Cecil and I set out to kananaskis this afternoon in the hope of finding a sunset at the lower lake. Weather predictions were for clear skies which, unusually, makes for excellent conditions for lower lake sunset images (sunset images are usually much better with some high and mid level cloud)
As it turned out, the weatherman couldn't have been more wrong, thick cloud hung around all afternoon and any chance of a decent sunset were scuppered, but that allowed us to shoot some stormy sky images instead. We sat on high ground beside Wedge Pond for quite some time feeling the full force of the cold wind that persisted across the water and up the bank toward us. We had to be at that particular spot in order to shoot the light occasionally breaking through the clouds. The moments of light were brief but made for some lovely images as they illuminated the autumnal foliage below the 'Fortress' as the cloud scraped its summit. From here we went on to upper kananaskis lake for a few images before calling it a day and heading home from our first joint photo session in almost a year. The five images on the top of the gallery below were from the Wedge Pond location, the final three have captions.
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One of the great spectacles of autumn in Kananaskis is the basin at the southern end of Pocaterra ridge. The low level section is still a lung busting 2300m (7500 feet) above sea level and dragging the camera gear up there is no fun; but it is worth it.
In the main image below you can see the south end of Pocaterra Ridge bathed in sunlight as the huge snow cloud that hounded me for 45 minutes finally cleared. I walked all over the boulder field making images and have posted most of them in the gallery below. They are all quite similar as they are, to some extent, shot from the same location but I feel each one merits a viewing. There is a bonus Pika shot in there, these little fellas live in the boulder fields at higher altitudes and feed on grasses and plants. They make a loud whistle repeatedly while you walk around to make sure you can't sneak up on any of them. They are very difficult to get on camera as they scurry to and fro between boulders so I was glad to catch this one as he took a moment to rest from his haymaking activities. All in all I had a beautiful day at high altitude, surrounded by mountains and spectacular larch trees in their autumnal shades, even if I did need the winter jacket for the very first time this year. Time to get back out there and keep working on the mountain fitness. Today I opted for a hike to Elbow Lake and the potential continuance to the Rae Glacier. The glacier itself is actually a glacial remnant, but it's still a good lump of ice and a nice extension to an otherwise short hike.
It was wonderful to see Elbow Lake again, it is a truly beautiful place and one I love to visit any time of the year. There was an awkward wind today spoiling the reflections and later dropping the temperature significantly at higher altitude. The lake is at 2050m above sea level and the glacier viewpoint at 2700m, that 650m difference and the added wind howling up the pass made for an immense temperature difference today but didn't detract from the hike. The main shot shows Elbow Lake from the west end looking toward the north, to reach Mt Rae and its associated glacial remnant it's a short hike along the eastern shore of the lake before doubling back around the base of Mt Rae and into a long glacial run off. Along the run off the additional 650m of ascent is easy enough and brings you out on the top of the terminal moraine overlooking the glacier. The captioned gallery below follows the route in from Elbow Lake through to the viewpoint. All summer long Kananaskis has been washed over with smoke from forest fires to the west in British Columbia. I know there are always fires doing this every summer but this one was apparently much worse, I'm glad we were away and missed the worst of it. Unfortunately, as you can see from my outing today, clear skies are some way off yet.
I made a 10 km round trip along Indefatigable Ridge today, just because it is lightly used and therefore you almost always have the whole thing to yourself, and that was the case this afternoon. It was a tough ascent as always and what little sun could break through and heat the day made it even harder, but I enjoyed the work out and was able to take stock of how far away the larch trees are from turning bright yellow. I suspect a week will do it. The images below capture the current smoke conditions and a little of the autumn colours higher up in the forest. We couldn't let the bank holiday go by without enjoying a little of the mountains together so we set out with an area in mind, rather than a specific location. We drove slowly along the Powderface Trail considering our options when we came across a couple of parked cars beside a forest trail we have never explored, so that was enough to make it the selection for today.
We knew the trial was ultimately going to top out on Powderface Ridge, but that was all we knew. It was a short fast ascent along switchbacks in the forest before opening out at a rocky outcrop. The views across the valley toward the distant 'Banded Peak' were beautiful, with autumn colours filling the foreground against the distant hazy blue of the background. We saw a few Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels along the way, a couple of which posed for photos, one which escaped the lens appeared right beside me while we sat eating. I couldn't reach for the camera but I did alert Sarah to his presence right there between us eyeing the food before scooting away when I moved a little. We left him some treats before continuing along the ridge, they were not there when we returned that way a little later. It was a lovely gentle 6 km (3.7 miles) to an altitude of 2081 m (6828 feet) and has provided me with another option for a longer hike at some point. Best of all it was great to be out together, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and cool mountain breeze at the top. If I never hear the word Covid again it will be too soon. But now, after a long hiatus in mountain activity (mainly as a result of being thousands of miles away from the mountains) I finally made a small summit.
Our long stay in the UK meant altitude of any sort was a distant memory. We've only been back in Canada for a few days so I didn't want to go crazy, but I needed to get back to the mountains before winter kicks in and puts a stop to it for 6 months. Jumpingpound Mountain fit the bill nicely, a little over 7000 feet it is a small lump out here and the actual ascent of 1500 feet (457 m) over 2.5 miles (4 km) make the 5 mile round trip a perfect reintroduction to hiking the hills. I've done this hike many times now in all weathers, today was cloudy with a couple of very slight showers and though it was T-Shirt weather for hiking up, it was cool at the summit and the fleece soon made an appearance. The taller surrounding summits had patches of snow which served to remind me just how close to winter we already are. Those seeking details of access and trailhead location can click here for a summer ascent with Sarah including route description, if that's old news to you there's a small gallery below from todays wanderings. |
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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