It's my birthday this week and Sarah treated me to a new camera, a canon 7D mk II. I have been thinking about a crop sensor camera for a while now in order to extend the reach of my lenses without having to buy the crazy expensive super telephoto lenses we all secretly wish we owned.
As Sarah hadn't been to Frank Lake we decided to head out there so she could see it and I could try out the new camera at the same time. It was a lovely drive on the back roads to the lake through small town Alberta. The sun shone all day and chicks and parents were out in force searching for food on and around the lake. Though the birds were never close to us the crop sensor really helped me get close to them and the results are much better than those of my first trip just a few weeks ago. I've added some of the images from today in a gallery at the bottom of the write up for my first visit, which you can find by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page (or read the whole page if you haven't visited it before). For those uninterested in the full write up there's a small gallery from todays shots below though there are no captions, you'll have to visit the full write up for those.
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Sarah and I set out today to visit one of our favourite places for the first time this year, Elbow Lake. The highway that leads to the lake is closed from December to June to allow for uninterrupted hibernation and as soon as it reopens we make our first trip each year.
As we arrived today a snow shower was blowing through and we decided to sit it out for a few minutes before making the steep ascent to the lake. We were sat in the truck talking when a huge Hoary Marmot appeared from beneath the large litter 'biffy' further along the car park. I hurriedly made a few shots but he was too far away for my hiking camera to make any impact, so I decided there was nothing to lose in trying to sneak up on him. It was something of a surprise to me that I managed to get within a few feet and could make a nice shot of him (though it does have the damn bin in it too) It was a chilly day but that was welcome for hiking, the snow showers came and went throughout but we had a great hike in a beautiful location. We did a full circuit of the lake before returning to the truck and taking the scenic route home, surprisingly as we drove home we saw another two marmots along the way taking dust baths on the logging road. The main image shows one of those snow showers blowing across Mt Rae and the gallery is captioned. For those seeking more detail on the hike to Elbow Lake you can find a previous write up by clicking here. It's my birthday this week so Sarah has taken a week off work to spend roaming around with me. We had planned a trip to Newfoundland but ultimately decided against it for now, and instead opted to enjoy the beauty right on our doorstep.
I decided to start the week on Jumpingpound Mountain as it is a nice straightforward hike on a good trail to a lovely viewpoint. With the rain we have had over the previous week it was also likely that the wildflowers would be out in the meadows along the ridgetop. As you can see from the main image below, this was indeed the case. I've documented the trip to Jumpingpound summit already so today I just made a gallery of our hike with captions. You can find a full detailed description of this hike, the location, parking etc in an earlier hike report by clicking here or by visiting our hiking Canada page. Inspired by revisiting an old route yesterday I decided to do the same today. Cecil and I were heading out with the camera gear for the afternoon and I recalled Black Prince Cirque. It is another lovely short hike with only 160m of ascent over the 5 km round trip to Warspite Lake which sits perfectly in the cirque beneath the surrounding mountains.
The trail is very easy to find and well maintained throughout, it is possible to go further and climb to a greater elevation but on a hot afternoon the hike up to Warspite Lake and around the circumference is just right. As always Cecil and I made images, laughed and joked and put the world to rights as we walked. We made some nice shots and were still home in plenty of time to have dinner with Sarah and catch the sunset from the balcony, it was an excellent afternoon and evening. I set out today with no real plans other than to get out for a hike in the mountains. As it has been some time since I hiked Evan Thomas Creek I decided to go there and see how the topography has changed since the 2013 floods.
I've been up there since the flood and it was a barren washout of debris and little else so it was pleasing today to see some new growth along the widened creek. The trail toward Mt McDougall has some way to go and is still so intertwined with the creek that it's difficult in places to see where one stops and the other starts. The hike is still possible thanks to those who have gone before and worn a thin ribbon through the melee, so I made a steep climb up to the ridge with 600m of ascent over 6 km or so. It was too hot for doing much today, so I enjoyed the views and then returned to the truck for a nice 12 km circuit over rugged terrain. The time of day limited the photo opportunities but as usual I made a few. The small gallery has captions, the main shot shows 'The Wedge' on the left, 'The Fortress' and Mt Galatea as the stars of this panoramic shot. It's been a while since I last posted a sunset, we do see them almost every night but having photographed so many it takes a pretty good one to get me out with the camera.
Tonight the mid level cloud was illuminated by the long slow sunset which is prevalent at this time of year and I had to go out and make a few images. It's not the greatest sunset we've seen but it's the best we've seen for a few months. As an added bonus while out on the balcony shooting, the local coyote pack howled out a sunset chorus to keep me company. It's always great to see the blue jay roaming around the garden and lately he has been almost ever present. It's such a beautiful bird that I had to get the camera out and share a few images of him.
Being of the corvid family means he lacks the beautiful song to go with his plumage, instead he makes an awful squawking noise, but thankfully he is silent most of the time. Frank Lake is a wetland area 50km south of Calgary, a couple of months ago I spoke to a guy at the beaver ponds in the elbow valley and he said it was worth a visit. Yesterday Cecil and I decided to make the trip with the camera gear and see what we could see.
There are dozens of different bird species and huge numbers of birds overall. It was so nice I decided to make a dedicated page which you will find here. there is also a permanent link on our Canada page which can be accessed via the tabs above or by using this link. I've added a few images below to give a flavour of the place, all of the birds are named in captioned galleries on the dedicated page. I took a local wander on Jumpingpound Ridge yesterday, instead of the usual route I took the longer route from the north end. At this point I would normally say how nice it was, but yesterday I had a bug I didn't know about and that really took the joy out of it, not to mention the wicked cold wind that hammered along the ridge.
I've done a full write up as it is a 'new route' so you can find that by clicking here or via the link on the Canada hiking page where you'll find more than 100 Canadian hikes. For those uninterested in the full write up there's a short captioned gallery below to provide a flavour of this enjoyable wander. You know summer is coming when the American Goldfinch returns to Canada. Their winter habitat is around Texas and the southern states of the US, in spring they migrate north through Oklahoma and Nebraska and in breeding season they head as far as southern Canada. Breeding males are an incredibly vivid little bird whilst non breeding males and females are less colourful.
It's great to see these lovely birds back in the garden with the red of the house finches and blues of the Mountain Jay it's a wonderful display throughout the summer. |
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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