trailhead

There are good and bad to every city, as for a area in Calgary that has a unique flair. Try Inglewood, the BRZ there has mandated a `no chains` policy. So no Starbucks, no MacDonalds, no Timmies. Lots of really funky cool shops and if you check it out you might find a really cool beer store too.

Rick, you might have to try the Calgary one out this year. I heard Edmonton was already sold out, and Calgary is getting close from what the young lady said when I picked up my tix.

Try the Folk Festival on for a cultural slap upside the head. This year is going to be awesome, that former Albertan Michael Franti and his band Spearhead will be there, and that Alberta guy who played with Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin etc. Ian Something, he'll be there along with Stars, the Avett Bros, Cat Empire, Shakura Shaida, Greg Brown, and of course the Hurtin' Albertan Corb Lund. But there really isn't any culture here, not at the Ironwood or anywhere on "International Avenue" or at the Sled Island festival, or the BBQ on the Bow, Calgary Farmers Market, Calgary Blues Festival, Word Fest, the Calgary Film Festival, One Yellow Rabbit. I could keep going on, the biggest hindrance to culture in Calgary is attitude, people from elsewhere always compare where they are from to Calgary and I'm afraid the majority of Calgarians don't take part in most of what is available. Then join in and say" Yeah there's no culture in this town". Calgary the city where eveyone is a "cowboy" for ten days a year and part of the herd for the other 355. Giddup, move 'em out Yaw!

Totally agree with all your points as I have had experience with most of them. I don't think guns are an appropriate response, a park ranger friend told me a "good" bear was shot in K-country a few years ago because someone had a gun in their trailer. Also avoid females with cubs, that video where that guy was charged by the female with a cub and he fired a warning shot, duh! And I have mountain biked the Cascade Fire Road during buffalo berry season with bells on our bikes and early in the morning we passed numerous piles of steaming digested berries. Found out later that there were 8 grizzilies in the area, it was pretty obvious to us that the bears heard the bells and probably just moved off into the underbrush, then resumed feeding when we were gone. I think bears are one of the things that make flyfishing special in this part of the world.

My son has had a personal experience with Sasquatch, so it's real.

I had a young bear do that to me a couple of years ago on the Oldman. I was inadvertently lucky in that I had a fish on the line when the bear charged ,did not have eye to eye contact. Which I found out later from a bear cop is key in avoiding a full out attack. Funny thing is, I told that story to a friend of mine and he had the same bear charge him in the same location. Which really does tell you they are creaures of habit, just like us.

The one thing about watching soccer, it sure beats watching golf. Talk about a snooze fest.

Yep every year opening day is in the middle of the June monsoon. Which is preceeded by the late winter drought. " I sure hope we get some rain or we're in serious trouble"

That's kind of hard to say because there are so many variables, location, time year, time of day, what the fish are taking etc. Because from one year to the next the Bow changes an awful lot. For me I have been skunked too many times to count them. Then I have had stellar days where I hooked 30 fish landed 12 or so. Usually I manage 4 or so to hand.

I'm going to head out to Working Creek and catch a mess of Paper Trout.

The Palliser River outside of Banff Park in BC is Classified. Where did you pick it up your daily permit and pay the $20?

Yeah it is a bit overwhelming, I usually take an empty plastic shopping bag along and fill up when I leave. But when I come back to the same spot later on, it's like i never picked up a thing. Just gotta keep keepin' on though.

I was down in the Crowsnest area at the end of April and overheard an older gentleman complaining about how warm and dry it was, he really wished it would cool down and that they would get some moisture. All I could think of the time was the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for, because it might come true."

Ah man you got it all wrong, you drive yore 4 by into the river stop in the middle, pull out the bucket of rig wash and a long handled brush. Works like a damn.

They'd notice around the Crowsnest area.

And that's a bad thing?

Yes and that part doesn't open until June 15. The part in the city opens June 1

The problem is the Conservation Officers live in the local area. Contrary to what the locals say, the majority of the random campers are locals. The CO's don't like to piss in their own bed. I saw a young female CO get the gears from some yokels who were openly drinking and drunk and throwing beer cans in the Castle. The father of one of these yahoos basically told the young woman that he knew her boss and she would get the "proper interpretation of the law".

My dad used to own a small tree farm and the best deals happen in the fall. Which is also the best time to put in a new tree, contrary to what people think. but as previously mentioned anytime is a good time to plant a tree and usually by the early to mid summer the prices come down considerably. I found a real nice apple tree a few years ago at Walmart for $18.

I caught a beauty rainbow last fall in a slow back eddy on the Crowsnest using that technique, not with a Klink though. I used a EHC and a #20 midge, the fish was facing downstream and sipping midges.

The way I read it was that you couldn't drink in public in the campground. So if you have a trailer you could drink in that, just no beers around the fire. Also if you are in possesion of alcoholic beverages and you haven't opened them I can't see them banning that. That's my take I might be wrong, I've been known to be wrong before.

Well are the Sedin sisters going to have what it takes to tie up the series? Montreal did a fine job last night, everyone mucking and skating and hitting. Henrik and Daniel better take some notes.

Like I said it's kind of like the random camping in Alberta. In both instances when we camped at the two different sites it was a long weekend and both were packed. They didn't have defined sites, we just found a flat space to pitch our tents. The two spots we went to were Summer Lake, northwest of Fernie, and Kidney Lake which is north of Mabel Lake. It is advisable to have a 4X4, I used my truck and was lucky that it was dry because there are some real hairy spots on the forestry roads that go to these, especially Kidney Lake as we continued north when we left and hit the TransCanada around Three Valley Gap. In both cases we never caught any fish, really needed a boat or at least a belly boat, because of a lack of back casting room. It also was apparent that some people were set up for the season.

Maybe if we invested some money into alternative energy instead of just b!tching it's too expensive, these things would come about. That's the problem, it ain't that easy. As they say, "Talk is cheap". And photosynthesis won't drive the family to Kelowna for the summer vacation. Oil drives cars, not gas, not solar, not wind. You can debate all those things but they in essence do not effect "peak oil" Motorized transport is root of the problem, and until someone can come up with a viable replacement, meaning one that can compete with oil and be PROFITABLE, we are where we are.