A Good Walk in Kananaskis

The Chef and I have been wanting to do a hike in Alberta for about a week now and today we finally made it. Although it didn't turned out what we had hopped for but it was not bad either. I tried to keep my meal to minimum last night so there would not be a problem with the sleep but there was a problem but not from overeating. It was because of the assholes in the neighbourhood who have no respect for others! I guess with frequent sleep I eventually woke at 04:50 AM by telephone ring. That was The Chef and he said he would be leaving his place soon! WTF? Just freaking call me when you're here! So we left and eventually reached at the gate in Highway 66 at around 07:15. I was not expecting him to call at that time or even show up on time but it happened! 

Our goal was to hike from Little Elbow Campground to Tombstone Campground and maybe beyond but with the Winter Gate being closed we ended up walking from the Prairie Creek, where the gate is located to Little Elbow Campground, some 02:30 hours on way. My mistake was when I visited Kananaskis last, I went to Ice Cave and it's access road is reached before you get to the Winter Gate. For that reason I thought the gate would not be closed due to probably less rainfall and snow but I was obviously wrong!

Highway 66 after Winter Gate, which is located at the trail-head of Prairie Mountain, was fully empty all the way to where pavement ends. Elbow River is seen on left.

We had an easy walk but it was cold and at times the weather turned to snowy. There were absolutely nobody on the entire road when we were heading toward the end of the paved road. We were hoping to see wildlife particularly because there were many small piles of feces could be seen on and around the road. We didn't see anything until we were almost half an hour away from the end of the road and that was when we were taking a few photos beside Elbow River. At first I thought that was a small heard of Moose but soon we realized that I was wrong there were three Horses approaching us. They looked like they were wild horses because as soon as they noticed us they first stopped and looked at our direction and then walked back and then towards the river. They again stopped and when they made sure we were trying to get close to them, started crossing the river and eventually hid themselves in the forest. 

Our next encounter was when we were on the gravel road walking towards the campground and I saw  a couple of White-tailed Deer. It was snowing and hard to get a shot of them. They were waiting on the hill between the trees to see what we were doing. We left them alone and moved forward and when we turned back to get on the road again we saw them jumping and running over the road! 

Our trip back to the gate was quite similar unless we saw people coming up on bicycles. By almost 13:20 we were back to the vehicle, finishing our 06:00 hour walk. 

(Photo: One of the horses is seen crossing the river here. I assume Elbow Valley gets wider in summer after snow on the mountain melts)

The Chef and his Unlimited Disires

I've been in discussion with The Chef for the past 5 days or so in order to find out where we can go for hiking. He insists that he likes to join me but at the same time he does not to go very far away which requires us to stay in a hotel for the night. He keeps saying: We'll sleep in the mountains! I told him that even if we were allowed to sleep anywhere we wanted in the mountains(!), we'd be frozen to death! Poor ignoramus doesn't understand the simple facts.

Eventually the other day we again had a discussion and I explained to him about Wilcox Pass in Jasper National Park and he kind of liked it. As he's a big fan of eating and drinking (alcoholic beverages of course, that is what I mean) he insisted to go this East Indian food place in Downtown called Mirchi. Mirchi in Hindi or Urdu or both means Chili Pepper! And you know their food is very spicy. We got two small dishes and I guess they cost around $30 or something. He paid as he had invited. Mine was a kind of barbecued Chicken with of course special East Indian spices. There were probably as many as 6 pieces all together and they put a handful of old raw vegetable as side item or Salad! I know that these guys never eat war vegetable and barely eat any fruit. I don't know exactly why that is but The Mumbling Guy told me once that the fruit was very expensive in India and only a minor part of the population can afford that. The majority of the fruit is exported, he said. They of course serve the food with freshly backed flat bread which they make it here in front of you in the kitchen with the same hand they wipe their nose a second prior to that or get money from you! The Chef ordered a kind of Goat Stew which was tasty as well but I doubt it was Goat! This kind of meat is very scares and expensive in Canada. So it's as easy as a piece of cake for this guys to serve you any kind of meat they want and call it whatever is listed in the menu because how the hell the majority of customer would know that?! There is so much spices that you cannot tell Goat from Beef or anything else. Besides the majority of foreign national customers, as they have that kind of customer too, have never tried Goat. So they cannot tell either!

