Friday September 8, 2017

The Honeycomb BNB serves us a great breakfast to start our day. The owners and other guests are all very nice causing us to linger and chat after breakfast is done. We learn that the BNB was formerly used as the Clear Lake Lodge in the National Park. It was going to be demolished but the owners decided to save the building and have it moved to their 5-acre property. While renovating it, to convert it into the current BNB they discovered a whole bunch of honeycombs in the attic and the name of the Honeycomb BNB was born. We relax in our room a little also and by the time we get moving, and drive into the park, it is almost noon.

Very Large Beaver Dam

We have decided to start our day with a loop hike to Bead Lake. It is a beautiful day with blue skies and the temperature is a pleasant 55 degrees or so. We hike through forest until reaching the lake. We have been descending as we go. The forest encroaches right up to the lake shore so there are very few where we can actually reach the shore. At one of these spots, there is a very large beaver dam. It looks like it has been in use for quite a few years. We scan the far shore for any sign of moose, but come up empty again. We do not know why the moose are so shy here.

Upper Bead Lake

As we progress, we come to the end of the lake and the trail turns and starts to climb back uphill. It is a wonderful walk in the woods back to our vehicle. We are both hungry now but since there is no picnic tables here, we decide to drive towards our next stop and find a table to eat on along the way. We turn along the northern edge of Clear Lake and find a nice table on the lake shore. There is a little breeze here which lowers the temperature about 10 degrees. Fall is definitely coming. There is another couple enjoying their lunch nearby. When it is time to go, I carry our cooler back to our vehicle, open the door, and much to my astonishment, do not recognize the items inside. I realize that I have just opened the door to the other couple’s vehicle and the guy is walking towards us. In my feeble defense, the vehicles are both SUV’s, the same color, but not the same make. Luckily, we are in the land of friendly people and I do not get beat up. We apologize for the unintended intrusion and end up chatting with them for about twenty minutes. They live in Winnipeg and are here for the weekend. We apologize again before putting the cooler in our vehicle and heading back out to explore.

First Bison Spotting

We are headed to the Lake Audy area where there is a herd of woodland bison. As we approach the area, there is a sign explaining the normal do not try and pet the bison rules. There is a cattle guard that we cross, and then as if on cue, a bison comes out of the woods and walks down the road right towards us. I manage to shoot some video and a somewhat blurry photo as he walks by our vehicle. He then heads back into the woods and disappears. We drive to a turnout which leads to a bison overlook. This looks out over the grasslands in the area. I search with my binoculars but there is no herd to be seen. Perhaps we saw the bison that they use in the brochure to lure us out here to see the imaginary herd. I close my eyes, imagine a herd of bison feeding on the grass, open my eyes and…..nothing.

Solitary Male

We return to the RAV and drive some more until we reach a one-way dirt road on the other side of this small bison area. If we stay on the paved road, there is another cattle guard up ahead and another sign. Although the bison are wild, they have fenced in a large amount of acreage for them to roam on. I am not sure if it is to protect habitat from the bison, or the bison from the wolves, but either way it seems like they are going against the American concept of a national park in letting nature sort things out. We catch a glimpse of movement further down the dirt road and see a large male bison. That makes the decision to head down the one-way road for us, and off we go. The bison is off the road near the fence line and keeps his head down feeding on the tall grass. Makes for a healthy bison but not a good photo. Like the first one we saw, he is all alone so maybe the Canadian Bison are solitary creatures.

Mom and Calf

We continue on the road for a few miles and start to enter a wooded area when we notice more movement. We stop and see a herd of bison crashing through the woods. They move parallel to us and then start to exit the woods behind our vehicle. It is much different then seeing them in the open plains. These bison are definitely not as large as the ones we have seen in Yellowstone and South Dakota. There are several calves in the groups and some younger bison as well. Several other vehicles have stopped on the other side of the crossing. Our timing is not great as I try not to get to many bison butt pictures, as they are moving diagonally away from us. A few of them cooperate and at least stare back at me so I can get a head to tail shot. We sit and enjoy the bison show for about 30 minutes before we finish our dirt road drive.

