Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Much as I don't like my composition here, with the animal in the centre of the shot instead of being to the left side, I didn't want to crop and lose the patch of bright orange lichen : )

On 10 August 2013, I had such a wonderful day in the mountains! I don't get out there very often at all, and certainly not as far as we went today, so it was an absolute treat! Friend Sandy had found an interesting Liverwort (non-vascular plant) there and wanted to go back to see it at a different stage, hoping it would make ID a little clearer. She asked if I wanted to go with her - ha, yes, you bet! I had only ever once been to Bow Lake and that was 30+ years ago, but I had always longed to go back. It's one of my favourite places.

We went past Banff and Lake Louise, as far as Bow Lake (seen in my photo) along Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway. They do say that this scenic highway is the most beautiful in the world, and it's easy to believe. I had jokingly said to Sandy when we left Calgary, that what I would really like, please, was blue sky to start with it, then a few puffy white clouds and then maybe even a touch of grey with the white - and that's exactly what we got (plus some rain on the drive back to Calgary).

While we were there, we walked very slowly along the Bow Glacier Trail, which runs along the right hand edge of Bow Lake, but we didn't continue as far as the Falls. At the first rock fall, we were entertained, while having lunch, by several of these small Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels. They look rather similar to a Chipmunk and are very fast-moving animals, ha. They love a rocky mountain slope for their habitat.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden-mantled_ground_squirrel