Boundary Patrol

We are tough here on the Rock... boundary patrols are done by foot. Horses?... we don't need no stinking horses! heh heh. Of course the alders are so thick a horse couldn't get through anyway...



This is a quick peek out over Terra Nova after a beautiful early December day in the bush... You can just see my truck down there on the road by the marsh. Hope y'all have a wonderful holiday season... and get some extensions to go play in the woods in the winter!

Peace gang... and get ready to start hazing next years newbies!

Terra Nova 656 out!

10 Codes to go away...?

That's what's happening in some U.S. states:

CNN Story

I wonder if RCMP ( and PC) will ever go this way?

The Thirsty Warden

He rides at night, as the pale moonlight
Casts shadows across the trail
Though the demons from hell were afer him
And the devil was on his tail.

He spurs his great horse onwards;
In the silence nothing moves
But the sound of creaking leather
And his mustang's flying hooves.

He thunders through a herd of elk
That scatter far and wide,
But he doesnt seem to notice
Or check his furious stride.

A grizzly bear on haunches
Disputes the right of way
But the rider is undaunted;
They'd meet another day.

he fords a swollen river
And jumps a deep ravine.
Time is slowly running out
for this anxious man in green!

The sweat runs down his noble brow
And flanks of his flying mare
salvation lies within his grasp;
His fate hangs by a hair

Neath the shadow of his Stetson,
See his tortured twisted face;
For he knows within the hour
He'll win or lose the race.

For the "Chief" has given him time off;
One night to spend in town,
And in another sixty minutes
The pubs are closing down.

Don Rose, in Alberta Game Warden, Fall 2006

Horses, muskrats, charges and extensions

Hey everyone!!
Well summer is winding down here in Banff. The fall colors are gorgeous, as I am sure they are across the parks.
Summer ended abruptly for me during a 9 day fall hunting boundary patrol two weeks ago however.
I went out with 3rd generation park warden Frank Burstrom, one of the most amazing wardens I have worked with. He grew up in a backcountry district in Jasper and the Trudeaus would come over to play with him. His dad put in the park boundary bronze plaques and his family would get one town day a month, where he and his brother would share a horse, and his little sisters would go in the saddle bags. He had a one day job as a train engineer and managed to derail and blow up the train, and has ridden not only an elk, but also a moose - both bucked him off after a few hundred meters. He did a brief stint as Chief Park Warden in Grasslands, but wanted to be outside instead.
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Anways, We had 6 glorious sunny days, riding horses along the northern boundary of the park. And then we woke up on the 7th morning to a little bit of snow, and decided to ride down to Indian Head Lodge, from the tent camp we were at. Had a nice roast in that wonderful cabin and decided to ride out back to Ya Ha Tinda ranch the next day. It is a 32 mile ride so we agreed to get up early. The weather forecast was for snow.....
Woke up the next morning to quite a bit of snow, and heavy snowfall warning. I was planning on going home to vancouver the next day for my days off, so was determined to leave, and Frank reluctantly agreed. (our other option would be to hunker down for the next few days and ride it 3 or 4 days later).

Two hours later, I was cursing myself, and my fat packhorse who was pulling back so hard on his lead shank that I thought my arm was going to rip out of its socket, and my hand was so numb that I kept dropping it. I tried tying him off and letting him go on his own, but he started running and bucking, and being an idiot.
Luckily, we only had 7 more hours to go, and the snowstorm was going to pick up in wind and force, as we headed up over Skeleton and Scalp Pass. yippee!!
By the time we got back to the ranch, my feet squished inside my riding boots, my ass was chafed, as my underwear managed to soak through long johns, jeans, waterproof pants, chaps, and my riding coat, and my down jacket, under my riding jacket, but over 3 layers, was a sopping wet pile of feathers. The snow was 2 feet deep and cold and wet.
Nothing a long hot bath couldnt fix, and Rick and Craig (they were at orientation with us) ushered me into the house while they took care of the horses!!

Got to save a muskrat from Evelyns coffee shop on Banff Ave a few weeks ago, and did a little interp talk on a busy Banff day!!

In other news, I finally layed a charge, and just went to court today, after screwing it up and putting the court date for 2 days away (yup, I layed the charge on saturday). I was so nervous my hand was shaking while I was writing up the appearance notice. I dont think I was listening during that part of Depot. Seriously, I had no idea what the hell I was doing with that stupid thing, and kept asking Banff dispatch...like they would know....!! they were the ones who told me to put the court date for sept.25. HOwever, he got a $100 fine, and I made lots of friends with the RCMP!!
I also got an extension until April, so that is pretty great, since Banff is really starting to grow on me. So if anyone wants to come visit, you have a place to stay!!

Crazy land!

As announced by Craig, Marie-Eve (my girlfriend) and I went to the Newfie country last week. What a shock! Gros Morne is AWESOME with its rugged landscape, glacial carved valleys, steep cliffs and mountains without any vegetation. Despite the incredible landscape, the most interesting thing to see in Gros Morne is Moody Warden Burden. We should all be proud to be part of his familly... Burden had invented a new tool and added to his duty belt. It is called : THE Spatula!!! The spatula is anbidextrous and will be used as a replacement of the hand gun. It's usefull to spank people found in bushes, poaching or simply your boss when you don't have the day off you are asking since a month. Be aware of the imitation, use the real one!!!

I also found particularly funny the way Newies are cutting their lawn. If you look carefully at the picture you will notice that an heart is cut in the lawn... I haven't discovered yet why Newfies are doing that... I suppose they really like their Island. Maybe Craig will enlight us whith the answer...

We all had a great time in Newfoundland. Marie-Eve and I hiked the Long Range Traverse (3 days, map and compass), another shorter hike and we went kayaking with Craig and his girlfriend (Jen). We finished the trip by breaking some rules... We all went on a beach to watch the sunsetwith Craig's dog (Sally) off leach and we drink a glass of wine. We had a small tought for all of you guys.

Craig is an awesome host so if you plan to visit him, you'd better stop eating few days before to have room for the gigantic meal you'll have!

For those living around Nelson BC, I'm planning a ski trip there during Christmas...

Duffy has seen it all

So... I'm doing up some Occurances in OTS and I see "nudist" in the incident check-box menu. Yes, I know, curiostiy killed the cat, but I can't help myself. "How often can this come up?" I think to myself. "A quick search won't hurt". It appears that it happens quite often... and whose name should I see right away on the first incident in 2006. You guessed it, our favorite beach-blond-tough-as-nails-cop-girl, who should have her own T.V. detective show: Duffy. I would say the Univ of Regina deal should still hold: first recruit to see a naked person gets a beer from all the rest. If you happen to talk to her sometime soon, ask her why there isn't a detailed description of the culprit...

Cheers,

The Saint on The Rock ( hmmm... Pierre=Rock... guess I should have seen this assignment coming a long time ago.)