Just Darn Pretty Stuff ~or~ Stuff that Takes My Breath Away (Uh-Huh… Rockies)

This will probably be the last of my Rockies blogs, unless there’s a public outcry demanding more… Hahaha. For somebody without a job, my to-do list is growing. Most of my projects involve pictures. For example, my grandson pointed out yesterday how our walls are painfully bare of pictures of his little sister (his self-proclaimed best friend, awwwww). I have a beautiful 72-picture photo album from Jasper (72 of my best pictures? How do narrow that down from 3700+??? I could do 72 pix just of Pyramid Lake!). I have a huge family project, a couple of calendars, maybe some scrapbooking, AND we leave in eight days for our last trip of the summer, a quickie to the Sunshine Coast.

Seriously, if anybody knows of a way to get paid to travel all around and take lots of pictures, let me know! I’ve been “volunteering” at this all summer!

Even though I already wrote a “highlights” blog, it left out a lot of really pretty stuff, most of it totally accessible to the general public. 

So, go get a cup of coffee, and maybe some popcorn or trail mix (in our honour, but not too much if you’re dieting…), put a couple more cushions on your chair, and enjoy the Rockies through our lenses.

As you know by now, Pyramid Lake pretty much tops my list. I am absolutely enchanted with Pyramid Mountain and the lake that bares its name. (8.06.09)

Alpenglow on Mt Edith Cavell from the property of Becker’s Chalets (where we stayed) (8.6.09)

Looking the other direction at Mt Tekarra (I think) (8.6.09)

You knew these were coming! First, Patricia Lake at 6:55 a.m. Who needs moons and mountains when there are colourful boats?? (Uh, I do! I do!!) (8.7.09)

And, of course, Pyramid Lake at 8:05. (Are you sick of this picture yet? Me, neither!)

Imagine what this would look like on a sunny, blue-sky day! Maligne Lake at the unphotographed Spirit Island viewpoint (8.8.09)

Maligne Lake on another day, after the Bald Hills hike. We were in a downpour; this mountain was not. (8.12.09)

  Wearing a fresh dusting of snow, Mt Kerkeslin along the Athabasca River the same August (!) evening, from Becker’s (8.12.09).

I made Rich pull over so I could shoot this panorama at the Columbia Icefields on our commute day to Banff. (8.13.09)

This was just a better day to visit the Athabasca Glacier! (8.13.09)

We took so many beautiful pictures of Bow Lake, it was hard to pick the one to share, but this truly took my breath away! (8.13.09)

Lake Minnewanka sounds like a horror movie summer camp, but it was all sunshine the day we were there. (8.15.09)

I just had to slip this one in. Of all the places around Banff to shoot my wedding photos, Johnson Lake doesn’t top my list, but these two must love it. I was very underdressed for the event! (8.15.09)

Castle Mountain and the Eisenhower Peak shine in the afternoon sun (8.16.09)

You know, there’s probably a good reason that the popular tourist spots are where they are. Lake Louise at 8:25 a.m., before the parking lot filled up, but after the small first tour bus arrived. Yup. Breathtaking. Taken darn-near the paved shoreline path. (8.17.09)

Lake Agnes, from the Teahouse (8.17.09)

Looking back at the Lake Agnes Teahouse (8.17.09)

 Moraine Lake has stolen my breath both time I’ve seen it, both cloudy, windy times. (8.18.09)

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, on the way home. (8.20.09)

Now this just takes my breath away!

We took over 3,700 pictures, and saw some absolutely amazing things. It seems that every step we took, we kept uttering, “Wow!” and “Man, oh man!” For whatever reason, mostly light, the pictures just don’t convey the spectacular, jaw-dropping beauty of many of the places we went. These aren’t the only “good” pictures we took, but they represent the best photographs (not necessarily the most beautiful places, altho they are all beautiful, no?).

If you want more information about anything you’ve seen on Nancy-Girl’s Journey just leave a comment (it’s easier to sign on as “Anonymous” if you don’t have a blogger ID. Just sign your comment, if you choose, so I know who you are). What the heck, leave me comments even if you don’t have a question. I love to hear from you!

A week from tomorrow, we leave to start our last trip of the summer. We’re going down to Redmond to pick up some old friends to bring them back to Canada to explore the Sunshine Coast with us. We will be visiting places we’ve been before, so I’m not sure if we’ll be taking a break from photography, but we’ll see. We’re pretty much playing tour guides on this trip, so I’m not expecting much blogging activity. Again, we’ll see.

But, unless otherwise requested, this is the last Rockies blog. The real world must take over now. This has been fun. Stay tuned for more adventures!On the Tunnel Mountain trail, above Banff, 8.15.09

Goofing Off & Having Fun (Yes, More Rockies!)

We had fun in the Rockies. No doubt about it, we had fun. It’s fun going beyond the crowds to see stuff that not many people (relatively speaking) make the effort to see.

