I make no excuses for revisiting Kananaskis and the beautiful wind polished surface of the upper lake yet again. Cecil and I were out for our usual weekly photo tour and it was the first time he had seen the lake like this. We had a great afternoon chasing ice shots before going back to the lower lake for sunset. I found a few nice images today and had a great time out in the Canadian wilderness. On the way home we had to stop for a huge moose on the road then quickly stop again for 3 more (a 4 moose day is always a good day) As we got onto highway 40 we were stopped again by the local elk herd scattered around the highway in large numbers. Unfortunately darkness prevented us making any useful shots of the moose or elk but the sighting was the icing on the cake of another wonderful day in our favourite place.
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With Sarah entertaining her team at our home this afternoon, I took the opportunity to chase an image I should have made on friday last week at lower kananaskis lake. There was a lovely long crack in the ice and I was sure I had captured it. When I got home I found I had not made the shot I wanted and it really bugged me, so, I loaded up and returned today to make the image. I had a little scoot around the upper lake too which is now frozen again with wonderful crystal clear ice that leaves you feeling like you are standing on water. The ice crack was now close to liquid water from the hydro power plant outlet but I managed to get down to it and make the image I was chasing (third from the end in the gallery below) I also made a landscape format shot of the crack to use as a main image for this post. The cold nights and warm winds are making for some very interesting ice on the upper lake and I think I might return there again very soon, perhaps even tomorrow.
It's that time of year again and we set off today for the Sibbald Creek area (off highway 68) to find our tree for the year. I had picked up a permit during the week for the princely sum of $5 so we were set for the day. It was a little disappointing that we didn't need the snow boots, or even our jackets as it was 15 degrees and warm as we wandered the woodland virtually snow free. We still really enjoyed the hunt as always, there's just something nice about heading out into the forest to cut your own tree.
This afternoon Cecil and I headed back to kananaskis, this time with Josh (who we met last week in Banff) I'd talked to Josh about sunset on the lower lake and he was keen to see it running along the ridgeline. Predictions were best for thursday so we met at the usual spot and hit the road at 11:30. We stopped here and there along the way, killing time and making a few images around the area until 3:30pm when we pulled into the car park at the lower lake. Loaded down with tripods and other gear we made our way down to the waters edge which was again frozen over.
Having picked our spot and set up we waited eagerly for the promised sunset to arrive. The research paid off around 4pm when the golden light finally made an appearance and 45 minutes later when the sun was gone and the light cloud shone pink in front of a perfect blue sky. I'm glad it paid off for Josh who put his trust in us to get the shots and was not disappointed. It was a great afternoon, really enjoyable and we all got some good shots to take home and brag about. The images are virtually all from the upper and lower lakes so I haven't captioned the gallery today, the main shot is one of the last of the day and perhaps one of the best. Skies were perfectly clear today which isn't the best for landscape photography but I really wanted to get out and enjoy the warm weather while it lasted. For a change of scenery I decided to head to the 'South Ghost Wilderness' area quite close to home. After just an hour I was dropping down 'Big Hill' staring at the northern flanks of Mt Costigan ahead. I walked a few areas and made a few shots as usual and (for the first time) captured a sunset down there. I really needed more cloud to make the sunset work but it was interesting to see which of the mountains caught the sun and understand the future potential. All in all it was a nice afternoon in the beautiful open wilderness and some useful information gathered. The gallery below has captions showing which rocky lump is which.
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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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