TUESDAY, JULY 8

TUESDAY, JULY 8:

      After  stopping once more at Rob & Karen’s campsite to say farewell (and to return as flashlight they’d lent us last night to get home), we went on down the road to Upper Lake.  A gathering of Bighorn sheep greeted us at the turnoff for the lake area. 

                                                

 

         We now feel almost like locals, knowing the lay of the land around here!  Thought we might paddle, but the slight breeze made it a little cool, and I’d forgotten my outer waterproof pants.  So we decided we’d do that another day. 

     Took advantage of being right there at the lake to walk the loop perimeter trail around it.  But we didn’t walk the entire loop – that would have been around 10 miles, and it wasn’t just a flat path.  Was a typical hiking trail – while probably would be classified as moderately easy, still had ups & downs and twists & turns. 

     At any rate, we started off from where we picnicked the other day

                                                   

and walked towards the falls.  The bridge over the falls had been destroyed by last year’s devastating floods in the greater Calgary area.  Someone?? had lain 3 large logs across, and it was obvious that many intrepid hikers went across it.  But we’re not that fearless, nor did we feel an urgency to attempt it, as we knew that we didn’t want to hike the entire loop, so this would be a good place to turn around and start hiking in the other direction.

 

 

 

             Was a beautiful hike, in beautiful weather.  Had spectacular views of the turquoise lake and the surrounding peaks while taking in the fresh pine & spruce sights and scents immediately around us.  Doesn’t get much better than this!   

                                         

                                           
                                    

       

A couple of hikers coming in the opposite direction told us that there was a mama moose and two babies up ahead about 15 minutes.  We continued on for quite a ways, but never saw them.  Must have moved on to greener pastures  - or meadows.  We calculated that we probably did around 6 or 7 miles total.

     When we got home around 3:30, both of us felt pretty tired.  Bill fell asleep inside; I did in my Jonathan chair out in the fresh air.  When refreshed, I read quite a bit of the book I started a few days ago:  The Execution of Private Slovik.  This volume was in amongst all of his father’s  books which Bill had retrieved from his childhood home a few years ago.  It’d caught my attention because I’d remembered seeing a TV movie bearing that name many years ago.  It’s the narrative of the only American soldier actually executed for desertion since the Civil War, towards the end of World War II.  A journalist had somehow heard about it in the late 40’s and finally received access to the DOD’s files in the early 50’s.  He wanted to ask and try to answer 2 questions:  Why did the U.S. feel that it needed to kill any deserter, and why this particular man?  (One very interesting thing I learned was that desertion was a big problem for the U.S in WWII in Europe.  We never hear about that now – only about The Greatest Generation, their courage, their sacrifice, etc.)   It was extensively researched, and based on multiple interviews with as many people involved as possible.  The author challenges the reader to give thoughtful consideration to broader questions:  in a free society, where is the balance between the needs of the community (in this case, defending the U.S. nation), duty, and the rights and needs of each unique individual?  A very timely book, written 60 years ago.  

     Fixed stuffed baked potatoes for dinner – had the needed ingredients on hand. 

     Finished my book.  Tried to use the internet some, but it kept cutting out.  I think the great signal I had the first day here was a fluke – the internet angels were dispatched on a mission for those hours, and  now are needed elsewhere!