Threats of cool showers for the afternoon today sounded like good hiking weather, I didn't like the sound of the lightning so I was looking to stay at a low level. The most obvious choice for me is a circuit of upper kananaskis lake.
It's such a beautiful place to be any time of the year it's a lazy decision, but certainly not a lazy hike. There's little ascent it's true, but at a shade over 17 km (10.5 miles) you know you have done it by the end of the trail. I made it just beyond the half way point today before the rain started, but by then I was into the forest on the south side of the lake and somewhat sheltered. Don't get me wrong, I got a good soaking over the final 8 km but it was a gentle soaking and I didn't have to bother with the shower gear, I made the full circuit in my T-shirt. As always it was a great day with Rocky Mountain Sheep with their lambs all over highway 40 and marmots, ground squirrels and mice darting throughout the forest. I've made this hike many times now so there's just a few shots below with captions from today. Anyone wanting to see a full detailed report with trailhead parking information and maps can see an earlier trip by clicking here.
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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. After roaming the deserts of the US southwest for a couple of weeks I had fooled myself into thinking winter was over. I'd spent my time wandering around in shorts and a T-shirt and working the air conditioning during journeys in between.
But now I'm home and a short trip to Kananaskis quickly reminded me that winter here does not give in easily. All of my favourite haunts are still heavily iced and only the low lying ground shows any sign of dry land. Given the forecast of 20 cm's of snow this weekend I suspect that low lying ground will be covered again soon. Our temperatures have climbed and any new snow won't be around long, but it's enough to remind me that I'm a month away from 'safety' in terms of snowfall. The day was still really enjoyable and Cecil and I made the rounds along highway 40. A short stop at Ribbon Creek, and again along the way for a trio of Rocky Mountain Sheep by the roadside before finding our way to the upper lake and making a short hike around the eastern shore. I will be posting a desert 'all in one' at some point this week, but for now images of snow are all I have to offer, and of course this muscle on legs who kindly posed for a shot beside highway 40. I had a photo trip to Kananaskis with Cecil today and the area showed some significant snow loss over the past week. Roads are all clear throughout, and the snow depth has dropped to such an extent we were able to roam the exposed marshland beside the lower lake. There were patches of mud interspersed with dry grass, puddles, and expanses of snow in between.
The sun shone down on us all day and it was wonderful to be out in such conditions. Blue skies overhead were shared with huge fluffy white clouds providing more filler for our images. We are still a couple of months away from the soft ground and clear hikes of springtime, but it's great to see nature making inroads against the seemingly endless snow. The main shot today is of Mt Indefatigable reflected in a meltwater pool on the exposed flats beside lower kananaskis lake. The gallery has captions showing the what and where of the day. Our temperatures continue to be challenging and it's been quite a while since we've seen any number that doesn't start with a minus. But daytime highs of -15 do have some benefits, for instance fewer people head out to the mountains, so fresh snowfall stays pristine.
