Whale Shark Haiku - Atlanta Aquarium

My bro was in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Just happened he was at the Aquarium and snapped this pic of Rhincodon typus for BTOG. Thanks goig!

Whale Shark Haiku

Gentle giant shark
Much too large for a fish bowl
Run Whale Shark run


Whale Shark Fun Facts

It is a shark, but is not a whale.

Largest shark/fish in the world.

Largest confirmed whale shark is 12.65 m or 41.5 feet.

Heaviest confirmed whale shark ever: 36 tonnes or 79,000 lbs.

Out in the wild they live approximately 70 years.

The are filter feeders, preying on mostly plankton.

Their mouths are up to 6 feet in width.

The Taiwanese call them the tofu sharks because of the taste and texture of their meat.

In the open ocean, whale sharks are clocked at an average 5 km/h swimming speed.

Whale sharks give birth to live offspring (ovoviviparous).

There are about 16 whale sharks held captive in aquariums around the world.

Their numbers are decreasing and are classified as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Source: Wikipedia

My friend Aubrey has just completed is fantastic, yet epic, trans-African journey. He had the mind blowing experience of snorkeling with whale sharks off the coast of Mozambique.

Check out his blog and his search for the vaunted whale shark.

Hiking in Waterton Lakes National Park: Tamarack Trail - Day 3 of 3.

Ok, we lucked out on the weather the first two days but we woke up to heavy cloud cover in the morning of Day 3. It looked like the sky was going to open up and pour on us as we started up the steep hill behind Lone Lake.

The final day of the trek just rocked. Two major undulations faced us: first climb over the eastern shoulder of Festebert Mountain and then gain the lofty heights of Lineham Ridge. Not straightforward as it seemed though.

After conquering Festebert, we plunged (depressingly) back down into the forest for a couple of hours. Always following the rockwall demarcating the continental divide to the west, towards the head of a valley.

Fields of flowers.

Nearing the head of the valley, BTOG finally emerged from the forest!!

Surrounded by sheer walls of rock blocking our way, the trail made a U-turn. We could see the feint line of a trail on the far scree slope. That must be the way!!!

No way but up, to Lineham Ridge. Slowly, slowly... The massive U-turn took us almost all the way back even with Festebert Mountain on the other side of the valley.

Where there's dirt, there's life (hanging on). Alpine flowers growing on the scree slopes of Lineham Ridge.

The valley we've been hiking through the whole morning... In the background are the majestic mountains of Super Natural BC. The rock wall in the middle ground represents the Alberta/BC border. Festeburt Mountain is the square topped mountain to the far right. We started the day climbing over the pass to the right of Festebert...

Mind blowing panoramic view once we gained the ridge...

On the other side (to the north east), was a great view of Lineham Lakes.

BTOG hoping he won't be blown into the next valley.

Walking southeast along the ridge, gaining more altitude...

Looking back... Lineham Lakes visible just over the edge to the right...

Highest point on the ridge (2514 m). The multi-tiered Rowe Lakes are below, directly ahead in the next valley.

A different look at the Lineham Lakes to the north east.

The continuation of the ridge walk to the southeast.


Getting closer to the three Rowe Lakes. It was all an optical illusion because the trail would make a switchback and take us to back a point under the ridge summit. One of the craziest trails I've ever hiked I'm telling you.

Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) grazing by the trail.

The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is the provincial mammal of Alberta... I did not know that...

Nearly all the way down to the floor of the Rowe Lakes valley. This was the summit of Lineham Ridge.

Looking southwest towards Rowe Lakes and the Akamina Highway.

Phew! Made it down to the valley floor. You're looking at the Lineham Ridge summit directly ahead. Pretty good workout either way from north or south. From here the trail to the Akamina parking lot was a highway: wide, sidewalk-like, and thankfully downhill. Final day distance was 17.9 km. Estimated (park warden-suggested) time: 5.5 hrs. Actual time: 11.5 hrs. Yes, we were either really slow or park wardens are really fast...

FAQs.

Q: How would you plan on completing the circuit?

A: The Tamarack trail does not form a true circuit. If you don't have a vehicle, you'll have to hitch to either trail head and back to town afterward. Traffic to either trail head seemed pretty good in the summer time. Getting a hitch shouldn't be a problem... Not sure during spring or fall though.

Q: Should I hike the Tamarack trail clockwise or counterclockwise?