Chicken in front and in the back Goat Stew. You can see how disappointing the salad looks like. The small rectangular shape container is kind of sauce but was not good and tasted a bit old. After all this is East Indian restaurant. What do you expect?!

Anyways we had the same discussion again last night and this time he was in the mode of Crab and Lobster. The guy just has bought a $400,000 house with a buddy of his but is not concerned about his loan and mortgages! So we went to a local Superstore and he said: Let's get two Crabs and two Lobsters! I told him that would be too much and we ended up getting only two Crabs but they were huge, each easily a little over 950 g. The two cost $37.10 and $36.94, a total of $74.04 for two! He was a big shocked and I was too, maybe not as much as him but I guess something like that cost us around $50 last winter. We went home and while the Crabs were being cooked and we were drinking his favorite beer, Kokanee, talked about our hike again!

He, this time indicated that Jasper was too far and we should have done our hike somewhere closer. I explained to him a bit about Lake Louise and he was convinced that would be a good selection. 

We let the Crabs boil for some 15 minutes and then turned the heat down and let them cool off. Two whole crabs were not enough for two of us but we each had 3 tall can of Kokanee and I don't think we could easily eat more than that. 

For gear we went to a Value Village the other day before eating at Mirchi, I forgot to add and he bout a big winter jacket and a pair of boot. We assume he has the rest and we will be fine. 

(Photo, top: We let the crabs cool off after we cooked them. They were huge but not too meaty! One definitely is not enough for one person similar to us, if you want to eat it just by itself)

Arizona Road Trip (7): Chinle to Tusayan

I left Chinle after having an awful(!) breakfast at a local Burger King for Town of Tusayan in the south side of Grand Canyon National Park. Apparently the south side or as they call it south rim is the place everyone goes to but that's absolutely stupid, I know that now. The fact is south rim is open early while north rim does not get opened until mid-May. Besides there are less services in there so people cannot get drunk, show off or do any other normally-considered stupid thing that they do! So they tend to spend their time in south. And now that I know it, I will have a plan for north rim for sure. When? I don't know. 

Anyways the road from Chinle to Tusayan goes from Navajo Reserve of course. On the way I had a short stop at Tuba City which is assumed to be a town with majority Native people as its inhabitants. I stopped at McDonald's to get water or coffee, I don't remember and then you reach a three way which the right (north) side leads to north rim and city of Page and the left (south) side leads to Flagstaff and with a branch to Grand Canyon National Park. The road is beautiful and uncrowded and there are lots of photo opportunities. 

You also get the chance to check the small community of  Cameron and it's trading post which is incredible. For me again that was not a place to do shopping but I enjoyed checking the hand-crafted items in the shop. 

Highway 64 is the road you have to take to get yourself to east entrance which takes about an hour, I guess from Cameron but before that you also can stop to see Little Colorado River Gorge which worth stopping but similar to all other corners of the reserve, Native people have their stands selling their hand-crafted gifts. 

Little Colorado Gorge shortly after you turn to Highway No. 64 en route to Grand Canyon National Park. This is a nice place with Native people have their hand-crafted gift stands nearby. It was insisted through a sign that there was no admission! People would have paid, Had there been any admission, I guess but they were paying though the items they were buying from the Natives!

Upon arrival at the east gate of the park, I noticed a line and I guess it took about 20 min. or maybe half an hour to pay admission and pass. It was unfortunate for me that I had to pay $25 for 2 days I had planned to stay at the park because the pass was good for seven day but I didn't have any other choice. There are a few view points between this gate and main information center and the village that you can stop, take photos or ask questions. 