I personally love to walk in the cold temperatures with the whole place to myself. The winter sun is enough to warm my face and everything else is bundled beneath layers of modern fabric. One of my favourite locations at this time of year is the westernmost end of upper kananaskis lake. The water shallows here and the lake bed undulates around small peninsulas that break up the thick ice, contorting it into natural carvings. When I set out last week for my first long snowshoe plod across the lake this year, I was a little concerned about the amount of fresh snow and whether any of the ice would be visible at all. But it was a beautiful bright, cold afternoon and the temptation to hike across that pristine landscape was too much to resist. So, on with the snowshoes and backpack and off I went skirting the islands, edges and anywhere else I could find protrusions of ice. At the western end of the lake the most reliable ice of winter was again visible. I found a number of great formations providing plenty of photo opportunities. The 'shark' in the main image below is entirely natural including that dark black eye and was one of a number of nice shots of the day. It's not something to add to the portfolio, or to put on the wall at home, but it's a fun shot and often that's enough. If you want to visit this location, wait until late January into February for the ice to thicken and the water level to lower breaking the ice. Drive to the 'North Interlakes Day Use Area' car park and then walk west along the shore, on the frozen the lake or through the forest for around 3 km to the 'Point Campground' at the western end of the lake. You'll find the ice all around the peninsula there; but keep your eye out for sharks. 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. Earlier this week the weather conditions were perfect for finding the wonderful phenomenon of methane bubbles trapped in the ice on local lakes. These curious stacks of gas form every year in almost every lake in Canada (and elsewhere in the world where winter temperatures are as severe)
Methane is produced year round by bacteria digesting dead organic matter on the lake bed and in some places by natural seepage of methane pockets built up over eons. In winter when the first layer of ice forms it prevents the escape of the gas, and as methane does not dissolve in water this results in a bubble trapped beneath the ice. Then as it freezes deeper, that bubble becomes suspended within the ice layer and another gets trapped beneath, as the process repeats the stacks are formed. Whilst it occurs every year it goes unseen quite often because snow covers over the ice very quickly. But occasionally we get a continual series of very cold days and nights with little snow. That was the case this week and a good strong wind promised to sweep the ice clean of what little snow had fallen. I set out to the upper lake with my wide angle lens, ice spikes and some warm clothing and was happy to have each item. The wind was howling through the nearby mountain pass and along the length of the lake, whipping snow across the surface and lowering the temperature considerably. It was great to see the lake frozen solid and swept clean of snow, now all I had to do was find some good 'stacks'. I chose the north shore as I have seen methane bubbles along here before and wasn't disappointed this time. I found some great collections, and even with the snow trying hard to get in the way I made some nice shots of this wonderful phenomenon. The gallery has no captions today as the images are all from the upper lake and speak for themselves. If it's -7 and a bitterly cold wind is blowing, then it's time for Cecil and I to grab the photo gear and head out to kananaskis. The cold keeps most people at bay, snow blows over old footprints and there's going to be plenty of ice for the foreground.
We really had a good day today and got better shots than I first thought. I seemed to be struggling to find new topics and when I did the light just wasn't right. We hit the usual hotspots, Barrier Lake, the river beneath the bridge to Nakiska Ski resort and of course kananaskis lakes. The lower lake is frozen over entirely now, though not yet thick enough to walk on. The bitter cold wind had swept the surface clean of snow so we could still get a reflection of the mountain ranges across the lake. We walked the western shoreline today where we discovered plenty of stumps and some nice light. After that we went to the upper lake but the wind was relentless up there and after a few shots we returned to the truck. Realising it was only 45 minutes to sunset we decided to go back to the lower lake and see if it was worth setting up the tripod. It wasn't the best sunset we've had but it made a nice close to a really great day, albeit a cold one. It's going to be all ice and snow from now onward I think, but I'll try to come up with some different locations and topics as the winter wears on. There are captions in the gallery so you can see the different locations and a larger version of the main shot looking across the lower lake is available by clicking the image. With the warm weather still holding out this week, Cecil and I returned to kananaskis to spend an afternoon around the lower lake. We did stop off at Evan Thomas Creek as we drove along highway 40 toward our goal, but all except the first 4 images in the gallery below are from the lower lake.
Nothing to write home about today, but plenty of the usual icy foregrounds shot in good company in a stunning location. I didn't caption the gallery today as the shots speak for themselves. We've had a couple of really nice warm days this week so Cecil and I went out to kananaskis to make our usual 'round' in search of images. We started out at 'The Widowmaker' then on to Barrier Lake before moving south on highway 40 down to kananaskis lakes.
Our first call there was to the dam at the north east corner of the lower lake, which was well shaded and still frozen solid. The main image today is from there, you can see the dam cutting a straight line across the middle of the frame above the shadow fingers. We had hoped to visit the upper lake before shooting another sunset from the south east of the lower lake (our usual spot). But thick cloud moved in just 45 minutes before sunset and ended that plan. The upper lake was incredibly windy with huge waves and spray killing any chance of shoreline shots there today, so the day was cut a little short toward the end. We did have a great day nonetheless and left happy with our haul of shots. The gallery below has captions as usual, to guide you along the way. |
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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The Shaman, West Texas
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