It's been over a month since Cecil and I made a photo trip around kananaskis together, so we put that right this afternoon. There was a lot of wind spoiling any chance of grabbing those wonderful kananaskis reflections, and the dead vegetation did little to lift our spirits.
We began the day at Barrier Lake on highway 40 and I added the circular polariser to cut through the glare of the surface to the rocks below (main image). We moved on through the usual spots without seeing anything worthy of the effort until reaching highway 742 where we finally found a few images to top us up for the day. The gallery below has captions to accompany us along the route.
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I woke at 04:30 this morning and decided to make the most of the early rise with a trip to the Wedge Pond in Kananaskis. This is a favourite sunrise location for me so it was an easy choice to make.
I packed the kit up and arrived about and hour before sunrise picking my usual spot on the north shore of the lake to start with. It wasn't the best sunrise today but there was some colour and the remnants of autumn leaves remaining provided an additional splash of bright orange and yellow. Sunrise was a shortened affair thanks to a large cloud killing the light after only a few minutes of shooting. Because of this I decided to make a circuit of the pond and shoot all the way around. The main image below was made just 7 minutes after sunrise, the gallery has captions to give direction and timing where relevant. As you can see from the main image below (click for larger) the larch trees have taken on their autumn shades over the last few days. With a week of winter storms predicted I thought I had better get out and get some shots before the needles are knocked off.
I decided to head to Highwood Pass, mainly because I've not been up there for some time and I know the larch can be great there. The trail to the south end of Pocaterra Ridge is well trodden and muddy beyond belief owing to the huge number of tourists who frequent this area in all weathers. Highwood Pass is the highest paved road in Canada and lifts you into the alpine without getting your feet dirty. Hiking from here is fantastic and if you turn toward Grizzly Peak and Mt Tyrwhitt instead of Pocaterra Ridge you will leave all of the tourists behind. That is what I did this afternoon, spending three hours wandering the forest, climbing the avalanche slopes and chasing shots of this incredible sight. I found myself wishing I'd brought the canon gear with better lens choice but the Sony is so easy to carry it always wins out when hiking is involved. It was -2 up on the slopes and not much warmer in the car park but I spent 3 wonderful hours getting pelted with snow and hail and loved every minute of it. The main shot is the south end of Pocaterra Ridge and the larch valley below, the gallery has captions to identify the peaks in each image. With my friend Cecil heading out to the east coast next week we decided to have a day in kananaskis yesterday. The weather was changeable with some blue skies but a lot of cloud and scattered showers, luckily we avoided the rain.
We stopped at our usual haunts along highway 40 to assess the condition of the autumn change so far and managed to find a moment of calm at the Wedge pond (see main pic). At the upper lake we walked the trail around the peninsula to the old stump skeletons and shot what we found along the way. We made a few landscapes as always and a few detailed shots to keep things fresh. As usual we had a great day wandering and managed to find some 'new' images in the same old places as well as re shooting the old in a new way. The gallery has location captions and a little bit more info. Cecil an I hit Kananaskis yesterday on our usual Wednesday wander, but this one is just a day before his birthday (Happy Birthday Cec). We had checked out the sunset potential but it wasn't great so it was another midday event.
The light at this time of day is very poor so composition has to be good, which makes for great practice. The autumn colours haven't arrived yet but the foliage is dulling and beginning to turn so that wasn't helping either. We drove highway 40 stopping at a couple of places but made no images. Then we took the road to spillway lake where a rare calm caught us by surprise and provided our first images of the day. From there we drove to the upper lake but huge waves from strong winds combined with surprisingly large crowds to make that a no-go. We decided to ascend the short but steep grunt to Elbow Lake. It's our first visit this year and being tightly surrounded by mountains it provides some shelter from the wind. The crystal clear water and driftwood on the shore saved the day as we made a circuit of the lake picking up plenty of images along the way. After a great afternoon shooting we returned to the truck and set off home, as we scooted along highway 40 Cec spotted a moose and calf on the edge of the forest. We stopped to investigate and though the calf ran far into the trees the adult moseyed around the edge and let us grab a couple of shots through the trees, as we did, another moose returned with the calf, so we ended up with a 'three moose day' as the icing on Cecil's birthday cake. The main shot today is from the shore of Elbow Lake and the gallery has captions for location. Cecil and I set out yesterday a little earlier than normal in anticipation of the predicted temperature, 30 degrees. We decided to get out and get done before the 4 pm peak.
