With a couple of weeks at home on the menu, Cecil and I took a last look at the ice and snow around Banff today. We opted for the Banff area as kananaskis was holding at -19 with cloud and snow predicted to last all day.
It's good to have a change of venue so Banff was it, the predictions of -8 and snow free certainly helped the decision too. We first stopped off at Cascade Ponds but fresh snow covered everything and though we walked around a short while, there was nothing to catch our eye and we moved on. Next stop was Johnson Lake where I knew the outlet was going to give us something, including a repeat of a shot made earlier in winter. With a couple of images in the bag we continued on to Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka but both were entirely snow covered and offered little. We were soon back in the truck and into the town of Banff where we headed to an overlook above Bow Falls. I'm glad to say we found some nice shots at the overlook, not great but nice and good enough to have us thinking about visiting again in different seasons. After the overview for Bow Falls we went down to the falls themselves, but these were also entirely frozen and snow covered. I did meet and have a chat with a guy from Liverpool near the falls but we moved on sans images. That disappointment saw us head out to Vermilion Lakes on the outskirts of town. With hot springs and sulphur pools, at least Vermilion would guarantee us a little open water. We spent time roaming the bulrush pools and shoreline finding a few images along the way, before setting up tripods for sunset. The cloud that had roamed around all day put a stop to any decent sunset images so we grabbed a few and called it a day. It will be fantastic to be home with family again by tomorrow morning, we're both ready for a bit of home. Escaping the ice and snow is just a bonus, though I'm sure it will be here waiting for us when we get back..........
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Common Redpolls are a beautiful winter finch, they are incredibly restless little birds and flutter to and fro acrobatically almost non stop. I find it remarkable that they spend their winters here in Canada, they nest further north in the arctic so I guess we are somewhat 'south' for them. For such a tiny bird it's strange that they don't come south for heat, they come for food when the arctic has few seeds (or snow covers what few there are)
Their love of seeds means our feeder stuffed with sunflower seeds will always draw that huge fluttering flock. They arrive en masse and scurry around the ground, in the shrubs and on the feeders for a while and then disappear again all at once as if called away. I thought I'd shoot a few images of them today as some were sitting here and there for a moment and the low winter sun was lighting them perfectly. I also shot a little chickadee with a sunflower seed and Titch enjoying a pecan or two even though his nose was so cold it didn't melt the snow upon it. I also saw a bald eagle and a stunning golden eagle over the river today so I can pretend spring is coming even if it is -23 outside. Our temperatures continue to be challenging and it's been quite a while since we've seen any number that doesn't start with a minus. But daytime highs of -15 do have some benefits, for instance fewer people head out to the mountains, so fresh snowfall stays pristine.
I personally love to walk in the cold temperatures with the whole place to myself. The winter sun is enough to warm my face and everything else is bundled beneath layers of modern fabric. One of my favourite locations at this time of year is the westernmost end of upper kananaskis lake. The water shallows here and the lake bed undulates around small peninsulas that break up the thick ice, contorting it into natural carvings. When I set out last week for my first long snowshoe plod across the lake this year, I was a little concerned about the amount of fresh snow and whether any of the ice would be visible at all. But it was a beautiful bright, cold afternoon and the temptation to hike across that pristine landscape was too much to resist. So, on with the snowshoes and backpack and off I went skirting the islands, edges and anywhere else I could find protrusions of ice. At the western end of the lake the most reliable ice of winter was again visible. I found a number of great formations providing plenty of photo opportunities. The 'shark' in the main image below is entirely natural including that dark black eye and was one of a number of nice shots of the day. It's not something to add to the portfolio, or to put on the wall at home, but it's a fun shot and often that's enough. If you want to visit this location, wait until late January into February for the ice to thicken and the water level to lower breaking the ice. Drive to the 'North Interlakes Day Use Area' car park and then walk west along the shore, on the frozen the lake or through the forest for around 3 km to the 'Point Campground' at the western end of the lake. You'll find the ice all around the peninsula there; but keep your eye out for sharks. February 5th is a day of solace for me, I like to take myself away from phones, TV and the like and spend a little time remembering the fun and laughter of my old mum. My love of photography began with nights by the fire as a kid, looking at old black and white images and listening to the accompanying stories regaled with such emotion by my mum. Even now it makes me smile to think of those carrier bags stuffed with images, all curled at the edges, made ragged by the grasping hands of 4 kids fighting over who gets to see it next.
With our temperatures still loitering at -30 a day in the peace of the mountains looked unlikely, but a check of conditions in kananaskis showed a balmy -16 as the high this afternoon. That was enough for me to take a ride out there and wander a few regular haunts, camera in hand. I stopped along the sibbald creek trail, highway 40 and the kananaskis lakes trail, making a couple of short hikes along the way. I tried out a new sunset location which it turns out isn't great for sunset but when combined with low cloud makes for a stunning classic landscape shot, as the main image demonstrates. When the day was over I had a patchwork of daytime shots I hadn't tried too hard to make and a series of sun-kissed mountain tops that almost cost me a case of frostbite in my right hand. Best of all I had spent most of the day alone with my thoughts as the cold had kept most people far away from the mountains. The small gallery below has captions to show locations, the main image has every chance of making the calendar in 2020. The current arctic blast sweeping across north america sees our high temperature today at -27c so I decided to try shooting the beautiful ice crystal formations created in freezing soap bubbles. If it's cold enough it's actually a fairly simple thing to do, though there are some frustrations along the way.
For a start, it's bloody freezing. The result of that is everything you are working with freezes and you have to stop and defrost everything before starting again. I confess I think this might be better done with a friend to assist but I made a good number of nice shots today all alone on the deck at home. I made my own formula for the bubble mix using 3 parts water to one part washing up liquid (dish soap) and a tablespoon of glycerin for extra elasticity. I have to say the results are pretty sweet. |
AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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The Shaman, West Texas
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