Gratitude Monday -- Remains To Be Seen Edition

For our Saturday hike we dipped into Banff National Park and did part of the Howse Pass.
That's an undeveloped and flat way to get from Alberta to BC.
We got as far as the Howse River, about 5 km down the path of the 28.8 km hike.
Hikers like the trail and pack trips are often made along the route.
It is wonderful. It's beautiful and wild and home to plants and trees and wildlife that remain relatively unmolested by civilization.
I am grateful for that, and grateful that we made the walk.
There's a steep bit at the start of the hike as the path descends into Mistaya Canyon, crosses the Mistaya River, and climbs up a wee bit before all but leveling out until descending into the river bottom of the Howse River.

But every lustrum or so some politically-excited fellow decides there should be a highway through the Howse Pass.
This nonsense has been going on for decades now. The point of the argument is economic, nothing else.
Howse Pass is just south of where Highway 11 meets the Icefields Parkway so if it is punched through the wilderness, it'll bring more people to Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House and assorted other Central Alberta locations.

The subject comes up, enjoys a bit of press in Central Alberta, and then dies until the next person thinks what a good idea it is.
It isn't, and I am grateful that the idea has been stomped down each and every time it comes up.
Further, I have it on good authority that it is only an issue in Central Alberta.
No one else knows and no one else cares. I am grateful for that.
And if it ever became the subject of national discussion plenty of people would care enough to stomp the idea out again.
The undeveloped pass remains to be seen.
I am grateful for that, too.

Looking east from the Howse River.

Looking north and a bit west.

Gratitude Monday- Mountains of Gratitude Edition

Along the river at the bottom of Sunwapta Pass.

Mike and I go to the mountains for a drive and/or a hike almost every weekend. I am very grateful we both like to do this and have the opportunity to do it.
Saturday we went north on the Columbia Icefields Parkway looking for the falls that one sees from the highway just before going up the very steep and very scenic Sunwapta Pass.
We walked along the river for a while to a different set of falls and then made our way back eventually finding the falls we set out to see.
I am grateful for the day, the walk, the Rockies, and for my husband.

Gratitude Monday - An Untreated Treat Edition

The earth provides our water. We need it to survive and I am grateful I have access to clean, healthy water at the turn of a tap.
But we've gotten so far away from the water Mother Earth provides freely. What flows from my tap is treated. While I am grateful for it as it means it is fit for consumption, it's not the clear flowing stream of nature.
When I go for a hike in the mountains I drink out of a mountain stream. I've had water that had no taste, as water ought, but is really, really weird, to water did have a taste. It was a grand taste and I am grateful for it.
We take water on our hikes and when we run out we help ourselves to the fresh, clear mountain streams and drink what the Earth provides.
It's one of the highlights of the hikes for me, and for it I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday - The Veggie In-laws Edition

It's the time of year when the vegetable gardens are producing beautifully and bountifully. For that I am grateful.

We have a few things growing here in the yard, but most of our veggies come from Mike's parents.

They both have large gardens and they are both generous with the produce. To date we've enjoyed tomatoes and zucchini and lettuce and cucumbers and potatoes and corn and raspberries and other excellent produce.

I am grateful for my in-laws.