The show at Rainbow Falls on Wednesday evening went very well, even though it was windy and we were outside in a picnic shelter right beside Lake Superior. Prior to the show, I met up with Allison, the Park’s Natural Heritage Educator, and together we worked out a plan to best put on the show. There was no power, screen or projector, but even though there was no video element to the show, it didn’t matter at all to the audience. The squirrels were not in the mood to glide this evening - it could have been the wind. Scooter did glide, but not her majesty Sabrina.

Pictured below: Rainbow Falls’ Natural Heritage Educator, Allison.

On Thursday morning I broke camp in the rain and drove 45 minutes or so to my next venue, Neys Provincial Park, the “sister” park of Rainbow Falls. After I set up the tent so it could dry out a little, I went over to Ney’s Visitor Centre and met up with Teri, the Park’s Natural Heritage Interpreter. Teri was super-friendly and helpful, and we ironed-out all potential bugs easily.

Neys was once the site of a WWII POW camp, where captured German officers were held from 1941 to 1946, and there are interpretative displays that illuminate this history.

The show took place inside the Park’s Visitor Centre, and everything went just fine except Sabrina did not budge (it could have been the stuffed Great Grey Owl in full attack mode pose that stopped her, who knows!). But Scooter did his thing.

Pictured below: Neys’ Natural Heritage Educator, Teri (on left) and Beth Kuiper, Senior Park Interpreter for both Neys and Rainbow Falls (centre).

As per usual, some northern flying squirrels visited the campsite later that night, and, of course, it rained a lot overnight, so I had to pack up “in the wet” yet again, this time I had an even shorter drive to get to my next venue, and from where I am writing this entry, Pukaskwa National Park.

Date: Saturday, August 30
Day: 64
Kilometre: 14,860
Location: Chutes Provincial Park, Ontario

It was sunny and dry when I pitched the tent on Friday afternoon - A nice change from the past few days, however, as I write this portion of my blog early on Saturday morning, the tall aspens at my campsite are dripping water from their leaves onto my notebook screen and keyboard - yes, you guessed it, it rained yet again last night. Doh!

I awoke early this cold and damp morning, had a shower, then built a small fire to keep the chills away (this is a rare luxury for me). I was enjoying some green tea in front of said fire when I saw a fisher jump up onto a downed tree that was suspended in the air, walk along its length, then jump down and continue along its way. It was a beautiful specimen with a full, bushy tail. Five minutes later, a couple I had befriended earlier walked past, saying they had just seen a weird looking cat-like creature sunning itself on a rock outcrop. I explained that what they had seen was likely the very same fisher I had seen.

I broke camp and left at 11:40 a.m. so that I could get to the Marathon Visitor Centre and get set up for the 1 p.m. start time. The show was not that well-attended - the weather was nice and was perhaps a factor. It was great to see Greg, Tam, Muriel and Ted again, however!

Below, from left to right: Greg Stroud and Tam (Pukaskwa National Park), Muriel and Ted (Friends of Pukaskwa National Park)

After the show I headed out for Chutes Provincial Park - just a quick sleep-over stop. I arrived at Chutes around 10 p.m. and set up as quickly as one can in the dark. There were a number of flying squirrels in the trees but I only saw one gliding by.

Date: Sunday, August 31
Day: 65
Kilometre: 15,013
Location: Chi Cheemaun ferry terminal, Ontario

I awoke at 6 a.m., de-camped, had a quick shower and headed for the Chi Cheemaun ferry terminal at South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. I arrived a 8:25 a.m., and as luck would have it, the boat was declared full with only one car in front of me. Doh!

The next ferry was not until 1:30 p.m. so I had to call Bruce Peninsula National Park and cancel the show scheduled for that afternoon. I have never had to cancel a show before, but I wasn’t too upset, simply because there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

So my trip is almost over now - instead of camping at Bruce Peninsula National Park I will just drive home.

I entered Ontario on Sunday afternoon, stopped in Dryden to upload my latest blog offerings, then continued along until I found Sandbar Provincial Park. A small  park, I found a camp site that was far away from other campers. The next morning, Monday, after washing and air-drying the squirrels’ enclosures, I headed out for Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, my next venue.

