Our Inukshuk

Our Inukshuk (Trail Marker) originally used by the Inuit (Eskimo) marks the point where our trail is fast coming to an end. Sadly, although the days have been long and hard, they have flown by faster than an Eskimo on his way to the Ice Shop. We are genuinely tired and a little fatigued from our efforts to capture the shots we were looking for, but Paul has made every minute count with his keen spotting ability plus a vast knowledge and experience of the animals themselves, their habits, habitats, behaviour and even where to start looking in the first place.
After leaving Elk Island, we took a Helicopter flight with Jamie from the Icefield Helicopter Tours base at Cline River over the Columbia Ice Fields which just helped enforce the sheer size and scope of these incredible Rocky Mountains. These ice fields are the head waters for all the fresh water rivers in Canada that flow East and West off the Continental Divide which is the highest ridge in Canada. In the days of the Ice Age, even the highest peak was covered in ice … sadly this ice is melting at an incredible rate.

The next major event on our rather busy calendar was a lunch date with a handsome Grey Wolf. I know, looking at this photo, it appears that we were to be his lunch, but this is character trait instilled in us by Hollywood, not how it really is in the wild. To say it is special to spend time with these magnificent animals is an understatement and words simply cannot describe their beauty … so have a look at the photos instead. We had the ultimate privilege of spending a little quality time observing a wild wolf in his natural environment and this experience will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Again, Paul surprised us with his spotting ability and managed to get us up close and personal with a usually rather difficult to see Canadian Porcupine. Although many metres up, clinging to a tree in the dark, with a harsh back light in the rain, we still managed to get a couple of shots of this interesting fellow gazing down on us from his vantage point. We didn’t ask Paul to climb up and bring him down to ground level for us … wasn’t that thoughtful of us?

There has been some pretty spectacular scenery along the way, which I haven’t talked much about I know, but it’s only because there has been so much else going on and so many animals in front of our shutters, sometimes it’s hard to take time to stop and smell the roses … so to speak. We’ve kind of been in the wrong place at the wrong time for some of the scenery shoots, with rain inevitably dampening the spirit, not to mention the lens on many occasions.

We also shouldn’t forget to mention all the wonderful people we’ve met along the way who were kind enough to let us take their photos and include them in the BLOG … thank you very much Lisa, Fiona, Jamie, Michelle, Meaghyn, Casey, Shelly and the skinnydipping girls we busted coming out of the sub freezing water too!

MORE PHOTOS ADDED TODAY : NEW ALBUM 5
If you would like to see some more photo's of what we've seen so far, please visit our PICASA Web Albums page!
Go To: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/styleid/Safari2008Album05#

Keep smiling ...

Darren & Keith Gardiner
Glacier Googlers