The view from the Lake Agnes Teahouse (8.17.09)

There seems to be a barrier, 1 km or 1 mile from the parking lot, where the crowds of tourists thin out and only the serious or determined or seriously determined care to tread. One km or one mile, depending on what country you’re in and the standard it uses to measure distance. (We, of course, were also tourists, but I don’t know how to separate the resort and gift shop and boutique restaurant crowd from the trail and true nature and trail mix crowd.)

Not to imply that there are only a few serious or determined folks on the trails in the Rockies. They are pretty crowded. One guide book said of one trail that one shouldn’t expect solitude. That could apply to all the trails in all the guide books.

The Lake Agnes Teahouse. After a 3.6 km (2.25 mile), 1300’ gain “moderate” hike up the hill on the north (right, from the Chateau) side of Lake Louise. This was no walk in the park, yet I was surprise how many children were there. We left most of these folks behind, however, when we ventured to the end of Lake Agnes and up the switchbacks to the Big Beehive, 1.6 km beyond the teahouse & only 350’ higher, but that was all at once, in a hike rated “strenuous.” We would concur.

We took a little comfort in knowing that we would never truly be alone (should anything happen), except, probably, for when we followed the rabbit trail past Stanley Falls (altho we did see another couple lounging on the boulders in the river about a km past the “end” of the designated trail), but we enjoyed the hikes much more when we were the first on the trails (the yet to be blogged about Five Lakes trail in Banff and Stanley Glacier trail in Kootenay). There is something to be said to having the wilderness to yourself.

Tranquil (for the moment) Lake #3 on the oober-popular Valley of the Five Lakes trail in Jasper National Park (8.11.09). Ours was the first car in the parking lot; they were waiting for our space when we left.

The massive Guardwall near Stanley Glacier in the moonscape moraine valley (8.19.09)

Speaking of which, it was fun getting up with the sun (once – let’s not make this a habit!) to watch it paint its warm light on the hills. Again, we were not truly alone that glorious morning; the photography crowd had already beat us there, but we experienced a truly magical, breath-taking event that crisp dawn, and it remains the highlight of the trip for me.

Pyramid Mountain reflected in Pyramid Lake, 7:27 a.m. (8.7.09)

The irony of that morning is not lost on me. The highlight of our trip was totally accessible by car on paved roadways. But yet, few made the effort to experience the dawn’s early light, so perhaps the 1 km or 1 mile barrier also includes a time barrier at, say, 10:00. (The parking lots typically filled suddenly at 11:00.)

(But seriously, how early does one have to get up to see a blasted moose???)

It’s fun going a little bit beyond our conceived limits, whether it be a challenging section of trail or going just a few steps past our endurance (and then a few more, and then a few more), and the rewards for such are not stingy.

I believe that’s Mt. Andromeda above the Lake Louise delta, from the Big Beehive (8.17.09)

But it was also fun, just being myself, travelling through God’s creation with my best friend, my hiking buddy, and the love of my life.

Below is a 2-page spread. There are more pictures of me goofing of than of Rich goofing off. When I was a kid, I loved hamming it up for the camera. Still do. My mom used to say that I ruin every picture I was in. Obviously, I didn’t let that go to my head!

Clockwise, from upper left: Hamming it up on the Athabasca Glacier (8.10.09); Rich… the glacier’s the other way! (8.13.09); Banff Nat’l Park, Protecting People and Bears (8.15.09); I’m not feeding the chipmunk! Really, I’m not!!! Taunting, maybe, but NOT feeding!! (Moraine Lake, 8.18.09); Yeah, we did go to a couple of gift shops… I’m wearing a moose hat, looking thru moose binoculars & holding a moose, which, btw, came home w/ us; Rich is enjoying his fabulous French Press coffee at the Lake Agnes Teahouse (8.17.09); I lost my  head at Stanley Falls (8.9.09); Rich is hogging our wine after the 2 Teahouse, 1 Beehive hike. Hey! One of those is mine! (8.17.09)

Clockwise from upper left: Rich is balancing between two provinces, Alberta on the left, BC on the right, at the Continental Divide (8.16.09); Rich told me to look like I was having fun on the absolute slog up the Bald Hills (Maligne Lake) fire road. Do I look like I’m having fun??? (8.12.09); Rich pressing the above mentioned fabulous French Press coffee at the Lake Agnes Teahouse (8.17.09); I’m balancing between 2 rocks, obviously before I lost my head, Stanley Falls (8.9.09); Rich wanted me to take this picture. Really, he did! (8.16.09); I’m “thinking” at Marble Canyon (8.16.09); Yo-yo, homebody! He’s actually helping me label some lakes so I know which lake is which, Valley of the Five Lakes (8.11.09); Rich truly goofing off (yes, it does happen!) at the Athabasca Glacier (the day we should have gone on the Glacier Buggy, 8.13.09)

We had fun.

Flora & Fauna (More Rockies)

First the flora.  I am amazed that we didn’t take more pictures of Fireweed. It was pretty much everywhere. Big meadows of lavender. It was lovely. Here’s a good example:

Here I am on the Highline Trail at Lake Louise, between the Big Beehive and the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse. That’s the Victoria Glacier (the one that sits at the end of Lake Louise) in the background. (08.17.09)

It was especially abundant at Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park (near Banff), the site of a fire in 2003 which burned 170 square km in 40 days.

