Running with elk

We've reached the Rockies and what a sight. It's easy to imagine what went through the minds of the first explorers opening up the west - something along the lines of "Oh f*# k!" After making it through the praries and presumably expecting to reach the sea any week now, what else could they think. Those mountains really are magnificent, and we are excited to spend the next few days exploring them.

It was really nice to see rock again, and what rock it is! Beautifully bedded sedimentary rocks, that would have been lain down horizontally, but now the layers are standing on end, testament to the tectonic forces that formed the Rockies. Amazing!

I decided earlier today that Northern Ontario gets a bad rap. The best scenary between Toronto and the Rockies is in northern Ontario. The combination of lakes, trees and, yes, rock makes for an ever evolving landscape. Far more interesting than the farmscapes of the praries, although they do have their own, albeit repetitive, beauty. The common element between northern Ontario and the Rockies is....... You guessed it - rock! Erode the Rockies for a couple of billion years and subject them to a few ice ages and you would probably end up with something like northern Ontario today. So, the shield of northern Ontario could be thought of as a more evolved form of the Rockies. The earth's elder vs. the teenage Rockies.

We saw our first wildlife shortly after entering the park. A big bull elk was grazing beside the road. We were among the first to see it but by the time we left there were lots of people gathered around. A little farther on we saw a few mountain goats and just before the campsite about five elk.

The campsite is huge, more than 700 sites but it is still full, as are two of the other three sites. Sure glad I booked the sites before we left Saskatoon. Soon after getting the tent up and campsite organized I took off for my run. I ran a ways up the hill on a trail but turned around when it started to get too steep! I ended up running along a trail parallel to the road which was quite pleasant. After about 15 minutes on this trail I suddenly came across an elk cow who was walking towards the trail about 20 feet away. She walked onto the trail, stopped and looked at me very calmly and did absolutely nothing. I had, of course, stopped running as soon as I saw herand so there we stood staring at one another. This seemed like it could go on for a while so I could either turn back or wait. Instead I said "Well?" The elk lingered a few more seconds before continuing slowly along her way, allowing me to continue with my run.

You may not believe this, but on my way back from my run it started to rain. That's right, after three beautiful days,including most of today, and a good weather forecast for the next few days it decides to rain tonight!!!!! It must be some kind of test we are being put through. We did manage to get a fire going (we were planning to barbecue steak) and setup the stove to boil water for the noodles. The rain came and went while we made dinner, inconvenient, but nowhere near the nightmare of Quetico. With dinner ready, I was preparing to drain the noodles when the handle of the pot came off in my hand and the pot landed upside down on the ground. So, steak and salad it was for dinner. Still it was good and we had granola bars and rooibos tea for dessert.

I can still hear raindrops on the tarp (yes, I'm typing this in our tent), so hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow so that we can do some exploring.

Quote of the day: "I'm really glad we brought that tarp." Roger to Graham as it starts raining yet again.

Trip Facts:
Driven today: 423 km
Driven in total: 4060 km
Run today: 8 km
Run Total: 45 km
Number of TH Stops: 13
Number of Speeding tickets: 1
Ipod progress: B's Bob Dylan Currently "Tangled up in Blue."
Song of the Day: Roam B52's