Time to Fly

Back on pavement, we go a short distance and spot a young coyote. He crosses the road in front of us, stops near our vehicle, reaches up a branch loaded with berries, strips it of all the berries and then disappears into the brush. That was pretty cool. We take another dirt road just cause it’s there and spot a hawk flying overhead. I attempt to get a picture of it and will have to wait and see if I did good or not. We continue and take the turnoff to Lake Audy. We drive by an empty campground and get out near a boat ramp to take a picture. A few steps down the ramp, there is a large pile of bear crap chock full of berries. I don’t see any red pepper flakes or bells which means it has not eaten anyone and hopefully is on a vegan diet. We leave the lake not wanting to find Mr. bear and shortly thereafter, we exit the park.

Off the Marsh Trail

We travel along gravel and dirt country roads, back to the town of Wasagaming at the south entrance. It is still too early for dinner so we decide to do a short hike on the Ominnik Marsh Trail. It should be around a mile round trip. Somehow, we missed a turn and it becomes a 3 mile plus walk ending on the south shore of Clear Lake at a boat launch area. From here we know the general direction back to town and our car but want the shortest route. Luckily, there is a booth for boat launch fees being manned (I guess maybe womannned) by a very helpful young lady. She tells us the shortest way which travels along some small cabin type homes before ending near where we parked the car.

How Big Is It?

We have arrived just in time for dinner at TR Mckoys. Their specialty is Italian food and Carol orders penne with Italian sausage, while order penne with sea scallops and shrimp. Both are very good. After dinner, we take a little digestive stroll through the small town. We finally spot a moose, although it is made of fabric, twine and flowers. It is definitely a moose though, so we take a picture. Back to the BNB at Onanole, where we spot a gigantic elk, this being made of metal. All kinds of wildlife here, if you know where to look!  

Back at the BNB, our evening quickly becomes interesting. I check my email and there is a message from our lodging outside Waterton National Park. We will be there in a week, and the message says that the park is on fire and is being evacuated. We can cancel our rooms free of charge if we want. I check on line and it does not look good. Additionally, I check Banff and there is a major fire there. Jasper, our next destination does not have any fire but is being impacted by smoke from the Banff fire to its south. Glacier National Park in Montana also has a major fire which has closed the east half of the Going to the Sun Road. We decide that we do not want to see the parks through a haze of fire and smoke so we will cancel, our last week in Canada. I have to cancel Jasper by today, Banff by tomorrow, and beg to cancel Glacier Park as there is a cancellation fee. I start by trying to call the nice BNB that advised us of the Waterton closing. Oh, Oh, my phone does not seem to have reception. Well, I can dial but get a busy signal that hangs up. I try one of the other numbers and same thing. Carol has been talking with the owner and when I tell her my plight, she jumps right in and says we can use her land line phone, as signals are sometimes weak here. This saves the day for us.

I get the Waterton cancellation done first. Next up is Glacier. We had two different lodgings set here and one is no problem to cancel. The other, I had booked through a site that is owned by a Hong Kong company and charged my card when I booked. This caused me to verify with the hotel in Jasper that 1) they had my reservation, 2) this was a legitimate company they used, and 3) they were showing the room as paid. They verified all this at the time. The companies 1-800 number would not go through when I called. I then called the hotel directly and they said that they could not cancel the reservation, I had to go through the company. They did put a note that I called to cancel as tonight was the deadline. I then e mailed the company to cancel the reservation explaining that the phone number on their site was not connecting and asking for a reply to my cancellation. Although, concerned about this, there was not anything more I could do, so I moved on to cancel Banff. No problem there either. The trials and tribulations of travel. Last on the list for tonight was to cancels tomorrow night’s lodging in the small town of Vegreville, Alberta. This was our stopping point on the way to Jasper, after 600 miles of driving that we no longer need to do tomorrow. We were past the cancel deadline but once again, the Canadians seem to understand exceptional circumstances and after explaining why we needed to cancel, he waived the fee. There is something to be said in working with small mom and pop businesses verse the larger corporate chains. The whole process took about two hours, and not only did I have the BNB’s phone but the owner kept Carol company while I was out on the patio taking care of all this. We definitely owe the Honeycomb BNB a debt of gratitude. Now all we have to figure out is where we are headed to tomorrow and what the rest of this trip will end up being. We are dismayed at having to miss the grand finale of the trip traveling down the spine of the Canadian Rockies into Montana, but feel it is the right call. Let’s see how things pan out tomorrow.