Folklore has it that if a black cat crosses your path there is bad luck for you in the offing. What if a lynx crosses your path? About twenty minutes after leaving my campsite a beautiful full-grown lynx crossed the road in front of me. I stopped the car, backed-up a bit, and found the lynx had stopped in the brush beside the road too. Our eyes met, then while scrambling for my camera, the lynx ran off into the forest. Seeing my first “in the wild” lynx was a real treat, and that I did not get a picture is of no consequence.

After arriving and setting up camp at Rainbow Falls in the Lakeside camping area, situated on the banks of Whitesand Lake, I went for a nice swim (there was a short downhill trail from my campsite to the lake), then settled in for the night. Although the show is not scheduled until Wednesday, I arranged with Natural Heritage leader Beth Kuiper to stay here for a few days, do a show, then head to a “sister park”, Neys, and do a show there on Thursday.

On Tuesday I decided I could leave the squirrels alone for a while as the tent was in deep shade and the campground was virtually deserted. I brought my binos and camera and did the “Back 40” trail including what was termed a “difficult” side trail to a lookout point. “Difficult” is a relative term. I would have called it “Rather Easy”, at least when comparing it to some trails I have hiked in the past. But nonetheless the trail was beautiful - the forest floor and granite outcrops were bursting with ferns, mosses and lichens amidst the myriad blueberries, Labrador tea, coralroot, indian pipe, and the faded remnants of moccasin flowers. The forest trees included birch, poplar, alder, cedar, spruce, balsam fir, mountain ash, and the ubiquitous striped maple. The “summit” of the lookout trail provided some nice views of Whitesand Lake and its mammoth and unforgiving cousin, Lake Superior. A three million year old pink granite outcrop provided a nice warm resting spot on this cool pre-autumnal day, which I shared with two species of dragonfly and a painted lady butterfly.

Below are pics of my view from the lookout point. The letter “a” is where my campsite was located and the letter “b” indicates the point where Whitesand Lake drains into the Maggie River (see text below) which flows to Lake Superior.

Back from the lookout trail and hiking along an old, abandoned former campground section of the park, I noticed a recently constructed but seemingly unoccupied drey perched high up in a in an old birch tree - built by either a red or flying squirrel. It could have been occupied, as I may have missed a flying squirrel escaping as I “bonked” the tree trunk (it helps to have a “spotter”) or a red squirrel could have been out doing its rounds at the time.

Continuing along, I found it interesting to see old campsites in this abandoned campground section being reclaimed by mother nature. For example, in the pic below, a big ant hill seems to be engulfing the old fire pit, and lichens have taken over the flat area, while small trees take hold.

I hiked over to the Rainbow Falls trail, which consists of a nicely-made boardwalk that follows the many waterfalls along the course the granite cut as the river drains Whitesand Lake.

According to an information kiosk at the trailhead, the mouth of this river was the site of a trading post for the North West Trading Company in the 1800s. In 1816 the post was raided by men from the hated rival Hudson Bay Company and the NWTC men at the post were all killed. When the bodies were found, they were riddled with fly larvae (maggots). So the river became known as Maggot River, or “Maggie” for short, and there is a camping area in this park called “Maggie”.

The weather was temperamental today, with the threat of rain omnipresent, but it held off in our geographic area. At show time, it was cloudy and lightning was visible far off in the distance. Attendance was respectable and the show went very well, with Sabrina and Scooter performing as per usual. Half-way through the show, there were some rain drops but nothing serious. Kudos to Madelyn and her assistant nature interpreters Becky and Jared - they were a great help with both setting up and taking down and manning the contest table. By the time I got back to my campsite it was close to 11 pm so I did not bother having a campfire and just went to bed.

Pictured below from left to right: Jared, Madelyn and Becky

Date: Friday, August 22
Day: 56
Kilometre: 12,781
Location: Grand Beach Provincial Park, Manitoba

It began raining overnight. Strong winds and, at times, heavy rain. I broke camp “in the wet” (it wasn’t raining at the time) and headed towards my next venue, Grand Beach Provincial Park. The rain was non-stop all the way - torrential rains in the Winnipeg area. So heavy was the rain at times, visibility was rather limited for long stretches both heading east (towards) and north (away) the Winnipeg area. When I arrived at the park, it had stopped raining and blue skies were peeking through the clouds. A ruffed grouse was checking out the camp site next to mine.