In Watch Tower view point (I guess the name is) which is supposed to a historical place I had a chance to talk to an old gentleman and ask him about the hike down to Colorado River as it is repeatedly said in there that it is not recommended. First he said they say it for public safety and he added that he would have done it in an hour or two, had he been younger(!) I know people use some consciousness they get old and he really was old, maybe past 70 and I told him that it was indicated that the hike would take some 8 to 9 hours. He either didn't know what he was talking about or was not in good mind but eventually said that he would do it in 7 or so hours! This gave me some encouragement, although I was not very convinced. After a few stops I wanted to make sure that I know where I would be going the next morning so I checked the visitor center and few signs and maps and found where exactly Bright Angel Trail-head was and headed to Tusayan to check in to my hotel. To get to Tusayan you head south and it's some 20 minutes or so and I had a reservation at Red Feather Motel. The room was not bad and I head out to get something to eat. There was a huge line at McDonald's at the other side of the street just across from the hotel. So I fucking forgot about it! Then I checked a Wendy's and the prices were so unreasonable that I just got out. Then I checked the only supermarket in the town and bought a few items and got back to the hotel. 

Another picture of Arizona highway. This one is either before I reach Tuba City or after! 

The hotel was full and people were coming one after another. I was lucky that I had reservation so I went in and checked the internet. Working properly. No problem. I got ready for sleep as tomorrow was supposed to be a big day!

(Photo, top: This picture is taken after I left Chinle and hit High 160 to West. The road barely has any vehicle in it and both sides are decorated by strangely-shaped rock, beautiful!)

Who's Paying for City Spring Cleaning?

This question might sound stupid. It's obvious that the people of the same city pay for it. That is done through property taxes and other incomes that the city has. Let's look at the City of Calgary's sources of income. It's funny that the services that we use on daily basis such as city cleaning (which rarely clean), parks, public transportation, pathways, etc is mainly paid by the losers who have purchased a property in this city because almost 42% of the income of the municipality is funded through property tax! Most of the cities in Canada has this spring cleaning in their schedule which is done normally in late March or early April although it's still not considered spring! 

With that in mind I had not used my car for 2 days I guess and I wanted to go for my jogging when I realized my car was not where I had parked it a day or two ago! I soon noticed that the street looks much cleaner than usual and recognized the problem: It had been towed! 

I immediately realized that I have a problem in my hand; I will have to go to city pond lot tomorrow and provide proof that it is my vehicle and get it out and for that I have to make a story up and sell it to the guys at work. Then I thought I should call parking enforcement. They should know. I tried the damn number with my mobile phone and heard all those nonsense messages and then they put me on hold due to larger than normal call volumes! 

Then I said I should try the same number with the land-line and I did. I immediately after dialing the number hit number 2 and a lady picked up! I explained what had happened and she asked for my plate number obviously. She came back after a few seconds and she said that my car had been towed only 3 blocks away from where it had been originally parked! I was surprised and happy at the same time that I would not have to go to the damn pond and waste time there. 

Interestingly the car was just parked a block away, in the same direction she had explained but shockingly I saw a ticket on the wiper! The City normally announces street cleaning with signs at least a week in advance but I didn't see anything the whole week. I looked around and this could be seen on many vehicles all on that block! Basically here we all contributed to that 5% which comes from fines partially and municipalities are normally good at it. I have to see whether I will be able to fight that or not. This ain't fair.

(Photo: This Pie Chart which is taken from City of Calgary website shows how different incomes are put together to complete city's revenue. The biggest from property tax!)

Arizona Road Trip (6): Town of Chinle

Chinle (a Native name) at the northeastern corner of State of Arizona, close to New Mexico border is a small town with the majority of the population Native people from Navajo Nation. The said nation apparently is divided to different tribes but I didn't investigate further. There are a few things that have made this neighbourhood a town and those are franchised businesses, hotels and fast food restaurants and one supermarket. The main reason people would go to Chinle is either visiting Canyon De Chelly National Monument or going to New Mexico. This is a dirty town with rundown dwellings, garbage all over the streets, old cars and old buildings. There's no light at night but the building lights. I wonder if that is very hard to provide especially that it is not a big city.

A view of the gift shop at Holiday Inn of Chinle or as they like to call it Trading Post back to the days that Native people traded their hand-crafted items with what Europeans offered. The store was closed at the time.

