Carol Patterson

INSPIRING EVERYDAY EXPLORERS Through wildlife tales and trails

Carol Patterson

Casey Anderson is making wild cool again

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Casey AndersonMany people associate the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise with luxurious accommodation and fine dining, a place where it is easier to expand your waistline than your mind. But on the first weekend in September I was able to do both (and with a bit more hiking on the fabulous trails around Lake Louise the waistline should return to normal). Casey Anderson, host of Nat. Geo WILD series, was in Canada’s highest community to share stories about what it takes to survive a cougar attack (70 stitches and a promise to never forget), what it’s like to have a pet grizzly (Brutus likes belly rubs) and what happens when cougars move into your neighborhood (coming soon to a TV near you).
“My goal is to make wild cool again,” said Casey as he kicked off a ninety-minute presentation on his experiences with captive animals and as a producer of several wildlife shows. Thirteen years ago, Casey rescued Brutus, the tiny grizzly cub, from a wildlife ark in Idaho. Brutus has given Casey insight into the lives of wild animals and when Brutus cried from a belly-ache, “It shattered everything I thought I knew,” Casey said. “It is my goal to make sure no other animals live in captivity.”

Making sure there are wild places for wild animals propels Casey forward, meeting people and spreading the word about the amazing exploits of wild creatures. As part of its fall festival offerings, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise created a special Into The Wild Package for people wanting more than ninety minutes with Casey. I was one of ten lucky people who got to swap bear stories over dinner with Casey and hike to Lake Agnes where Casey told us stories about what it is like to film a reality show (the star suffers while the crew gets battery packs and beer helicoptered in). Casey explained how his relationship with Brutus is changing and while the bear is excited to see Casey when he returns from his trip, he’s choosing to spend more time with other bears.

I may not have a pet grizzly but the next time I see a bear I will look at it differently because of Brutus. That is cool!

If you want to learn more about Casey Anderson go to http://www.caseyanderson.tv/About.html

To learn more about Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise fall promotions http://www.fairmont.com/lake-louise/promotions/lake-louise-fall-festival/

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Casey Anderson is making wild cool again. Click to Tweet.

Surviving a cougar attack & having a pet grizzly. Click to Tweet.

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New Book Released: Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations and Management

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Sustainable TourismAfter three long years and countless hours behind the computer, my new book Sustainable Tourism has been released! With a gestation period longer than an elephant’s, there were days I didn’t think it would happen but thanks to my publisher Human Kinetics, twenty years of my tourism knowledge (or much of it) has been captured in this book, videos and images. I hope you like it! You can order a copy at
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/sustainable-tourism-with-web-resource

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Discover how the new book, Sustainable Tourism, can help you launch the business of your dreams: Click to Tweet.

The new book, Sustainable Tourism, by @Reinventure has just been released & it’s a must read! Click to Tweet.

After 3 long years & countless hours behind the computer my friend @Reinventure has published her book. Read on: Click to Tweet.

Seeing Without Sharing at Petroglyphs Provincial Park

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Petroglyphs Provincial ParkPhilosopher George Berkeley asked, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” What if you went to a tourist attraction that allowed no photos? Could you still enjoy it without a selfie or photographic proof for your Facebook feed? I faced that dilemma at Petroglyphs Provincial Park, 55 kilometers northeast of Peterborough.
Six to 11 centuries ago – an era when the Vikings were first arriving in North America – aboriginal people were carving images for ceremonial or spiritual reasons into white marble rock of the Canadian Shield. These 900 rock carvings are now known as Kinomaage waapkong or ‘the rocks that teach’ and the largest known single concentration of Aboriginal rock art in Canada.

They lay undiscovered until 1954 when three prospectors stumbled onto the carvings of people, snakes, turtles & other creatures, and told a newspaper. By 1967 there were the same number of annual visitors as today – approximately 12,000 – but no protection. Some tourists wanted to share the glory and carved their initials into the stones; experts feared even the best behaved visitors would wear away carvings with their footsteps.

In 1976 a provincial park was created and in 1984 a glass-sided building erected over the petroglyphs. Now a visitor enters via the Learning Place (Visitor Center) before walking three hundred meters to the ‘glyphs’ while putting their cameras away.

First Nations “believe drawings are a spiritual being and taking a picture diminishes its spirituality,” explained Park Superintendent, Andy Nicholson. Park Warden, P.J. Fife is Mississauga Ojibway and has worked at the park for eight summers.

Curve Lake First Nations is closest to Petroglyphs Provincial Park and shares management of the site. “These carvings aren’t just a place to see, it’s a spiritual place, sort of like a church,” said Fife, in a rapid-fire explanation, pointing to an interpretive sign in English, French and Ojibway. “Ojibway is not traditionally a written language but that’s changed in the last fifty years.”

So could I change? My first instinct at seeing a special place was to whip out my smartphone for an Instagram photo. The Algonquin speakers who carved here had an oral tradition, sharing knowledge through storytelling. I belong to a somewhat narcissistic culture, sharing fleeting impressions through selfies and Facebook posts. Without a picture how could I convey this special place? Would anyone know I’d been here?

“You should take your pictures in here,” suggested Ojibway Russell Dokis as he greeted me at the Learning Centre, pointing to his head. “If we see people enter the building with a large camera,” Nicolson explains,” we can ask them not to take pictures. There can be some tension there.” Added Fife, “We stress the spiritual aspect and get people to reflect on that. There are some First Nation’s people who don’t think we should have the site as a tourist attraction, so people are lucky to see them.”

I had to agree. Pointing to a carving with a small person linked to a bigger person by a snake, Fife suggested it could depict a young man becoming an old man. “The large triangle over the larger man’s head could be a hat or it could depict the knowledge gained.”