By the time I had set up camp, the skies had almost cleared completely! The park’s head interpreter, Michaela, dropped by my campsite to introduce herself and get co-ordinated. Michaela is a very pretty and energetic young woman who has worked as an interpreter for Manitoba Conservation for seven summers. She will be obtaining her Bachelor of Education this school year.

At 7:30 p.m., an hour before show time, Michaela and her assistants Nicole and Clint came by the camp site and led the way to the amphitheatre in their pickup truck. Once there, we began setting up and everything was looking good. The seats were filling up but by the time the show started the clouds began to roll in. Half an hour into the show, it began to rain and get really windy. First thing I did was put my guitar away, and then make sure the squirrels and my notebook computer were protected. I had to make a decision, and I called the show off - something I have never had to do before - but we managed to announce the winner of the contest before the campers high-tailed it back to their tents and trailers. Disappointing for sure, but absolutely nothing could be done about it.

Pictured below from left to right: Clint, Nicole and Michaela (in happier times, before the rain started, again…)

I and my somewhat soggy squirrels and gear got back to the campsite by 10:00 p.m. or so. With the squirrels in their floor-to-ceiling enclosure and munching on bur oak acorns, I settled in to watch a movie on the computer while outside the rain came down in fits and starts and the wind blew fast and furious. All night long…

Date: Saturday, August 23
Day: 57
Kilometre: 13,043
Location: Big Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba

Once again, I broke camp “in the wet” and headed for the next venue, Big Whiteshell Provincial Park, near the Ontario border. It rained on and off along the way. When I arrived at my campsite, I was lucky to have been able to set up camp in-between “drizzle sessions”. As I write this paragraph, I am in my tent hoping for a swift and definitive end to this lousy weather!

The weather gods were perhaps feeling a tad guilty, because a couple of hours before show time the clouds began to dissipate, and although the temperature had plunged dramatically compared to the day before, the rain had finally ended. And cold it was! For the first time on my tour I had to a) wear a long-sleeve uniform shirt and on top of that, wear a t-shirt underneath for the show. The radio said it was going to go down to 6 degrees Celsius!

An hour before show time, Morgan Hallett, head interpreter for Whiteshell and 2nd in command to Ken Porteous, Head of Interpretation and Heritage Properties for Manitoba Parks, arrived at my campsite. She and interpreter Minna introduced themselves. Morgan is what I call a “firecracker” - tons of energy, a dynamic communicator and a perfect fit for the type of work she does. The show went very well, and the show was well-attended, considering the wet weather had kept droves of folks out of many Manitoba parks.

Below: Minna (left) and Morgan (right)

At the end of the show, I caught a glimpse of a flying squirrel gliding by the stage, and when I got back to my campsite (a stone’s throw from the amphitheatre) a flying squirrel (likely the same one) paid a short visit.

The next morning before I left for northern Ontario, Minna dropped by to say goodbye to the squirrels, and here she is holding Sabrina:

I left the Moon Lake campsite at 10-ish and headed to nearby Dauphin for a fill-up, a Globe & Mail newspaper and some fresh ice for the cooler, then back-tracked towards the Trans Canada. Two and a half hours later I was at Spruce Woods Provincial Park, west-southwest of Winnipeg. Spruce Woods is a very nice park situated along the banks of the Assiniboine River.

I introduced myself at the main gate and arranged to have the head Interpreter meet up with me after and I was given what is called “the VIP camp spot”. Once the site of a farmhouse, it was a beautiful and isolated location situated literally on the banks of the Assiniboine.

Below is a panoramic photo I stitched together, showing my view of the Assiniboine River from my campsite.

Meeting Madelyn was a treat. A near-full-time Interpreter for Manitoba Parks and part-time goat farmer, she drove up to my campsite, introduced herself and we hit it off right away. Madelyn is a very personable, forthright woman who can speak knowledgeably about pesticide spray cycles for potato crops and then transition seamlessly into matters like philosophy or politics. We talked for quite some time, then agreed to meet at noon the next day at the amphitheatre.

