Red Fox in a mountain location

Yesterday morning, 26 January 2015, was spent in the mountains with friends, Cathy and Terry, exploring along the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail in Kananaskis Country (the closest area of the mountains west of the city). This gravel road, south of Canmore, travels through the heart of the scenic Smith-Dorrien Valley, which is one of the of the wildest areas in Kananaskis. For years, I had read about this road and how not to drive along it when the weather was poor or if it had been raining. However, usually when I have been there with friends, Cathy and Terry, we have found the road to be in good condition, unlike much of yesterday. The afternoon was spent along the Bow Valley Parkway.

The three of us had a great day, even though we had to deal with ice almost everywhere. Parts of the road were bare, other parts wet and muddy and the rest was a solid sheet of ice. Each time we stopped to take photos or watch wildlife, we had to park on ice and were surrounded by a solid sheet of ice. Consequently, I took most of my photos either from inside the car (which usually doesn't work!) or else standing and holding on to the car, which resulted in heat distortion/blur from the car. Most of my shots need to be deleted : (( This photo and the Moose photo are poor quality, but I'm posting them for the record.

This beautiful Moose had crossed over the road in front of us and disappeared a little way into the forest. We pulled over and stopped and watched and waited. At first, she stood with just part of her back end visible through the trees and then she turned around to face us. She seemed a little curious and at ease, watching while Terry came up with a solution of how I could get out of the car. The pure ice made it treacherous and so two of the car mats were placed like stepping stones for me. Unfortunately, though, if I moved more than a few inches to either side, my view of the Moose was blocked by the trees. However, at least I could remain upright but leaning over the hot car, which resulted in a set of very cute, but horribly blurry, images. We were very grateful for this beautiful encounter.

The Red Fox surprised us all - usually, you see them near the edge of woodlands or on the prairies. Don't remember seeing one in the mountain forest before. This animal was on the large side for a Red Fox (so maybe a male?), but it does have the black back of the ears and it had black on its legs, unlike a Coyote. There wasn't time to get a decent shot (from inside the car), but this photo is enough for ID purposes.

Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for yet another great day in the mountains - always so much fun! I really needed this wonderful day spent with the healing power of nature!

Posting really late today, as I did't set my alarm and ended up sleeping till about 1:00 pm..