for the both of you. Leave your ear buds at home and be sure to have bear spray on your belt and know how to use it. Over the past two days there have been two bear attacks, one near Cochrane and a second today near Canmore. The bears are on the trails and because the buffaloberries need sunlight to grow, they line our low elevation trails. If you haven't listened to episode 1, check it out as we talk in great depth about the importance of these important berries. Story 3 - We're Off to See The Icefields…By Bike! Jasper National Park has announced a 66 million dollar plan to build a paved bike path from the town of Jasper all the way to the Columbia Icefields. This trail would use portions of the original highway as well as paralleling the current road as it winds its way uphill toward the glaciers. The plan has received mixed reviews with cyclists applauding it and environmentalists warning of the loss of habitat as well as the potential for increased traffic along this important wildlife corridor. This is a difficult story since the environmental impact would be very high but at the same time the highway is becoming more and more dangerous for cyclists to take the risk. This is a story that we'll be watching unfold for some time and Parks has yet to reveal all of the details of the proposed trail. Story 4 - Book Report I love images taken from camera traps. You know the ones, where researchers have set up special cameras that are triggered by movement so that they catch wildlife unaware. They are critical for studying very wary animals and have been used in every corner of the globe. There are some awesome local videos produced by using these cameras as well. Glenn Naylor of Kananaskis Country did this amazing video in Kananaskis by monitoring a scent tree used by bears:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AihvuZiDhsg. Jasper National Park has also produced a series which you can watch here: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/ne/prissurlevif-caughtintheact.aspx. Now back to our book. Biologist Roland Kays of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has used camera traps for years in his work. Recently he realized that he was not the only biologist with a 'greatest hits' folder on his computer. He began to reach out to other biologists to see if they might be willing to share some of their best images as well. The result is a fabulous book called:   Candid Creatures: How Camera Traps Reveal the Mysteries of Nature, looks at the history, the techniques and the humour related to using camera traps. The images reveal a world that is hidden to humans and in many cases reveal behaviours not previously observed. Why not pick up a copy at Amazon.ca. You can buy it from this link: http://amzn.to/2awoLi7. By purchasing the book from this link you are helping to support the show.

We're all constantly seeing it  - some really bad RV drivers are out there with us on the road. But as our guest on this week's Roadtreking podcast tells us, we needn't be among the offenders. In fact, Mark Polk, publisher of RVEducation101.com - which also just launched an RV education app for iOS and Android - has all kinds of great tips to help drive an RV like a pro. Among other things, Mark helps us understand: Where most RV dangers come from How to turn properly How to maneuver around gas pumps - one of the most frequent accidents for RVers Proper use of driving mirrors for RVs How to guard against sway and the push-effect that comes when you are passed by big trucks The rookie mistakes most new RVers make Also in this episode, we have Jennifer's Tip of the Week about the best cleaning product she's ever found for the RV. And we have RV news, tech tips, an off the beaten path report from New Mexico, and a great bucket list destination - a winter camp-out set for January in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #57 Oct. 14, 2015 of Roadtreking - The RV Lifestyle Podcast: First Things First: Recapping a Dark Park Visit in Northern Michigan; Changing Seasons Mike and Jennifer Wendland kick off the show by talking about their recent short trip to northern Michigan and some dark sky photography they did over the past weekend. Mike got that picture of the Milky Way from a high bluff on Mackinac Island in the middle of Lake Huron. They also talk about the changing seasons, winterizing their RV, and where they're heading next. [spp-timestamp time="3:24"] Jennifer's Tip of the Week: An Almost Magical Cloth to Clean Anything Jennifer's Tip of the Week for episode 57 is all about the best cloth she and Mike have found for cleaning - the KAYWOS (Klean Anything Without Streaks). They clean just about everything from bugs off the windshield and the dirty hood of an RV to cooking grills. They're made of a special ultra-fine micro fiber that require nothing more than wetting and wringing.  The Wendlands first got them at an RV show and now you can get six for $6 from the Roadtreking Store: https://roadtrekingstore.com/kaywoscloth.html [spp-timestamp time="6:10"] Listener Tip: Check Out Fair Harbor RV Park in Perry, Georgia A listener named Kira checks in to talk about a great RV park in Perry, Georgia called Fair Harbor RV Park. You can read more about it here: http://www.fairharborrvpark.com/ Mike and Jennifer comment on the RV park and Perry in general, which Mike did a post about here: https://rvlifestyle.com/serendipity-travel-perry-ga/  [spp-timestamp time="8:16"] Listener Question: Can You Tell Me More About Making Postcards Online? A listener named Joyce asks a follow-up question from Jennifer's Tip of the Week from episode 56 - about using an app called Postino to make postcards. Mike and Jennifer address why she may be having some issues with it. [spp-timestamp time="10:55"] Listener Question: Can You Help Me Find Bucket Seat Covers for My RV? Roadtrekkers Buff and Deana Martino need help protecting their RV's leather seats from a cat who loves to scratch them. Mike suggests checking out a website called Auto Anything that can be found here: http://www.autoanything.com/seat-covers/10A52289.aspx [spp-timestamp time="13:20"] RV News of the Week: California RV Dealer Fire, Bear Closes Calgary RV Park, Yellowstone Sets Record Horrendous Fire at Holland RV in California: A devastating fire at Holland RV Center in San Marcos, California was seen for miles as it tore through the dealership. (Read more) [spp-timestamp time="19:33"] Calgary RV Park Closed Because of Grizzly: Parts of Mount Kidd RV Park in Kananaskis Country are closed as officials try to find an aggressive grizzly bear (Read more) [spp-timestamp time="21:15"] Yellowstone Sets Attendance Record: More people have visited Yellowstone National Park this year than in any other year. (Read more) [spp-timestamp time="22:22"]

Hear about travel to Southern Alberta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Andrews from Calgary about travel to his home province. The Canadian Rockies, Kananaskis Country, Waterton Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, The Calgary Stampede, and Dinosaurs.

Hear about travel to Southern Alberta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Andrews from Calgary about travel to his home province. The Canadian Rockies, Kananaskis Country, Waterton Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, The Calgary Stampede, and Dinosaurs.

Hear about travel to Southern Alberta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Andrews from Calgary about travel to his home province. The Canadian Rockies, Kananaskis Country, Waterton Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, The Calgary Stampede, and Dinosaurs.