The evening was uneventful, and the squirrels devoured samplings of the still-immature bur oak (mossycup oak) acorns bursting forth. The following morning, the resident red squirrel was more than peeved that two flying squirrels were squatting in his ‘hood, judging by its vocalizations and repeated forays up to the tent!

I met up with Madelyn at the Interpretive Centre, we dealt with all the “ins and outs” of the upcoming show, and then I sat down to upload my blog writings on their dialup connection. Oh, how I pine for high speed!

It’s supposed to rain later today, with possible thunderstorms. I hope it misses us tonight!

I left Crooked Lake by 10 a.m. and headed out on my way to Manitoba. Just outside the park I sighted a group of pelicans in the the lake so I stopped to take a pic (from quite a distance, mind you).

I decided that I would take a wee side trip and camp in Riding Mountain National Park, something I have always wanted to do. This is the park that Grey Owl looked after before it became a park! I let my GPS do the work of finding the shortest route, and I would be taking a lot of back roads to get there - what I prefer over the boring Trans Canada anyway. Along the way I spotted a huge potash pile near Esterhazy, the potash capital of the world. I mean huge. In the second pic, you can see a dot on the top of the outcrop. That is a big truck. The two mines below ground here produce more potash than any other potash mining operation in the world.

Birds of prey are abundant - mostly Swainson’s and Red-tailed Hawks watching over farmland areas and Northern Harriers with a keen eye where the many sloughs appear on the landscape as one drives along.

I arrived at Riding Mountain National Park by 3 p.m. and asked which campgrounds in the park have the least number of campers. The girl at the main entrance said either Whirlpool or Moon Lake. I decided to go to the closest one, Whirlpool, which requires that you drive 19 km along a very, very dusty gravel road. When I arrived, I found that it was walk-in camping only. Not suitable for me, and an hour of my time wasted. So I headed towards Moon Lake, which is even more out of my way and very close to the town of Dauphin! Along the way I stopped at the trail head for the 8.9 kilometre hiking trail to Grey Owl’s cabin - a national historic site - but unfortunately I cannot take on such trips on this tour. Perhaps next time I am out this way I can visit the home of Archie Belaney AKA Grey Owl…

Moon Lake campground proved to be near perfect - boreal forest with few people and nice sites. There was a “boil water advisory” in effect. No big deal. I pitched camp and when I was self-registering, a man and his son came up to register - the man asked if I was the same fellow who gave a presentation on flying squirrels at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in 2006! Again, a small world indeed!

Heading over to Moon Lake for a swim, I spotted some awesome-looking warblers. I had my binos with me so I had a good look - turns out they were a new one for me - Golden-winged Warblers! The swim was really refreshing and I was the only one on the lake, save the myriad whirligig beetles, spinning around on the surface of the lake in large groups. View of Moon Lake from where I went swimming:

My campsite has a very friendly resident juvenile red squirrel - he keeps climbing up on me when I am trying to write this entry! Is it because I have flying squirrel smells on me or is it because previous campers have been feeding the squirrels?

It was a windy night, and doubting I would be graced by a visit from a wild flyer, spent no time scanning the “crepuscular panorama” for gliding like I usually do. Windy nights can disseminate squirrel scent in wild directions, so it becomes more difficult for a wild flyer to track its source. At about 11:00 p.m., while I was sitting by the fire, a flying squirrel came gliding in and landed on the trunk of a large aspen. A little loudly at that. It turned and climbed down to very near the ground, looked around, then decided not to go any further. Probably a juvenile - judging by its size and its bouncy “hop-skippity-jump” departure to greater heights.

