Horseshoe Canyon

Horseshoe Canyon has always intrigued me. It is quite fascinating as are all of the badlands. On our way back from fishing we just had to stop and go for a run and explore everything. I find this particular spot amazing because it appears out of no where and is entirely surrounded by agricultural crops.

Hmmmm...... not quite sure what Lucas is up to, maybe he is flexing his muscles for the camera. While Kaden and Brody have the "you can't touch me stance". As for me I did my best to keep up with them and even passed them at some points as we broke the speed of light climbing and jumping off of and over areas and things we normally wouldn't do only to realise that I need to get out and do more as I soon became physically exhausted.

In our short time their we found this cave. It reminded me of Writing on Stone Provincial Park. Another one of my favorite areas especially for playing Capture the Flag!

Gone Fishing.......

On your way to Drumheller approximately 2Km east of Horseshoe Canyon on the left hand side of the road is a small lake stocked with rainbow trout. Shortly after passing Horseshoe Canyon you will see a windbreak of caragana shrubs. After passing the windbreak another one will appear in the distance with a farm house. In between the two on the left is a gravel road leading to a parking lot. The lake can be seen from the highway.

It is a popular little spot and after talking to some locals "Velveeta Cheese" appears to be the secret bait. We didn't catch anything, but we had a good time. I would like to try again when the lake is frozen.

It is a perfect spot for a day activity (Cubs/Scouts) fishing, Native flower and shrub identification, and Wildlife identification. A beaver has built a lodge on the side of the bank and their are an abundance of song birds and ducks that frequent the area. Due to the amount of fisherman that frequent the lake, unfortunately their is alot of garbage. This provides a service activity. We hiked around the lake and collected 4 garbage bags worth. The lake also provides an excellent resource for collecting and looking at different aquatic and pond life species.

Here we have Brody looking very optimistic and eager to catch the first fish of the day.

It's not quite a fish, but it made Kaden, Lucas, and I jealous! Brody always seems to have the best luck with finding things. This time he found a sweet pocket knife in the water just in front of his fishing rod.

Kaden and Lucas taking it easy in the warm September sun.

As the day progressed we were trying everything to entice the fish to our lures. We moved all around the lake. Lucas decided that if he started reading Harry Potter he might catch a fish.

Just my luck..........

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover!!!

I have had a number of people teach me some valuable lessons in life. We live in a scoiety fixed around perceptions of people based on their outward appearance. Unfortunately many people today miss out on opportunities due to outward judgements on both the individual being assessed and those assessing the individual.

When I was enrolled at Lethbridge Community College completing my Environmental Diploma, I worked part time at the Milestone Mazda/Subaru dealership just south of Crowchild trail. I remember very clearly one hot saturday afternoon a awkward looking man who appeared to be homeless walking around the lot looking at various cars while I was organising the new cars coming off the truck. Personally I remember thinking what is he doing here, and noticed that many of the salesmen were being quite sharp and rude to him.

One of our more senior salesmen whom I was quite fond of as he was always very kind to me, walked over and embraced this man. In the process I overheard some of the other salesmen

laughing and mocking Jim saying that he was wasting his time and that we should call the police.

It turned out that the man was extremely whealthy and in the end purchased in full payment 2 vehicles off our lot.

I stumbled across this you tube video about Greg Pritchard from Britans Got Talent. It not only stunned me like it did Simon, but reminded me of that day at the dealership.