Here in the north …
… the rivers are low. It has been hot and dry.
But it’s cooler now and the autumn colours emerge quickly and early.
The birches are lovely …
… and the air invigorating and fresh.
But soon, all this will be covered in snow. We have to enjoy the wonders of the north as they appear today. They will not be the same tomorrow.
Greetings and good autumn wishes from my home away from home, the Northwest Territories, at 61° N latitude.
The last summer days are coming to a close.
Unable to continue their slowing breaths, some leaves in this northern clime are already turning yellow.
So must we all.
And know the beauty that exists in the end.
Wherever you are in the northern hemisphere, happy autumn. 🙂
To you southerners, happy spring. 🙂
For the past few days, I’ve been working in Inuvik, NWT, which is at 68° N latitude. It’s very much the home of the all-night sun.
I found these pretty cotton plants.
And purple fire flowers.
And the Mackenzie River, which is so wide that it looks like a lake.
Greetings from the summery far north.
I am away in the far north at the moment: 68° north latitude, to be exact, in Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
We are in between the national days of Canada and the United States, so, I hope all you Canucks had a fabulous Canada Day, 🇨🇦 and to our great American cousins, I hope you have a brilliant July Fourth 🇺🇸.
Happy Fireworks Days!
It has been a rather dodgy spring and summer also has had an interesting start. Well, not really. Kind of alternating. A couple of days of cold rain followed by a couple of days of sweltering humidity. Really unattractive.
But …
There have been wild roses.
And interesting clouds.
And panting northern hot dogs.
And lots of green growing.
And more wild roses.
But my, it’s been rainy and humid and cold.
Not the best spring/summer, but lots to appreciate.
How about yours where you live?
We recently encountered the Bruin triplets. As a precaution, we photographed them through our windshield – the photo quality suffered because the window was dirty and there’s also a lot of visible glare. The bears are coming into a lot of contact with humans however, and we think it’s best not to open windows or to stop and get out. The more minimal we can be, the better, because in the end, it’s the bears that pay the price for human thoughtlessness.
The bears? Well, they’re just being bears.
One of the bears was particularly explorative while the other two stayed close to mummy. They all appeared to be very healthy and well fed.
These bears were born during the winter and will stay with their mum for about the next 12-14 months until they become juveniles, at which time they will start their independent lives. Their mum will go on to find another mate and to give birth again.
But as with all young ones, right now they are completely adorable. 🙂
Wood Buffalo National Park is one of the largest preserves in the world.
M and I recently drove through a small part of it.
We saw bison (buffalo) of course but also bears.
And a sink hole.
It was the middle of May but there was still a little ice and snow at the bottom of it.
We didn’t see any whooping cranes – this park has one of the largest whooping crane nesting sites in the world – but had a very interesting short visit to an environmentally sensitive and important area.
Have you been to a park lately?
On the weekend, M and I drove through Wood Buffalo National Park on our way to Fort Smith. We saw quite a few bison (frequently mislabelled as buffalo; the park has also retained the old inaccurate name) but lots of bears as well.
They have been out and around for about two to three weeks now and are fully awake.
I was surprised at how tame they are. This bear stayed in the road, unphased, as we carefully maneuvered around him. He looked hopefully at us as we passed.
There were others as well. This one stood up, also unbothered, as we slowed down to take his picture. There was no attempt to flee.
Another beautiful bear was curious enough to start walking towards us. We took the picture and pulled away.
I was dismayed to learn later that the reason why the bears seem so comfortable with people is that they are often being fed. And in a national park no less! Heartbreaking. As the saying goes, “a fed bear is a dead bear.” This park is huge (bigger than Switzerland) and there is limited access by vehicle, so park rangers will try to move bears that become too friendly into the back country. Unfortunately, some of them return and are then euthanized. All because human beings can’t stop being idiots.
We recently left British Columbia to return to the Northwest Territories. We took a more northern route through the Rockies and past Jasper National Park.
Before entering Jasper, we came up to Mount Robson. It’s the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.
Although there was still some snow on the ground the temperature was two or three degrees C above zero.
We were in high mountain country, but Mount Robson was still quite a frozen surprise sitting in the early spring sun.
The driving conditions were great and although our drive was long, it was incredibly scenic. To the east of Mount Robson, we entered Jasper National Park.
After this range of mountains, we started the drive’s next leg through the northern prairies.
Have you had any interesting road trips lately?
Eeeek! Is spring EVER going to arrive?
This was the view on my cloudy, snowy walk to work this morning.
Our days are much longer now, but daylight is not the problem. Sunrise is at 6:00 am and sunset is 9:00 pm, but it just keeps snowing!
If you don’t hear from me for the next month, send snowplows! 🙂
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 