The show wasn’t over yet! Several minutes later, another flyer came gliding in towards the same tree trunk, but did not quite make it. With a loud “thump” it landed square on the top of my rooftop luggage carrier, hesitated for a brief moment, then scrambled to launch position and finished what it had intended to do - land on the tree trunk! Again, probably a juvenile in action…

Pic below illustrates the errant glide path:

I left Jesse & Hillary’s place at 9 a.m., a little later than I had wanted too, as I had a lot of driving to do today. It was going to be very hot today. By the time I hit Medicine Hat the thermometer was already 35 deg C and going up to 37! So I was not going to stop driving until it cooled down. I drove with the windows open, naturally, as my car has no air conditioning. I stopped only for gas along the way - 10 hours of driving and 944 kilometres. Jesse suggested I camp at this park. Even though it is a good 35 minutes off the Trans Canada, it sits on a small lake and is very well-treed and therefore offers shade! It is located in the beautiful Qu’Appelle Valley. Below are some pics of the valley.

When I got to the campground, I picked spot near the lake, pitched-in and made some dinner. This campground is pretty horrid, as there are many sites taken by “all-season campers” who basically plonk their trailer on a site and make it home for the summer. Every provincial park I have visited in Saskatchewan is like this - surely their mid and northern parks are better than their southern offerings…

I’ve just finished up another run of six shows here at the Calgary Zoo. All shows were really well-attended with a great mix of children, young adults, adults and seniors of various heritages. Many thanks to Lisa McDonald, Manager of Visitor Information at the Calgary Zoo, for inviting the squirrels and I to “show our stuff” to Calgarians! And many thanks to my “Guardian Angel” at the Calgary Zoo, Chrissy.

After the last show a young woman approached me and asked if my squirrels were microchipped at Burloak Animal Hospital in Ontario. I replied yes, and asked how she came up with that. Well, it turns out that she used to work there and she recognized the staff shown in one of my slides! A small world indeed. She now works for a vet here in Calgary, although not for a vet that specializes in exotics.

My stay with Jesse and Hillary was really great and relaxing - add to that Jesse’s great cooking and I have no complaints at all! It was nice to eat some real food for a while! I’ve been busy vacuuming the car, washing clothes and squirrel stuff, re-organizing the car and doing the odd repair on costume pieces and such.

Early tomorrow (Monday) morning I head out for Manitoba - likely stopping at a provincial park in Saskatchewan along the way. I’ll update this blog when I get to my next venue in Manitoba - Spruce Woods Provincial Park. Until then, may the forest be with you…

I left Shuswap at 10 am and pointed the car towards Golden. On the way I stopped at an old-growth cedar forest called Giant Cedars Trail in Mount Revelstoke National Park (I simply cannot resist old-growth cedar!). Travelling with two flying squirrels makes it difficult if not impossible to take in many attractions along the way. I can not/will not leave them in the car, and I often cannot take them with me (especially on hikes, as one misstep, trip or fall can result in a pancake squirrel!). However, this was a short boardwalk trail and I found a shady spot to park, so there you go.

I was greeted at the beginning of the trail by a solitary Steller’s Jay…

…and, at the end of the trail, sent along my way by two of these beautiful and intelligent (but noisy) birds! Directly below are some pics I took there.

View of part of the boardwalk:

There was an interpretive station that featured the northern flying squirrel:

I continued along the Trans Canada until I reached my destination, Chancellor Peak campground in Yoho National Park. I had my pick of spots, as I arrived around 3:30 p.m. Mountain Time. I pitched my tent at a spot right on the bank of the Kicking Horse River. With beautiful mountain views all around me, and a (very) busy CPR freight rail line on the other side of this burbling, cold-water river, I was in campground heaven! The trains run 24/7, and occasionally a “Rocky Mountaineer” tour train passes by, with passengers waving away, obviously enjoying the scenic ride.

Below are pics of my camp site and environs:

Flowering plants like this dwarf fireweek (or River Beauty) occupy the banks of the Kicking Horse. Thanks to Bev for identifying!

The damage wrought by the mountain pine beetle is clearly evident pretty much everywhere in British Columbia. Some have said that the beetle has now managed to pass over the Rockies to the east. Others have said the beetle has developed a taste for spruce (although none could say if the deadly fungus carried by the beetle would/could affect spruce). Should these two possibilities prove to be true, there is much more trouble ahead. The brown areas in the photo below are all that is left of the pines that once grew on this mountain. Scenes like this are everywhere in BC.

