I was finally able to get back to the mountains today, though many of the forest fires are still burning, the wind is holding the smoke to the west. Cecil and I made our usual circuit along highway 68 and highway 40 to upper kananaskis lake.
It seems like forever since we were out there and walking around the upper lakeshore was a perfect way to get our fix. There's always a few images to be had and with storm clouds blowing over occasionally we had some drama in the skies overhead. We stopped off at Barrier Lake first where incredibly low water levels exposed long white beaches all around the beautiful cyan blue water. We checked in a few of our usual photo spots before reaching the lake and heading for the beached tree stumps that sit in a small cove on the eastern shore. My main shot today is the sun speckled flanks of Mt. Indefatigable, one of my favourite lumps of rock in Kananaskis. The gallery below has a nice mix of shots with captions to keep you informed as you go.
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The smoke from the forest fires is still being held out closer to the mountains thanks to current wind directions. So with sunshine and cloud overhead, combined with the 17 degree temperature I thought I'd better make the most of the perfect hiking conditions.
I dropped into a local forest where 12km passed quickly. I felt that wonderful chill in the air as I set out from the car park and I saw our first dusting of snow this year out on Moose Mountain. Along the way I walked past a beautiful moss covered area of forest floor but there was no sunlight reaching it, I hung around a while waiting for the clouds to move but they persisted so I reluctantly carried on . On reaching the 6km point where I would normally sweep round onto another trail for the return leg, I couldn't get that moss covered section out of my head so decided to backtrack on the same trail, the main image below left me happy that I did. As usual the small gallery has captions to share my thoughts along the way. It was only monday this week when I took a hike around the forest at West Bragg Creek with my macro lens in hand (see post below this one). The smoke has made a return but I wanted to get out so I went back to West Bragg and made a different 11km route today.
To keep me thinking I took the wide angle lens so there's plenty of looking up the trees as the landscape has little value in the forest. I have included a shot of a nice bend in the trail and of the distant smoke filled hills. We're promised rain for the weekend so that would be great, we might just get to see the sky in a week or so. The forest fire smoke has dissipated a little more today but still not enough to permit any serious hiking. The air was a little more breathable so I took the macro lens and made an easy 10km hike around the forests of West Bragg Creek.
West Bragg is close to home and a nice place to spend an easy afternoon but there aren't many photo opportunities there other than macro. I enjoy macro work outdoors as it makes me look at the forest differently but I'm not sure of the value of the finished images, there's only so many close up shots you want to see. Anyway, having said all of that, here's a gallery of macro images shot today showing the plants as they transition into autumn. For the first time in almost a week we were able to get out of the house without choking on the smoke from the forest fires currently raging in our neighbouring province, British Columbia.
The air is still white with smoke and with little rain on the horizon landscape images are some time away yet. I took the 100-400mm lens with us as we walked by the river today in the hope of making a few shots of something. The smoke filled sky did make a nice effect on the water by causing a 'whiteout' of both the sky and the reflection. Ultimately there were no great shots to be had today, but I made a few as a record of the walk, one we really enjoyed after being hemmed in for so long. The main image is a 'Scaup' stretching his wings and the gallery below has captions with details of the flora and fauna along the way. I thought I'd get the word 'weasel' in the title as I saw one in the garden this morning, the very first we have seen here in Cochrane. I managed a few shots but they lack interest due to his position on the concrete drainage channel against the fence, so I included just one for the records. After the brief encounter I set out to test my improving back injury against some light scrambling on the ridge to forget-me-not mountain.
I chose this because it's close to home and a fairly brief affair at 7 km round trip. It also has only a few hundred feet of ascent, albeit very steep in places with plenty of loose rock. I carried some additional weight in my usual utility belt set up, but only took along the small hiking camera and no rucksack today to keep weight off my back. As of right now there are few ill effects except for aching muscles which is to be expected after such a long lay off, though perhaps that conclusion is best left until tomorrow morning. Whatever happens tomorrow, it was fantastic to be out again today, scrambling on loose rocks and sitting high on a rock ridge in warm sunshine overlooking the foothills. Fitness wise I felt every step of the ascent but enjoyed some easy scrambling on the ridge and put my back through some good testing, though I did avoid twisting almost entirely. For those wanting to hike to forget-me-not ridge summit there's a full write up elsewhere on the site with parking details and a map, which you can access by clicking here. The main image is yours truly on the scrambling rocks along the ridge and the gallery below has captions with more information. It's that time of year again where everything seems to be on fire. Road closures are scattered throughout the rockies and thick smoke fills the air 24/7 as hundreds of firefighters battle raging infernos throughout this vast wilderness. Hiking, biking or just about anything outdoors is a choking affair and photography is made difficult by the ever present haze.
There is little to celebrate, except perhaps those wonderfully diffused sunsets that drift across the horizon behind the house. I made the effort tonight to frame that striking orb between the branches of the trees close to home and thought the result was worth sharing. August long weekend saw us heading out to explore Southern Alberta. We had a fantastic four day jaunt through the weird and wonderful in the open prairies. Everything from Star Trek to the 'Worlds Tallest Teepee', dinosaurs to glacial erratics, beautiful parks and open spaces. It really was a great circuit. You can see a selection from the trip below or you can click here to see the full write up and images.
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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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January 2024
The Shaman, West Texas
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