At the advice of a ranger at the visitor center, I drove down to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and got a campsite right away. Since Labor Day weekend was coming up I knew it would get pretty crowded so I wanted to get a site early. In fact, some people drove down early in the week, paid for their site for the week, parked their trailer or camper and came back on Friday to stay for the weekend. I was real lucky and got a site on the lake. 
The campground was actually between 2 big lakes and was one of the nicest campgrounds I’ve been to. The sites were huge with tons of room between you and your neighbors. Since it was a rainy, cloudy day I didn’t really notice how nice the scenery looked until I got up the next morning. It was starting to clear up and you could see the mountains surrounding the lakes. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as some of the scenery in Banff and Jasper, but the mountains in this area give the national parks a run for their money. There were several good hiking trails in the area too. Thursday was still pretty cool, but at least the rain had appeared to stop. Since Abbey hadn’t been out much the two previous days I took her on a trail around one of the lakes and she was raring to go. 
She was doing great until it started to snow. Well, I think it was snow, but the flakes were small and hard so it could’ve been hail. It just didn’t come down hard like hail. Anyways, I managed to get Abbey going again and back to our campsite.
Friday was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. As an added bonus, the crowds weren’t all there yet. I took Abbey for a shorter hike in the morning and then I went on my own to a beautiful sub-alpine lake. It didn’t take too long so I decided to climb up to a higher vantage point above the lake and just below this rocky ridge. 
I sat there for a while enjoying the view, but I kept hearing these noises that sounded like falling rock. Every time I heard it I would look but couldn’t see any rocks falling. I was far enough from the ridge not to worry about anything falling on me, but my curiosity was killing me. Finally, after it sounded like an avalanche was starting I saw clouds of dust flying up and then I saw the rocks bounding down the ridge. The rocks weren’t all that big for all the noise they made. I was glad that I stopped where I did and was satisfied not to climb up any further.
On Saturday, another cloudless day, I took Abbey for another nice hike along the other lake and she got to go “fishin”, her favorite activity next to eating. After eating lunch I wanted to do another hike but the crowds finally caught up to us. I couldn’t find a parking spot at 2 different trailheads. Giving up I drove back to the campground but remembered another trail near the campground that the ranger had told me about. It was supposed to be less than a mile, though steep, to a nice viewpoint overlooking both lakes. The trail was very steep and rocky, but it was still packed with people. I stopped for a few seconds to catch my breath at the viewpoint then decided to continue on up the hill. The views kept getting better as the trail climbed higher. 
When it turned into the woods I was beginning to wonder when it would end. After asking a couple how much longer the trail was (a famous question on most any trail) I found out that one fork climbed up to a saddle overlooking the lower lake. Then I met some girls who were making a lot of noise because they just saw some bear scat. Despite the bear scat I figured there were enough other people around to not be too worried about the bear. One thing about the Canadian trail builders – they don’t seem to believe in switchbacks. They just blast straight up the hills. After a flat section around a dry lakebed the trail climbed up, steeply again, to the saddle. I think it was about the most tired I’ve been in a long time on the trail. The views were worth it, though. I didn’t stay up there too long though ‘cause I started to think about that bear again. Luckily I never ran into him.
On Sunday Abbey wasn’t up for a morning hike so I did the one that I wanted to on Saturday. It was the 3rd straight beautiful, blue sky day. In the afternoon I finally saw a few thin clouds. The hike wasn’t anything spectacular, but after the trail passed a lake the crowds thinned out considerably. It also leveled out and wandered through a beautiful valley surrounded by rugged mountains. It typified the whole area in Peter Lougheed. None of the areas were jaw-droppingly beautiful, but at the same time they were pretty darn nice. On more advice from that same ranger at the visitor center I went to the season finale of the interpretive programs of the park. The group who put it on were college students, most of whom were drama majors. This was obvious right from the start. At first I was thinking that it was pretty corny, but the kids did a great job and it was pretty funny, as well as educational. I found myself laughing pretty hard at times. My favorite line was when a girl playing a wildflower was dying because someone picked her. She looked up into the stage lights and said, “Oh no, I don’t know which light to go to.” It took me a minute so if you don’t get it, don’t feel too bad. You can always email me.
Monday morning meant the end of my trip into Canada. The clouds and smoke were back but it was a driving day so I didn't care so much. All in all I really enjoyed the Canadian Rockies despite the smoky skies and the crowds. I still had a lot of great days and the scenery was as good as any I’ve seen. I also saw signs that fall is coming. The wildflowers were mostly gone, but plants and shrubs at the higher elevations in many areas were starting to change colors. It will be nice to get back in cellphone range, though, and my brother will be happy about that too.