On Thursday, I stayed as long as possible at my camp spot, then broke camp and headed towards Calgary, where Jesse and Hillary were expecting me. They’ll be putting me up while I do six more shows at the Calgary Zoo. Later….

After leaving Bonni’s place (Sunday afternoon), I headed towards northern Okanagan region. I had a few days to rest my throat, and it wasn’t too long before I had set up camp at Lac la Jeune Provincial Park. This park is pretty awful - no shade at all at many sites, with the mountain pine beetle having killed every lodgepole in the campground. I would not be staying here more than overnight!

On Monday morning I broke camp early and headed towards my next venue, Shuswap Lake Provincial Park. On the way I stopped for a pee at a rest stop and snapped some pics of this really cute least chipmunk, a species similar to, but quite a bit smaller than, the eastern chipmunk.

Shuswap Lake is a big, long lake surrounded by small mountains. A really nice spot - finally! This is the largest (in number of campsites) provincial park in BC - 236 sites surrounded by (mostly) older-growth spruce and (now-dead) pines. Eighty percent of the campsites are reserved, and the park is basically sold-out all summer long. My site was very nice - a lot of separation between other campers and at the very end of one of the many branched campsite access roads.

On Tuesday the park’s naturalist, James, came by my site and introduced himself. James is a biology student at nearby Thompson River University in Kamloops. We discussed all the “ins and outs” and agreed to meet an hour ahead of show time to set up at the amphitheatre. The normal attendance for amphitheatre shows is about 100 according to James, and there is seating for that amount and no more. There were no posters put up at any of the washrooms so I had my doubts that a lot of folks would show up!

Well, over 300 folks showed up so it was more than standing room only! Don Gordon, my contact at the park, came and helped set up before the show. The show went very well - the crowd was very attentive and interested (and they liked my new song too!). The only glitch was the gliding demonstration. There was no stage at the amphitheatre, so I had to do the demo on the grass over to the side. No one was expecting this many people to show up, and there were dogs everywhere, so it was no wonder that neither squirrel would budge (with the exception of Scooter turning around and gliding in the wrong direction, ending up right at the edge of the forest where he scampered up a girl’s bicycle and waited for me to get him). After the show had ended and I was up at the main gate packing the car, folks going by would shout “Hi Steve, great show!” as they drove, cycled or walked about. That always feels nice…

Below: Steve with Don (left) and James (right)

I was tired and beat from my cold and (still) dead right ear. My voice was gone altogether now. Time for a rest! I broke down and picked up some DRUGS from Shopper’s - some little box with a card of 10 pills called FX ULTRA II GEL CAP MEGADOSE SUPREME, triple-filtered with Fabulon 5 or something like that. I think all I really needed was an antihistamine, but I do appreciate that placebo factors can make a difference too. Oh, I got me a big box of Kleenex too!

I made camp here, a few K’s north of the town of Lac la Hache (named by the Voyageurs for a much-valued axe head that was lost through the ice on the lake whilst chopping wood).

I had my pick of many campsites. In BC, you just drive in, find a spot and dig in. A fee collector comes by and issues you a permit. I found one that fit my criteria (shade, proximity to others, view; in that order) and some nice Douglas firs surrounding it, covered with the requisite colonies of lichen.

See pic below:

This is no rain forest here (actually, it’s historically quite dry) but one cannot escape the dangling displays of lichens in BC. Bring a small lichen-covered branch down to your level and look at it up-close with a magnifying loupe. You may be surprised by the number of different species you find!

I decided there was no need to have a fire, as the day was hot and the night promising to be warmer than your average bear. There were two  motorcycle guys about my age at an adjacent site when I pulled in. Their bikes were big MX bikes. Later in the evening one of them came by and we began chatting. But I didn’t want to chat with anyone. I explained that I was resting my voice but it made no matter. He began by telling my that he and his buddy were doing a logging road trip up to Alaska from their hometown in Portland, Oregon…an hour later I begged off to bed.

On Tuesday I awoke and all my neighbours were gone, including the two motorcycle guys. I never did meet other motorcycle guy.

