A Stroll in the Hills

This bike lane/snowmobile path has permafrost heaves several feet tall. 

Discovering a patch of cranberries...

A close up of wild cranberries, a little on the sour side!

Do you see the posing moose?

Look, I found a puddle to stomp in!

Look, I found a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly in caterpillar form! 

 How do these butterflies winter over in 40 below?!  We have heaps of beautiful Tiger Swallowtail butterflies in Spring and part of Summer.  I've never seen so many at once.  While my mom was visiting, we saw eight or so butterflies all congregating in one spot over wet mud.  It was the strangest site!  We have no idea what they were doing.  If anyone does know how they survive the winter, let us know. 

Wild raspberries and rose hip harvest...

We went for a stroll down our road today and along side the main highway where there is a paved bike path.  The snow machines use the path in the winter time.  It's only a few minutes walk and it really is beautiful.  The kids love to ride their bikes on the path because the rise and fall of the frost heaves makes it look and feel like a roller coaster.  Baby loves it too when Mama runs down the hills with the stroller and back up again!

Today, we found wild ripe red raspberries, almost ripe wild cranberries and plentiful wild rose hips.  The wildflowers are blooming all around, mostly Yarrow, Fireweed, Beech Pea, and some buttercup like flowers.  Finally, the sun came out today!  It's been cold, for the month of August. It's been around 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day for the past week or so and dipped to the 30's at night at one point.  Brrrr!  We know Winter is coming but we're not quite ready for it yet!  We hope the sun decides to stay a while today because I have a few loads of laundry out to dry.