Fireweed makes great fodder for foreground photographers (like myself). This is an unknown Kootenay mountain with Kootenay Fireweed in the foreground. (08.16.09)

I am learning how to use the macro function of my “new” (used) camera. Our old Konica-Minolta is much better for macro, but I carry the other camera. Most of my macro shots, sadly, are wonderfully-focused pictures of earth or grass with a blurry blob of colour in the foreground. But this PhotoScape gives you an idea of some of the wonders we encountered in the Rockies.

 

And now, the fauna. By far the greatest abundance of wildlife took the form of elk. We actually became “elk snobs” and drove around the “animal jams” that roadside elk sightings caused.

I think we saw even more big horn sheep. There were herds of them on the road to Maligne Lake in Jasper, and herds of them on the road up to Mount Norquay in Banff. We also became “sheep snobs,” no matter how cute the little ones were!

 We encountered the note in the upper left at the trailhead before we set out on our Stanley Glacier hike in Kootenay National Park two days after the date of the note. Yes, I was a little nervous on that hike, especially since we were the first people on the trail, and the trail was lined in Bear Berry (see chipmunk shot upper right of the lay-out below).

We saw the guy in the large shot on the right of the above lay-out on our way into Moraine Lake (08.18.09).  Not quite sure what he is. There was a hiker on the trail above him, so I was thinking this particular “animal jam” was because of a dog. But he had a big, fluffy tail. Could he be a fox???

The little guy under the fox(?) in the above lay-out is a pica, little rodents a little larger than a mouse. They look and move around like bunnies (boing-boing-boing) but have little round Mickey Mouse ears.  This one is again from the Stanley Glacier trail. There’s another one below, next to the moose from the Mt. Edith Cavell moraine pile.

The bear pictures (above and below) were taken from the car. The fuzzy thing on the other side of the moose (below) is a coyote Rich saw at dusk (thus the poor exposure). The osprey (above and below) make their nest on the bridge at Castle Junction in Banff.

And the moose? He was hanging on the wall over the fireplace at the Meatball Lounge in the Ptarmigan Inn in Banff (where we went for internet). I took his picture because it was looking like he was most likely the only moose I was going to see…

Almost…

We saw this guy in Moose Meadows in the Bow Valley Parkway. He was on a sign. Somebody already took his picture, and we took a picture of their picture. Sorry. You can imagine my disappointment.

Look for more scenery coming…

Rockies Highlights

Sunrise at Patricia & Pyramid Lakes
(Friday, August 7)

Patricia Lake

Pyramid Lake

Sharing a mountaintop cup of coffee w/ 360 views w/ the backpacker dude on top of Whistler’s Mountain
(Friday, August 7)

That’s Mt. Robson in the upper right. Apparently you can rarely see it from the top of Whistlers.

A boat ride to a place mat viewpoint
(Saturday, August 8)

Spirit Island on Maligne Lake

A hike beyond the limits to a bonus 3-part waterfall!
(Sunday, August 9)

Stanley Falls hike. Falls #1 (looking down from above) is left, centre; Falls #5 & #6 upper centre; Stanley Falls, lower centre; Unnamed bonus falls, right.

Walking on an Ice Field: Enduring a Sleet Storm on the Athabasca Glacier
(Monday, August 10)

Heading the carillon’s invitation to Worship
Sunday, August 16

St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Banff (w/ Mt Rundle in the background).

Tea at (almost) 7,000’
(Monday, August 17)

Lake Agnes Teahouse (upper left; upper right; lower half, left half (Rich w/ coffee cup))
Plain of 6 Glaciers Teahouse (lower right; upper half, right half (Rich w/ soup)
Big Beehive Lookout (lower half, left)
Lower left – on the Lake Agnes trail w/ Lake Louise, a small turquoise puddle behind & below us.
Lower centre – I love my rock. At the Lake Louise delta.
Top centre – Rich at the Lake Agnes head, before ascending the Big Beehive trail
Right upper half – A field of fireweed on a flat portion of the Highland Trail en route to the Plain of 6 Glaciers Teahouse

Seeing Stuff that Very Few People Make the Effort to See!

Maligne Lake from the Bald Hills trail
(Wednesday, August 12)

Rainbow from Old Fort summit w/ Lac Beauvert & Athabasca River (Jasper)
(Tuesday, August 11)

Mt Edith Cavell & the Angel Glacier (looking more like the Longhorn BBQ Sauce Glacier these days) from the Meadow trail
(Friday, August 7)

Bow Lake from the foot of the falls
(Friday, August 14)

Bow Glacier Falls from the foot of the falls
(Friday, August 14)

Waterfall at Stanley Glacier, Kootenay Nat’l Park
(Wednesday, August 19)

Up close at Wapta Falls (Yoho Nat’l Park)
(Thursday, August 20)…
… taken from just about here… 
… a wider shot for perspective.

Stay tuned for more (yes, more!) pictures!