I know there has been a big gap in the blogs as of late. With Mike gone I sort of threw myself in to work, it makes the time go faster. Plus I've been having some technical difficulties with the site. It sounds like I will be leaving camp around the 22nd (yay!) so I will try to make the last week of blogs fantastic.

The theme for this blog is Fall Colours and Animals In Camp. Two things that definitely brighten my days here. The leaves are nearly gone but for the last few weeks we’ve been watching them turn to yellows, oranges, and reds. The brightest colours seem to be from very small plants on the ground that turn brilliant red and yellow (see pic in Mike's last blog).

Right before Mike left, we got the opportunity to get a lift with the helicopter to go poke around looking at rocks for a while. A treat not having to walk over the mountains for a change! The colours were neat to see from the heli and they were a nice backdrop even in the rain.


We had a really good time hiking around up there, but we had a small incident while up on the slopes. I had taken a granola bar out of my pack while on a talus slope, when my backpack fell over. My bear spray fell out and managed to puncture itself on a rock. Suddenly it started hissing and Glen said ‘You guys better get out of there!’ – so Mike, Bob, and myself ran uphill (which was the only way we could run) which was upwind of the spray. Mike and I inhaled some and Bob got some in his eyes, but luckily it was in such a small amount that we only coughed for a while. It seemed quite funny after the fact, but it was a bit scary at the time.

Back on topic though, winter is definitely on the way. Today the snow stayed on the mountains all day.


Luckily we have our trusty diesel stoves to keep us, and the dog, warm.

This is Powder. He’s the camp dog. He seems to be rather quiet and cuddly in camp, but he’s got a heck of a big-dog bark when we’ve had Grizzlys in camp. He also REALLY enjoys racing the Rhino (our oversized golf-cart) and chasing down ground squirrels. Hopefully he doesn't figure out we have a mouse in camp, he won't last long!

Here's a picture of Dan helping me get a picture. He jumped a little when the mouse poked his head out a few inches from his face, without warning!

The other nice thing about having powder around is that he LOVES to go out on traverse with us. He got really good at going on whatever talus slope or mountain that we decided to climb up. It was nice having something safer than bear spray as a deterrent with us.

Stay tuned for the next blog that will show more about what we do here at the Blende Camp…I’ll also try to show a few of the people around camp here, before we all have to go home.

Till then,
Mel