Perhaps I too was gaining knowledge. Stripped of my social media lifeline, I was relying on my senses to capture this experience, but I was pretty sure that even without a camera, I would not forget my time here.

TWEETABLES

Seeing @PetroglyphsPP Without Sharing via @Reinventure . Click To Tweet.

Could you enjoy a tourist attraction that allowed no photos? Click To Tweet.

Is Seeing Believing If You Can’t Take Photos? Click to Tweet.

Do I need an assistant?

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I get that question a lot when I announce I’m off to another exotic or warm-weather destination. Sure these media trips sound wonderful when discussed over the water cooler or space age coffee maker. But the reality is a lot less glamorous. Visiting Puerto Vallarta for a media conference is fun.
Getting there is not. A 6:30 am flight means arriving at the airport at 4am, which means leaving for the airport at 3:30, which means getting up at… starting to feel tired yet?

After too few hours horizontal I get to half undress for the lovely people at security. Selected for a random intensive search I remove the Kleenex from my pocket and assume ‘the position’. The monitor shows a big danger area over my chest. The agent suggests I turn my necklace around. I pass and start my search for breakfast. A gazillion calorie fat-fest of eggs, cheese and bacon on a croissant or a sugar-laden donut – healthy nutrition is nowhere to be seen at 4:30am.

I luck out on my first flight and get a full row of seats to myself. This is like getting triple cherries on the slots at Vegas and I snatch two hours of sleep. How I managed to score a 20 hour milk-run to Puerto Vallarta boggles my mind but I dutifully head to the gate for my next leg – a flight to Mexico City. I try not to groan as a mob of happy people load onto a direct flight to Puerto Vallarta at the next gate. They will be on the beach before I get into the air for my last leg into PV.

After hurrying over to the gate for a passport check it appears something is amiss. Or perhaps missing.  The ground attendants look forlornly at the space our plane would occupy if it had arrived.  It hasn’t.  The monitor optimistically suggests we will leave in 30 minutes.

Finally, our plane arrives. We wait. The plane requires the attention of maintenance personnel. Ominously we are told to wait another 30 minutes for an update. At 10:20 the flight monitor says we leave at 10. At 10:25 the speakers cackle to life – there has been a gate change and we are to head there immediately. Sounds like our plane is DOA but a replacement has been found.

Cleaners are ‘freshening up’ the plane for a quick turnaround. Quick turns to slow, then meandering, as the gate agent tries to execute corporate policy. Zone 1 will board before zone 2, Gold cardholders before the great unwashed, and only two carry-ons per person. Unfortunately her audience doesn’t speak English or read boarding passes well.

Our brave agent – who I guess graduated top of her class at US Airways University – is surrounded by Mexicans intent on getting home. For someone who said moments earlier we were going to board quickly, it seems farcical for the agent to make a passenger stuff a purse in her suitcase because she has a lunch bag, and bring the line-up to a halt.

Someone tells the agent the woman with 2.5 bags is a ‘church lady’.  God has little pull here but US Airways finally bows in defeat as no one is boarding now. All zones, cardholders and humans are allowed to board in a hurry so we can…wait. It takes another hour for the luggage to be moved from our old plane to the new.

Mexicans are very patient people. No one complains about the arctic-like temperature or the lack of refreshments as we sit on the tarmac. A woman beside me balances a bag the size of a Rottweiler on her lap. The guy in front of her reclines early and stays there. A nun in full habit taps away on her laptop on my other side. A sign God hadn’t deserted me totally?

So yes, I would love an assistant. If you could travel in my place and I could be beamed aboard a destination like Scottie did for Spock on Star Trek, I’d be in bliss. Send in your resumes!

Making It Easy

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Parks CanadaA large office supply company pioneered the idea of an easy button – one push and all your challenges fade away. What if you could make your trip to Canada’s national parks easier? Banff National Park staff has been trying to simplify outdoor adventures.
Last year Parks Canada launched Equipped Camping sites – a tent with sleeping pads is set up and waiting, removing the need to buy camping gear or stressing over how to assemble tent poles. At Two Jack Lakeside campground in 2013 Parks Canada constructed oTENTiks – sturdy tent/cabin hybrids to keep the rain out and your bones off the ground.

Both initiatives have been popular – the oTENTiks are fully booked most of the summer – and now the Red Chairs are coming to Banff National Park. The idea for the chairs came from Gros Morne National Park where pairs of red Adirondack-style chairs were installed hoping visitors would sit and ponder great views. The chairs were so popular, “there were line-ups to sit in some the chairs,” recalled Greg Danchuk, Visitor Experience Manager at Banff National Park.

Now visitors can relax in the red chairs at several locations in Banff National Park such as the Hoodoos interpretive trail or at the Valleyview picnic area. “We placed them in places that are very easy to get to,” said Danchuk. There are nine pairs of chairs in the park with the possibility of adding more.

Although some people raised concerns initially that the chairs would encourage environmental overuse, Danchuk stresses, “They are not placed in the backcountry or hard-to-find areas. We would also never place them on rehabilitated ground. We will monitor them to see if there are any negative impacts but so far there has been no significant problems.”

From 2006 to 2011 attendance at national parks dropped. Concerned about the decrease, Parks Canada saw attracting new Canadians as a way to rebuild visitation. But with more Canadians living in cities, outdoor skills can be rusty or non-existent. Making it easier for people to experience the outdoors is a strategy being tried by park planners across North America and it seems to be attracting new customers to Banff National Park. “We project a 7% increase in Banff park visitation for the year ending March 31, 2015 and we think some of that increase is from initiatives like oTENTiks, Equipped Campsites and the Red Chairs that make it easier to enjoy nature.”

TWEETABLES

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Discover how @ParksCanada is attracting new visitors with this unique & easy way to camp. Click to Tweet.