I stayed at this Holiday Inn which looks nice but had the same problem of another Holiday Inn when we visited Deer Lake in Newfoundland & Labrador. The room is nice and cofortable but the mattress and pillow was the worst. I didn't have a good sleep the night for that matter which affected my performance in the coming days. At night I was parking the car and bringing a few items to the room and I saw an animal in the parking lot. I at the first glance thought it was a Fox or Coyote but it was none! It was a stay dog probably belong to a Native family nearby or belong to nobody. That's been the first time I saw a stray animal in the public. Apparently there's no licencing and registration for pets on the reserve. Due to the problem I had in Sedona's Views Inn with the internet I first didn't even try to get connected so I asked the receptionist a Native girl if there was any computer for public use and she pointed at two sets at a corner. I sat at the desk and tried to sign in to my account but both websites indicated that they suspected I'd be the actual owner of the account and didn't let me in. 

Holiday Inn in Chinle is located at a nice corner and in a nice building. The room is nice and has everything but the mattress and pillow ruin your night.

I was tired so I went back to the room and tried the internet on my laptop and it worked. So apparently there was an issue with the router or any other device at Views Inn but it's too late to bring that up. 

The hotel cost didn't include breakfast so I checked out as soon as I could in order to reach my next destination before it was too late. Before leaving the town, I decided to get a breakfast and I checked into a local Burger King. It was a very disappointing experience: A very bad and tiny breakfast sandwich with a coffee cost something around $5 or more! While in the parking lot getting ready to leave a scary young Native fella with tattoos below his eyes and everywhere else approached me and gave me a old version of same story you probably have heard over and over: I'm here with my fiance and mother-in-law and we're heading to Colorado. I maxed out my credit card. Would you help me with a few dollars? I told him that I was leaving the town myself after staying with a Native friend and spent the last few dollars I had on gas and the coffee. He thanked me and went to someone else, a Native for help. 

Stray dog at the parking lot of Holiday Inn. I was afraid first to approach but then I realized that the poor animal was probably hungry. I couldn't get a better shot.

Another thing I saw in the town when I was on the road to Burger King place was a sign reading Site of Technical University on a lot. That will probably be there if you visit the town in 5 years from now unless it's knocked down but I understand that someone is trying to bring more business as well as education to this town but really what kind of technique could be thought in this university which is good for the Native people? Let's leave it to Navajo people to decide. 

(Photo, top: While in the Burger King parking lot, an emergency vehicle stopped and its crew, Native people, went inside for a breakfast. I took this shot from their vehicle)

Arizona Road Trip (5): Canyon De Chelly National Monument

As soon as I entered the small town of Chinle I directly followed the GPS and headed toward the destination: Canyon De Chelly National Monument. It didn't take me long to get to the parking lot of its visitor information center and I got in. I guess if I remember correctly all of the US Forest Service people in there were Native people, possibly from Navajo Nation whom are the people of the area. After a little chat with the lady, I learnt through her how to get to south rim and drive through to see whatever was available. I did a little shopping in their gift shop. Prices are a bit high especially for someone like me who has an exchange rate of $1.29 for his or her currency but that's the case through all the US nowadays and was the case throughout the entire trip. That was why I refrained from over-spending. Whatever I spent was just for essentials and I guess I will have a post for just what my expenses were which I truly believe not many can travel like that. 

Anyways there are different lookouts throughout the south rim and they all give spectacular views. Surprisingly I saw Native people at almost all parking lots trying to sell their handcrafted items. I of course was not there to purchase anything. The Lady wouldn't wear any jewelry of that kind, not that she dislikes them. She's just not a found of foreign jewelry of any kind. Other stuff such as sculptures and paintings are normally good first of all for people who spend money on these type of items, secondly for someone who wants to decorate his living room. For me who lives in a tiny rental apartment that would look silly. 

Hundreds and hundreds of bottles and cans are scattered through the State of Arizona and particularly the town of Chinle and Canyon De Chelly. I guess I heard that recycling places unlike Canada does not pay anything to the collectors and for that reason people don't care bringing them in! This type of Pepsi can I believe was discontinued a long time ago but apparently has been sitting on the grounds of Canyon De Chelly for a long time as it's rusted and will be sitting for many more years unless these Native people overcome decades of their laziness! 

