Okay- I am determined to at least finish posting photos from that May 2011 trip in this thread..lol
So, back at it!
full album of this section:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111492944361897930115/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011KHeadingHomewardFrom the near tree line elevations in Jasper National Park, we've come back south toward home, eventually crossed back into Banff National Park, then left the north/south running Icefields Parkway for the more or less east/west David Thompson Highway which will take us all the way home! The 'off colour' forest in the second photo is an area which was deliberately burned by park officials a couple of years ago..
The bear was very close to the road, near the eastern boundary of Banff National Park, and seemingly dining on dandelions-- maybe that's what we need around here
.. Then we pass through the montane zone and Kootenay Plains- an area I've posted images from in the past-- a rather broad area between mountains, with a couple of rivers and rather dry grassy plains; Due to low precipitation (variably, depending on exposure etc) and the open grassy areas (and the rivers, no doubt!) this has been an important area for wildlife, esp in winter when they can come down from harsher/snowier higher elevations and find grass for grazing with generally shallow snow cover if any. The concentration of wildlife (and easily traversed plains) made the area important to Native peoples as well, and there are still large chunks of land in the region managed by aboriginal people. There was an early attempt at farming/ranching by European settlers in the area which failed (I don't know the history of it, but suspect low precipitation/fragile plant communities in some sections- the grassy areas that presumably would-be ranchers were drawn to- probably made agriculture a dicey proposition!).. now most of the land in the plains is protected...
more to come from this day, including a stop at my favourite site in the plains... but not tonight!