Canada - Where are all the Mounties?

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Canada turned out to be a bit of a damp squid! Everywhere we went the rain and cold followed....we had better weather in Alaska which is crazy! Luckily the heavens cleared on a couple of days and so I was able to get some good photos. Another thing I noticed about travelling in Canada is that it is soooooo expensive...everything costs twice as much as the USA.
Our first stop in Canada was Dawson City. The city is reminisent of an old western town with saloons, barber shops and general stores. The town (to call it a city might be an over-estimation) is very quaint and touristy, but this doesn't make it tacky. To get in the mood I purchase a cowboy hat! The first evening we go to the Whitehorse Bar where they have live 'country' music.....it's very strange they don't seem to have any young people in the town....it was a Friday night and the bar was half empty. A guy sits down next to Linda who looks like a member of ZZ top. Two guys in cowboy hats sit oposite us. The next night Linda, Andy, Ricksy and me go to Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling hall. They have live entertainment every night, Can-Can girls and Diamond Tooth herself. The show might have been tacky in any other place, but since this was the only entertainment in 2 weeks it was positively highbrow! One of the bars also had a speciality in that you drink from a dead mans toe.....we did stumble to the saloon, but for some reason the toe was only available from 9pm to 11pm????? much to Andys relief, who was surprisingly not excited by the idea!
The towns we visited, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary are all primarily ski resorts, although there are oportunities to go hiking out of season. I was just relieved to be in normality for a short while. Our Campsite in Jasper was an hours walk from the town which was a hike in itself. As there was a possibility of bears in the area, they suggested we carry bear bells - this is a bell which you attach to your rucksack so the bear is not startled by you walking by and therefore does not eat you!(I think it might just be a joke amongst the locals just to get tourists to buy these things so that they look & sound stupid) So there I am looking like Heidi ......I only need a goat to complete the picture. They also have bear spray...which is esentially bear mace in a can......believe me I don't plan to get that close!
I hike from our campsite up to Lake Louise, which is a 4km uphill slog. When I go up I am gasping for every breath I can take, red faced and sweating badly. On the way down I pass 3 girls going up in full make up, manicured, designer clothes and they hardly have a gasp between them.....life is not fair!!!!
Banff campsite is surrounded by forrest....I come back from exploring the town to find a deer sitting right behind my tent chewing.....I sit transfixed....each of us looking at each other......this was amazing to see.
Calgary was OK....not much to keep me amused for more than a day, we went to see the winter Olympic site which was cool! They have an annual Stampeed which is esentially a massive wild west show.....unfortunately it started on the 4th July....we were a month too early! The campsite was next to a fairground, only Nigel and Sue ventured in (the oldest guys on the trip...I might add) they won a big green frog....the truck now has a mascott.
We have managed to lose one of members already. Martin who was esentially a fish out of water on this trip has jumped ship....now there are only 13 of us. I am beginning to think I am on an episode of Big Brother. It's a shame we can't vote for evictions.....ok the serenity only lasted a month!
And to top it all......After visions of meeting that guy from 'Due South' I didn't see any Mounties along the way.....not a single one.....Where have all the Mounties gone?????

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