Not long now....
"Not long now".....is a sort of familiar refrain that heralds the approaching start of another travel adventure. Its been heard more frequently of late, as the date of our departure for another road trip gets closer and closer. In a few days time we are flying to Canada, to discover, for the first time, the cityscape of Vancouver and then the dramatic mountain scenery of British Columbia and Alberta. The Rocky Mountains, lakes, maple syrup and (possibly) bears await.
The plan (and there is one) is to drive from Vancouver to Calgary with some detours on route taking in a wine growing area and some national parks.
The planning for this trip started earlier this year and zig-zags around 1000 miles from west to east. As I write final preparations are underway. I have a fistful of (Canadian) dollars), and a mixture of travel clothes, t-shirts and hiking gear, and a large rucksack to pack.
I'm always interested in opportunities to see the local wildlife in countries I visit, and have been fortunate to have close encounters with penguins, fur seals, kangaroos, puffins and keas (a NZ alpine parrot) in past travels. This time I hope to see a moose or two, mountain goats and brown or grizzly bears......from a safe distance. Both species of bear are protected and their populations are recovering having been hunted in the past in large numbers and chances are they will stay well away from the hiking trails...but occasionally they do get close to people. Apparently hikers are encouraged to make plenty of noise to discourage bears from getting close, and singing out loud is one way of doing this. My singing voice makes Pierce Brogan's effort in 'Mama Mia' sound positively melodious, so it could well scare off the bear population in a 50 mile radius of wherever I might be....
Mrs B is convinced my desire to see a wild bear will be my undoing...but I'm going to be cautious and have a 420mm zoom lens on my camera, so aim to return unscathed. If of course she is right my epitaph could well be "exit pursued by a bear".
The plan (and there is one) is to drive from Vancouver to Calgary with some detours on route taking in a wine growing area and some national parks.
 |
| Boote's Route! |
I'm always interested in opportunities to see the local wildlife in countries I visit, and have been fortunate to have close encounters with penguins, fur seals, kangaroos, puffins and keas (a NZ alpine parrot) in past travels. This time I hope to see a moose or two, mountain goats and brown or grizzly bears......from a safe distance. Both species of bear are protected and their populations are recovering having been hunted in the past in large numbers and chances are they will stay well away from the hiking trails...but occasionally they do get close to people. Apparently hikers are encouraged to make plenty of noise to discourage bears from getting close, and singing out loud is one way of doing this. My singing voice makes Pierce Brogan's effort in 'Mama Mia' sound positively melodious, so it could well scare off the bear population in a 50 mile radius of wherever I might be....
Mrs B is convinced my desire to see a wild bear will be my undoing...but I'm going to be cautious and have a 420mm zoom lens on my camera, so aim to return unscathed. If of course she is right my epitaph could well be "exit pursued by a bear".
Comments
Post a Comment