We opted for the Smith Dorrian Trail, a 50 km dusty logging road that connects the town of Canmore to the Kananaskis Lakes trail. Being a little earlier meant some of the lakes we visited were perfectly calm making for great reflections. We found some interesting images in an area burnt by forest fire, spotted an osprey above Goat Pond and saw a little black bear filling up on berries in preparation for winter. We felt the full force of the afternoon sun as we walked Burstall Pass Trail to the lakes for the final shots of the day. With incredible scenery, wonderful wildlife and near perfect weather we couldn't ask for much more. The main shot below shows Goatview Peak reflected in Goat Pond, the gallery below has captions to identify locations along the way. A break in the weather yesterday prompted a call from Cecil, and an hour later we were heading out to kananaskis. There wasn't much of a plan in terms of direction so we just hit the usual haunts and photographed the wildflowers.
There are a couple of really great things to be said for the wet summer season we've had so far this year. One is the abundance of wildflowers throughout the mountains, and the other is the lack of forest fires and the associated chronic smoke we've seen for the past 5 summers. We found wildflowers everywhere we stopped to look and had a great afternoon in perfect temperatures exploring along highway 40. Getting out and grabbing a few images kept the jet lag a bay for one day at least, though the rain is back in full force today and a comfy couch threatens to lure me into an afternoon nap. Next week promises better weather at last so I should be able to get some hiking in ...... how many times have I said that this year? Cecil is heading off to Europe for three weeks from tomorrow so we had our final kananaskis wander for a while today. After a conversation last night I suggested we take the macro lens and look for something different to our usual fare.
As it transpires we were a little early for the spring flowers, we did find a few but most were still just sprouting. It was nice to be out viewing the area through a different lens both figuratively and literally. We found some shots, walked a few kilometers in the spring sunshine and put the world to rights as usual. The main shot today shows lichen on a rock, the gallery below has captions. Home from my trip to Saskatchewan and the smoke from the wildfires has blown away to the north. The snow has melted from all but the most stubborn peaks and the sun is heating up the ground around Kananaskis.
I needed no further incentive to make the drive to highway 40 and the Kananaskis Valley, but meeting up with Cecil for the day added a further boost. What a beautiful day it was too, sunshine and a nice cooling breeze followed us as we hopped in and out of the vehicle making images of this stunning area. There's nothing special today just some nice images of a beautiful place in wonderful 'walkabout' weather. A couple of different squirrels, a new take on the old topic of driftwood by the lake, some parched earth and standard landscapes. The gallery has captions to identify locations. The main image is overlooking the lower lake, another new take on an old topic. After a miserable weekend of rain, where we only managed to get out to the river and back by dodging showers, I was ready for a hike in the sunshine on Monday morning. I opted for the upper lake where I would have a choice of routes depending on the conditions. On arrival I spoke to a few people returning from Rawson Lake, they told me the lake was still frozen so I decided against that. I considered a circuit of the upper lake but that's one I usually save for autumn, it's too early for Three Isle Lake due to snow and I didn't fancy Indefatigable Ridge owing to thick melting snow in the forest.
So, by a process of elimination I decided on Hidden Lake, it's a nice 12 km round trip along the south side of the Upper Lake before branching off at Mt Lyautey and cutting through the forest to the Hidden Valley. As I set out the wind dropped to almost nothing so I decided to hike beside the lake and make a few shots of the remaining ice and the reflections. Little did I know it was going be so still, for approximately 45 minutes the wind just died away leaving the upper lake as perfectly calm as I've ever seen it. I took my time along the shore and made multiple images of this stunning sight. I made the hike to Hidden Lake, which was almost dry owing to the very low water levels across all of the lakes right now, and I confess I was 'feeling it' by the time I got back to the truck. I decided to only post the lake reflections as they were the highlight of the day by some measure and the other images were dull in comparison. So without further adieu, here's the upper lake as you've never seen it before. |
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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