A: If hiking in the clockwise direction, prepare for a really, really tough first day from the Akamina Highway to Lone Lake. If you're driving in from Calgary and hiking first day, you're in for a late late finish. Better idea would be to camp out by the trail head the night before. We walked in the opposite direction. It was logistically better for us. Easier couple of days of hiking before monster Day 3. Plus, we could got back to Calgary at a decent hour (midnight, ugh).

Q: Did you see any bears?

A: No and yes. No, not out on the trail. Yes, on the side of the road. On the way out of the park, we (with dozens of fellow park visitors) saw:

a black bear (Ursus americanus) AND... a couple of kilometers down the road,

a grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis)...

Q: Which segment of the hike would you recommend I do if I don't have three days of time...

A: I would probably recommend the hike up to Lineham Ridge via Rowe Lakes as a day trip. If you are a robo-hiker, you can do the whole circuit in 2 days. We bumped into 2 women who did this (in the counterclockwise direction).

Q: Why do your panorama pics look weird?

A: Thanx for asking... the answer is general photographic incompetence on my part...stemming from lack of an up to date version of photoshop (above CS2), a camera set to aperature priority and auto white balance... Still not a bad attempt I must say. Feel free to click on each panorama to get the "imax" feel...

Q: What were the exact dates you hiked the Tamarack Trail.

A: We hiked from August 15 to 17th, 2010.

Hiking The Rockwall Trail, Kootenay National Park (British Columbia) - Helmet Creek Patrol Cabin.

The butt end of the massive limestone wall we followed from Wolverine Pass to Helmet Creek looms over the cabin on an early morning...


One of Bambi's relatives (Mule Deer or Odocoileus hemionus) makes an appearance outside the kitchen window. This is better than Planet Animal TV!!

Who needs a mirror to shave when you're after the Grizzly Adams look?

I'm really not into card games but I did manage to play many hours of "sol" a game invented by my friend Ahmed (left). Action was pretty tense during the games. I couldn't understand why they were laughing at most of my strategies.

The stove where I cooked up the ten pound pasta for dinner. It was kind of gross. I should have used more water. That would have dissolved some of the big lumps of soup mix. Well, you live and learn, eh. There was enough leftover for the second night. Thank god for that because all I had left in my food bag were 3 Sapporo Ichiban.

I love these cabins. They were full-on, full service...I could live up here for a couple of weeks.


Well, step right in...

Some kind of groundsel (Senecio sp.?), I think.



Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) growing out by the shed...

Step up and I'll read your fortune... Ok, this isn't a Zoltan booth. It's the loo. I bet you knew that already. Looks kind of dilapidated but it's really nice inside...

Hiking The Rockwall Trail, Kootenay National Park (British Columbia) - Day 4 - Bubba's Day Off At Helmet Falls...

Day 4 on the Rockwall Trail was a well deserved day off. Not much planned other than sleeping, eating, drinking, playing card games... and visiting the nearby fantastic Helmet Falls.

Early morning at the Helmet Creek Patrol Cabin... Flora was extra lush because of torrential rains the night before. I felt bad for the backpackers hunkered down in their tents in the adjacent campground... BTW, that was Helmet Falls in our backyard...

It took a half hour leisurely walk through the riverine forest to reach the Falls.

Ahmed admiring the Falls. It looked from here that the Falls took a single plunge off the headwall...

But in fact the Falls was composed of two tiers, plunging 352 meters (1,155 ft) to the valley floor.

Tiny-looking Larry's preparing for his close encounter with the Falls.

For the last 72 hours we were treated with mindblowing vistas, but to end the trip with Helmet Falls was tremendous. The spray coming off the Falls was a bit cool, but we managed to lunch up here.

The upper tier of the Falls.

The ubiquitous Western Chipmunk (Eutamias minimus) nibbling on fireweed on the meadows below the Falls. Fauna-wise, we also observed Mountain Goats gracing the bluffs surrounding the Falls and two Golden Eagles soaring overhead.

From the Falls, we looked eastwards, down the valley towards the Paint Pots and Highway 93.

Tips of the Day...

Don't play the CIA-inspired torturous game of who-can-keep-their-feet-in-the-ice-cold-stream-the-closest. Only fools do that.

Don't carry 4 tins of pink salmon for more than 8 hrs while walking over extremely rough terrain.

Don't assume 3 grown men can chow down 10 pounds of salmon mushroom pasta in one sitting.