Today we are headed to what Scott calls “Stifler Falls” or really Siffleur Falls.  It isn’t on any of our maps, but it was a recommendation from a guy named Chris Scott talked with at our campsite in Drumheller.  It is not easy to find, well at least for us.  After passing it up by ten miles, we are here! :-)  It turns out it is a very popular trail.  It was just under five miles and two and a half hours, but we took our time when we were overlooking the falls.  This photo is of the first ten minutes of this hike.  Brooke was hanging onto my leg begging me to carry her.  Scott finally scooped her up and after twenty minutes of her complaining about being hungry and then finally fed, we finally had a peaceful hike.

Scott enjoyed moving this bridge he is on. It was a little bouncy even without his help. :-)

We discovered that this area was named Siffleur Mountain in 1858 by Sir James Hector after the hoary marmot.  The marmot is also called a whistler because of the long and loud whistle it makes when it communicates.  The French word for whistle is siffleur. We didn’t see any marmots, but we did see some chipmunks and butterflies.

Siffleur falls

The bush that lined most of the trail. It had an intoxicating scent. We actually had a chance meeting with a Provincial Park Ranger, but forgot to ask him what it is. We think it is a sage, but it is another question I’m going to throw out to anyone who might know the answer. What is this intoxicating plant with tiny yellow flowers?

Cody is asleep in the backpack behind us.

I am loving getting some good exercise hiking.  I wore my hiking boots today instead of my sneakers.  My ankles felt much better today, but my feet are on fire!  I was thinking of my crazy friend Meghan who runs in ultra-marathons.  She frequently loses toe nails and skin and keeps on running.  I’m wondering if her feet smell as bad as mine did after a two and a half hour stretch. :-)

I love my beautiful daughter, but when she is tired, she fights instead of just taking a quick nap.  It is at times like these when she is strapped into the seatbelt with all her limbs flailing as she screams and whines that I am unfortunately reminded of a scene from Alien when the alien baby is trying to break out of the momma’s tummy.  I hide in front of my seat and pray her flailing limbs don’t get hurt or hurt anyone else.  We take frequent breaks, we talk about appropriate behavior, we write cards, sing, work on the computer, and do everything we can to distract her, but sometimes even just five minutes into a trip she has had enough.  Luckily this time she was distracted because a whole bunch of people pulled off to chase some baby black bears they saw on the roadside.  Brooke who might be slightly aware of my bear-phobia asked, “Momma why would people chase bears?”

Scott loves taking pictures from the center line, so here is one of his famous photos near the Columbia Icefields. Pretty amazing shot.

This picture is of just one finger of the giant Columbia Icefield that covers 241 sq. miles.

This is where we are staying tonight.  Well, not on the ice, but literally two minutes from it. You could see the icefield from our campsite potty!  The shorts and tee shirt had to be put away again.  It is a little colder up here.

We did a short, but rather steep hike up to the ice field after visiting the Visitor’s Center. Brooke and I were rather sore from our earlier hike, but we made it up on our own two legs! See the grey body of water in the upper middle left of the pic? Right in front of the water are some dots- that’s the parking lot.

Brooke was excited to touch snow, even though the patch we touched was small.

Brooke took this picture of us. This was the closest we could get to the ice field. There was a river running right in front of the glacier and a sign that explained that the last three people who ran on the glacier and fell into crevasses were not successfully saved. Thus, as badly as Brooke wanted to run on the ice, we all respectfully looked on from behind the rope line.

Another random question:

Fairbanks currently has a dusk time of 1 am and a dawn time of 3 am.  So what do owls, racoons, and other nocturnal animals do when there is no night time to hunt?  Do they hibernate or just hunt in the light?

Scott worked hard on blueberry bread (blueberry cupcake mix)

Brooke’s first campfire tonight.