I know what you're thinking "not more ice" but bear with me, today was a great day on a simple short trail to Troll Falls with Cecil. Yes there was ice, but it was melting hard so we had some liquid water and reflections to go at.
The main image today is taken at Troll Falls by walking between the rock wall and the ice at the base of the falls. I really like it, the 14mm lens I used today allowed me to get that bit more into the frame and I think it showed throughout the day. The gallery has a good mix of ice and snow as usual, but some nice mixers in there with my favourite lunch guests, forest shots, hoar frost and a dodgy wigwam. All of the images were made in a small area in and around the falls and I thought we did well today to find a good mix. I think this is my first visit to Troll Falls this winter and I really enjoyed it. I made some new images of the same old place and a couple of nice ones too. The gallery has captions some of which aren't even about ice. From thursday night we are in for a huge dip in temperatures with -30 on the cards at night and daytime highs of -10 so I'm absolutely sure there'll be more ice to come in a weeks time.
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Cecil and I hit the mountains again last week, chasing shots and chewing the fat in equal measure. We stopped in a couple of new spots down by the kananaskis river where we found this dripping ice formation on an overhanging branch upstream of the south summit of Mt Kidd. We did go down to the upper and lower lakes but the wind was extreme and images few and far between.
We decided to return to highway 40 and dropped into Lorette Ponds along the way where we found yet another collection of methane shots. The lack of snow this year has revealed so many beautiful secrets of the lakes in wintertime. The images are a little bit "more of the same" but that's what we have to work with right now. I've recently made another bunch of ice related shots so the theme will continue with the next post. I think the next lot are better shots but these are another nice collection and to be honest it's more about the day out in good company than anything else. I set out for kananaskis last week in search of new sunset locations to photograph. I really enjoy location scouting every once in a while, it forces me to think more about my surroundings and about what light works best there.
I started at the northernmost corner of the lower lake and after leaving the truck and hiking about half a mile west on the north shore, it was apparent that I needed to go back for the snowshoes. I'd got accustomed to wandering anywhere without difficulty this year because of the lack of snowfall. As it turns out the northern corner of the lower lake is something of a collection point for blowing snow. The plod back to the truck was disheartening, I'd slogged a mile (1.6 km) to get absolutely nowhere. Once the snowshoes were on I set out again, ploughing through the deep snow with much less effort, now I felt better about the enforced return to the truck. I skirted the northernmost end of the lake around a small peninsula to obtain the view of the mountain ranges I was seeking. On inspection, the location was not what I'd want for a sunset shoot, but I have logged it as a daytime hike in summer or autumn, there's definitely a good number of images to be made here, but not at sunset. After reaching my intended spot I crossed the frozen lake to the eastern shore and made some images along the way. At the eastern shore I found a likely spot for sunset so I suspect I'll be heading there for my next sunset shoot. From the north east corner of the lake I crossed the ice again in front of the dam and back to my awaiting truck. As I was in the area, I thought I'd go around to the upper lake before going home. At the upper lake I found some nice ice images and a lovely hard hoar frost on a stump there, and (as seems the norm this year) more methane bubbles in the ice. The main image was made by crawling into a gap in the ice close to an island on the upper lake, the gallery below has captions to show location. The last opportunity for Sarah and I to see a lunar eclipse in Canada was back in 2015, but clouds filled the skies and we got just a couple of minutes to glimpse the phenomenon. So last night Sarah and I were looking forward to a second chance, but again the clouds filled the skies.
We were disappointed to say the least, but as the night wore on the cloud thinned to a more transparent layer. It was still present resulting in a haze across the shots but at least we got to see much more of it this year. The rather long name 'Super Wolf Blood Moon' is derived from a combination of differing descriptions. Firstly it was a 'supermoon' because it was a full moon at perigee (the point in the moon orbit when it is closest to earth). Secondly it's a blood moon because of the eclipse (earth shadow passing over the moon). Finally a wolf moon is the name for the first full moon of the year. Our next total lunar eclipse will be in May 2021, I can't help but wonder if we will still be here in Canada to see it. Sunset predictions are notoriously difficult to make in mountainous areas but I keep my eye on them anyway just in case. On saturday afternoon there was a good chance of a nice sunset in kananaskis so Sarah and I decided to make the journey out there.
Going to kananaskis is a no lose situation for us because we love it. When we arrived at the upper lake we put on our spikes and walked around the lakeshore (and across the lake) examining the thick winter ice that covers the area at this time of year. The lack of snow was really surprising, strong winds have cleared a number of patches along the ice, and where the drifts have stopped, they are only boot deep. After wandering the upper lake we jumped back in the truck and made the short hop to the lower lake for sunset. On arrival it looked pretty promising but when we hiked out to the shore and set up the camera gear clouds moved in and killed off the light. We decided to hang around and see what happened and I'm glad we did. The clouds cleared and allowed the sunset to paint its usual colour across the mountains opposite. Above the mountains a large cloud bank gathered and soaked up the last of the sun into the blue hour. It was a lovely evening, we sat drinking hot tea by the still cold lake and talking until almost dark. We didn't stop to see the milky way because low cloud sat right where it would be and the cold was beginning to get to Sarah after a long spell of inactivity watching sunset. We drove home having enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and evening at the lakes with some pretty good shots along the way too. The main image shows the north end of the lower lake as we move into the blue hour, the gallery below has captions to identify locations. It's been quite a while since I made the hike along the frozen waters of Grotto Creek, so I decided to head out there today. The weather was not great with white skies overhead and -20 on the thermometer as I made my way out to the mountains.
For the record -20 is about my limit, any colder and I tend to stay indoors. But starting out at -20 at 10am usually sees the day warm up to a balmy -12 or so as our weak winter sun makes its impact felt (just). Setting out along the trail from the car park I needed the full winter gear including facial covering as the wind blew the biting cold air right at me. I was happy to reach the short forested section where I was able to amble along in relative warmth for a few minutes. At the mouth of the canyon the wind is always an issue but once around the first bend it is again subdued. There was not much in the way of light today but I made a few shots along the way to keep myself entertained. At the falls the lack of snow so far this year was apparent, with very little ice for the ice climbers, though this hadn't put them off at all. I still really enjoyed the day, Grotto Canyon is a lovely hike in the winter offering shelter from the elements, ice falls and native pictographs (for the sharp eyed). For those seeking more details you can find a full write up of a previous hike with maps and more images by clicking here. |
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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