With the promise of heavy snow to come tomorrow, Cecil and I decide to get out today and make the best of what we could find to photograph. We began in Banff at Cascade Ponds where the wind wiped out any chance of reflections and dead vegetation left little to chase, we moved on.
At Johnson Lake we found the outlet flow, which we had hoped to shoot with long exposures, desperately low on water and movement, the lake surface was again ruffled by wind, we moved on again. At Two Jack Lake we identified only a few shots that we have made before, so we had a bite to eat and moved on again. At Lake Minnewanka we did make a single image (though we have made it before) capturing the boathouse which strikes a lonely figure, dwarfed by Mt Inglismaldie in the background. Finally we made a snow covered run to Canmore and on to Kananaskis via the Smith Dorian Trail. We made no shots at all along the 70 km gravel road and finally stopped at the Peninsula day use area on the lower lake where at last, we found a few images chasing mountain tops through the cloud until it was too cold to continue. It was still a great day out, chewing the fat and roaming around the mountains. We might not always get a bunch of shots but we do consistently find a few out there. All but the boathouse image were shot at the lower lake.
2 Comments
Cecil and I set out to the upper lake at kananaskis this afternoon, with the assurance of the local weatherman that a sunset was all but guaranteed. Our initial thoughts were that he may be right this time.
After wandering beside the lake making shots in poor light to pass the time until sunset, it became apparent that we were deceived once again, as a thick bank of low white cloud rolled across the horizon. Not to be beaten entirely, we moved to a different location on the upper lake in the hope of better things, not realising that the 'better things' would be the whiskey jacks coming to share our snacks. It is always a sign that winter is upon us when the whiskey jacks will come to your hand to feed, in the summer they are far less obliging. Overall it was a great afternoon chatting with Cecil and making a few shots, the whiskey jacks were a lovely bonus and, even better still, as we drove home we saw a skunk beside highway 40, the first Cecil has ever seen, as always, kananaskis delivers. 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. 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. My buddy Cecil has been spending his money on a new lens for night shooting recently, and was keen to try it out on a clear winter night. In fairness I think he would have preferred a clear summer night but the wait was too long.
We 'social distanced' our way to Kananaskis and met in the car park for the upper lake at 3pm so we could have a mosey around and maybe catch a sunset. Everything was covered in snow so the usual ice images were not available but we did explore some new sunset spots before opting for a higher view from the upper lake dam. The milky way is at it's lowest point at this time of year so the galactic centre is not visible at all, but you can still grab an image of the tail end and gain an understanding of how to shoot it, that's all that mattered today. My main shot is of hoar frost on a birch tree that has always caught my eye. In springtime the bright vibrant green leaves stand out against the dark firs behind, in autumn the yellow and orange leaves burst from the background, unfortunately the sun never strikes the little tree directly and so the lighting is always flat. Today, covered in hoar frost it caught my eye again and the contrast was enough to make me grab a shot. The gallery has a small run of captioned images from a great night standing out on the frozen lake underneath an ocean of stars, with Cec making long "oooooohhh" sounds every time the ice flexed and shuddered underfoot, causing me to laugh every time. As a final bonus on the way home I saw a moose on the highway dining on road salt as usual at this time of year, too dark for an image but lovely to see all the same. I took a ride out this week to check the snow and ice conditions across the various lakes of Kananaskis. I admit to being surprised by the depth of snow on the highways in some areas, and disappointed that the ice was covered on almost all my usual haunts. With more snow forecast for Wednesday evening I was sure there would be no chance of methane bubble shots on my planned trip Thursday.
Opting for a scenic ride home through the Sibbald Creek Trail I was surprised to see the ice on Sibbald Meadows Pond clear of snow. This is actually more meadow than pond usually, but today it was solid ice, with so many methane bubbles I struggled to isolate any for image making. It was an incredible thing to find by the roadside, but then the incredible does seems to be somewhat commonplace in Kananaskis. There is still the possibility of clear skies on Thursday evening and into Thursday night, so perhaps I'll go star chasing at Elbow Falls instead. Until then, I've posted a selection of different images of methane bubbles absolutely everywhere on Sibbald Meadows Pond. |
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
All
Archives
January 2024
The Shaman, West Texas
|