Few days in Calgary

Thur 8th. Our time in Banff has finally come to an end, however we weren't sure what to do next. Waterton national park south of Banff was the next destination, but we weren't sure whether to go down through Kananaskis Provincial Park which requires a daily permit fee of $12 or go towards Calgary and then down. We decided to go to Calgary. Firstly because when we brought our tent from there a few weeks ago they overcharged us $100, and the only way they could refund that is if we went back into the shop. And secondly Doug was keen to go to the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary which was near there. So we got the refund, and booked the last spot for Friday afternoon for the interactive tour with the wolfdogs. Then found a Walmart, did groceries and spent the night in their carpark.
Fri 9th. One of the Calgary public libraries was right next to the Walmart carpark, so I joined the library and we sat in there most of the morning using the WiFi mainly to try and find somewhere to store the van when we head down south at the end of October. Found a couple of places with space but we can't pre-book, so either start paying now or take the chance there will still be a space when we need it - we haven't really made a decision. After making pikelets for lunch, we headed towards Cochrane for the wolf dogs. Wolf dogs we found out are part wolf and part domestic dog (normally husky, malmute or shepherd). They are classed as high, mid or low wolf content. Low content ones, with more dog characteristics can be pets but are still quite difficult and require the right owners, mid and high ones really do not make pets at all, so that's why the sanctuary started to try and give one's that have been abandoned another chance. They currently have 33 wolfdogs. Doug did the interactive tour where he went in with a small group into the enclosure, and handfed one, the others were still very standoffish, and not much interaction. I meanwhile walked around the sanctuary reading the information panels and watching some through the fences. After that we headed back towards Calgary but just after Cochrane there was a sign for Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park 3 km down a side road, so I thought might be a good place to stay the night. We decided to walk one of the small loop track, however found the park which is mainly big open grasslands really interesting with its history of when it was settled in the 1890's, and a little village was formed around a stone quarry, then a brickery, and farming. The village collapsed in 1920 when a promised bridge over the Bow river never eventuate. We ended up walking for nearly 3 hrs around it and got back to the van just after sunset. We rushed to take some photos of the sunset over the distant Rockies, then look east towards Calgary and the biggest moon was just coming up, so that got a few snaps. Steps D 20467 / V 21662Leer más