Millions of years of stream going through the cliffs and rocks moving up and down has created a wonderland. It is incredibly beautiful but similar to most North American national, state of provincial park, people live in the park and here in case of De Chelly the Native people or Navajo people are the ones who do the most damage to the environment. They drive their trucks everywhere, trow empty bottles and cans and other garbages and have no respect for the environment. In fact if I had hauled all of the cans and bottles I saw during my trip to a bottle depot in Alberta, I would have been able to make big bucks! So I enjoyed the view and tried to avoid the Native because they were peacefully and patiently were sitting on their butts waiting for the rich tourist to sell their stuff to. 

At one point you reach White House Overlook which in fact is a trail-head for White House Ruins on the bottom of the valley. It is a very easy hike down but very beautiful. The path is well-maintained and you can see many hikers but it's not over-crowded similar to other popular hikes you see. The major hikers on the trail are Native people who come in large groups and they look at you meaning that you're not supposed to be there. This looks like a pilgrimage to them. people, majority of them normally great to each other in hiking. I've seen it everywhere and by majority I mean at least 90%. 

Another amazing view of the cliffs of Canyon De Chelly. You can see tire marks on the bottom of the valley and that's where the Natives drive their trucks. I think it would have been much nicer, had the visitors not to see anything by nature but I guess it's hard to make people understand that a unique environment requires much attention or will go bad! I will have to have more post about the Natives and I will have on particular about a Native girl who was shown on TV weeping in regards to the land that the oil companies have leased for Oil Sand ore extraction in Alberta

There I didn't see one single Native giving a smile or nods as a sign of salutation but that's how they are. The hike or walk down to the White House Ruins which is a very beautiful place to see is about 01:45 round-trip. That includes frequent stops for photography because you just cannot pass without taking pictures of all the beauty in and around. I saw people from everywhere and it was a surprise how they have found it. I talked to a young couple who were trying to get to Grand Canyon and they had come from England! I also heard people talking in German and as I said a big portion of the population comprised of Native pilgrims! As I was closing to the site - which is separated by a fence - I saw a few vendors in the area. One of the a Native woman in probably her early or mid 30's - as it's hard to guess how old these people are - greeted me and showed me a bear sculpture that she claimed she had made it herself. She was asking $35 for it. She showed me how to hold the bear so its healing power could be towards me. I told her that I would consider that and would come back to her later after I got my thought together! I later on saw similar bear with different painting on it in different locations. Stores were asking around $39 for it. I of course never bought one because things such as this are never on my list. 

As I said the White House Ruins are separated from the visitors by a fence and that's good because if they had not done it, it would have been gone by know! I'm very happy that I had the chance to go down in the valley and visit the ruins because that is the only place in the entire Canyon De Chelly, which people could visit without a permit from Navajo Nation or guide. In fact just a few meters away from the ruins' fence there was a sign which prohibited the visitors going beyond that point without a guide unless they wanted to be prosecuted! That path were leading to the other parts of the valley and I'm hundred per cent sure that there were a whole lot more to see but my plan was just to have the day in there. I went back up and tried the other overlooks one after another. 

White House is the ruins of that dwelling which is seen in the cliff above that brick building. That of course is not the only ruins left from the first inhabitants of the area. That's the only one I visited and available, as I said in the post, to visit in South Rim without needing a permit from Navajo Nation.

As I said there were people who lived there as well as a few visitors. I almost forgot to say that the canyon was a place that the Spanish and Native people collided a few times and in fact the name is a sort of Spanish name translated from Native language of the original inhabitants. I unfortunately didn't have the chance to check north rim my plan suggested to spend half a day in the area and I'm happy again saying, that I did that. Normally 2 days are required to see the entire region and by two days I mean one day for each rim plus extra time for available hikes and breaks. 

(Photo, top: Amazing cliffs in Canyon De Chelly National Monument. A palace to enjoy and to remember if we exclude the Natives, not all of them, who may bug you during your visit. US Forest Service has No Vending signs at spots and truly I didn't see any vendor on those places but there are at other places here sitting and waiting and I should probably not use this metaphor but they look like Buzzards! It is a bit of exaggeration but it's sad too see such a beautiful and unique place is filled with garbage and no Native does anything to clean or improve that)