Rainy Day

The Rocky Mountains are a beautiful sight to behold with many interesting flora and fauna associated, however along with the interesting terrain comes unpredictable and often unpleasant weather. Evidently, this makes insect collecting difficult for the crew; so today during one of these rainy spells we sorted insects in the safety of the BIObus. Waterton Lakes National Park proved to be rich with insect diversity on the days that we managed to collect, so we had plenty to keep us busy for most of the day. When Jill and I started to go cross-eyed from staring through the microscope for too long, we decided that we needed to go outside and be active, despite the cold drizzle and looming thunder. We began to hike up a mountain on a nearby trail that was marked ‘Bertha falls’, which was steep and offered a spectacular view of the town and lake, with the beautiful Prince of Whales hotel silhouetted against the setting sun.  We had endless energy from being cooped all day and marched up the mountain at top speed until we reached the source of the sounds rushing water. The falls were powerful and the mist that surrounded the area made it seem as though we were in a Canadian tropical rainforest. Just as we began our descent, the thunder noises began to sound very close and the rain poured out onto us, feeling a lot like we were actually standing under the spout of the falls. We were completely saturated before we walked 100m but felt totally exhilarated by the storm and the exercise. The hike was enjoyable and served as my shower for the week! That’s what I call multi-tasking.

~Carlene