Should I stay or should I go now? If I stayed and just rested my voice, I would get better faster. I decided this was the right course of action, so I spent the day writing song lyrics and such and time passed swiftly. This was a wel-treed spot - I needed to shift the squirrel’s outdoor cage only twice during the day to keep it in the shade. Juvenile red squirrels come by and just stare at me, I suppose waiting to see if this animal will throw some food in towards them.

Wednesday morning I felt MUCH better, and my voice was indeed back, albeit in rather tender fashion. The ear was still incognito and did I mention there some tinnitus going on? I decided to stay one more day. This time, I felt well enough to go across Highway 97 to the Park’s beach on Lac la Lache. Not a great beach nor swim in the high-in-particulates water, but restful and restorative nonetheless. When I got back to my campsite, I caught a juvenile red squirrel runniung off with one of my spent green jasmine tea bags. It ran up a fir and placed it 5 metres up in the boughs, as it would with a mushroom, to “air dry” it. I have no idea what the squirrel thinks it is going to do with it later! Note the tea bag “handle” and string in pic below.

I packed up camp on Thursday morning, but decided to stay a while before I left as it was going to be a scorcher this day (35 deg C) and I did not want to be entering the Greater Vancouver area during rush hour in this heat with my squirrels. I had I headed to the beach at Lac la Lache and hung out there grabbing some rays while the squirrels stayed in the travel cage, well shaded. At about 2:15 pm I enjoyed a great outdoor shower, then pointed the car towards Vancouver.

Date: Sunday, August 10
Day: 44
Kilometre: 8775
Location: Surrey, British Columbia

I had not traversed this route to Vancouver ever before and I was treated to the beautiful (but desolate) Cache Creek area, where sagebrush, sand and tall cliffs make up the stark landscape. A virtual desert. Great to look at but I would not want to live there. Eventually I was bypassing Hope and within spitting distance of my first destination, my sister Bonni’s place in Surrey. Bonni is my most distant sibling (geographically, that is) and has been living on the left coast for 15 years or so now. She lives with her boyfriend Norm near the Canada/US border, in a house that was built in 1920, surrounded by highbush blueberry farms. It was great to see her again.

On Friday morning the squirrels and I took the ferry to Vancouver Island, to meet my friend Mary Hampson. Mary is the wife of the late Cy Hampson. Cy was a professor at University of Alberta and they both looked after colonies of northern and southern flying squirrels when Cy was studying them and writing papers. I had never met Mary before, as we had only communicated via email over the years. So I was really looking forward to this. I was picked up by Mary and her friend Sharon. We cruised a bit around the Victoria area - much has changed since I was last here in 1977. Then we headed for Mary’s house, situated right on Saanich Inlet with great views of the water.  We enjoyed a great, diverse luncheon and chatted about many things.  Time passed swiftly and before I knew it, I had to head to the ferry terminal to catch my 3:00 sailing. I am so glad to have finally met this remarkable woman!

Below: Mary and Sabrina hit it off right away.

Below, Mary and Steve going over Cy’s Ph.D. Thesis from 1965, also note one of Cy’s many groundbreaking strobe photos involving glide dynamics on couch.

On Friday night, Bonni went out with a friend to watch her son Christian play in his band at The Commodore in Vancouver. The band is called Michael White and the White - they are a Led Zepplin tribute band and Christian is the lead guitarist. I decided I had best stay close to home as I was still a bit sick and wanted to be at my best for the show the next morning in Vancouver.

The show Saturday morning in Vancouver was for the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES). Jarrid Jenkins, SPES’ Public Programs Manager, and his crew of dedicated volunteers helped me unload my gear, then pack it up and load the car after the show. The show was well-attended and went very well. Jarrid played his guitar and sang two of his great tunes, and I tried out my new song I had been working on - all three songs were very well received! Whew! I may not be as bad as I think I am!

Below from left to right: Lisa, Jarrid Jenkins, yours truly, Michelle and Kristin

Today, Sunday, I am leaving my sister’s place in Surrey and head for the Okanagan region, towards my next show at Shuswap Provincial Park. Pic below is of Bonni and Norm just before I say goodbye.

Stay tuned….