The Gerrard Report

May 10th, I released a report on serious concerns about the care of residents at Lions Prairie Manor personal care home in Portage la Prairie.  My blog post is at this link .   Our report, "Treating our Elders with Dignity"(in photo above)  is available by clicking on this link.    I called for improvements to the very distressing situation which was reported.  The provincial government's Protection for Persons in Care Office has today released its report investigating the situation and has confirmed there were indeed serious problems which occurred there.   The provincial government has now put conditions on the facility's license and  closed the home to new residents until the problems are cleared up.  This report and the ensuing actions took far too long.   This is expressed in our press release sent out today, which is below. Manitoba Liberals Question Delays in Investigation into Portage la Prairie Personal Care Home For Immediate Release WINNIPEG – M

Phee Hudson, the Artist in residence for the Artists' week, is on the left with Naomi on the right.   Phee showed us how to paint the mountains.  Phee painting in the tea tent when the weather was suboptimum for painting outside. When I tried to paint I had some help from a Golden-mantled ground squirrel. Was the squirrel admiring my painting?  After much effort, I completed a tryptic showing the camp, the Hallam Glacier and the mountains on either side of it.   

Our objective August 22 was Mount Cardu seen in the distance above and behind the waterfall.  Iceberg Lake, above the top of the waterfall is in the foreground, with Mount Cardu rising behind. Reaching the bottom of the glacier above Iceberg Lake. Trekking up the glacier on crampons. Nearing the top of the glacier The steep head wall at the top of the glacier Climbing above the glacier and toward the peak Pausing before the final ascent With Mike and Beatrice Wilhelm and Chucky at the top of Mount Cardu.  The top of Mount Hallam is visible to the left of us. View looking south from the top of Mount Cardu. View looking west from the top of Mount Cardu. On the way down, the view looking back across Iceberg lake to the glacier Getting ready to leave camp the next morning. Group photo taken the following morning.   A big thanks to all who helped make our few days near Mount Hallam such an amazing experience.   

Doing the dishes after breakfast. Climbing toward the meadows. A lush alpine meadow. Rocks and water. Many of the rocks have a lot of mica.  Looking toward the glacier we will be on the next day. Dried tree pieces. In the evening the sky turned darker as smoke from forest fires to the north-west blew in our direction.

Sunrise over our tent. With our son Chucky (Charles) in camp.  The first rock face to ascend. Hidden Lake - part way up to Mount Joy. A second smaller lake at the bottom of the glacier. The glacier leading to the top of Mount Joy. Pausing at the bottom of the glacier to have a snack and to put on crampons. Ben, our guide, gets his ropes ready. Climbing upwards on the glacier. With Naomi at the top of Mount Joy. The view looking south-west from the top of Mount Joy Being concerned about crevasses on the way down.  Naomi descending on a rope on the way back to camp. 

August 18 to 22nd, Naomi and I were participants in the Artists's week of the Alpine Club of Canada's General Mountaineering Camp (GMC).  For more than 100 years the Alpine Club has put on this GMC - an incredible record. This year the camp was adjacent to Hallam glacier located about 150 kilometers north of Revelstoke in the Monashee mountains.  A big thank you to the Alpine Club of Canada and all who were involved in organizing, managing and providing support for the camp.   Helicopter flight into the Alpine Club of Canada's General Mountaineering Camp.  Visibility was poor due to heavy smoke from the forest fires raging north-west of where we were.  The Camp View of the Hallam Glacier and the False Mount Hallam.  Mount Hallam itself is out of sight behind from this point of view. Hiking toward the Hallam glacier Checking out the ice caves below the glacier Hiking with crampons on the Hallam Glacier Learning how to use ice screws to anchor whe