For The Love of Travel

Yay, we get to photograph Lake Louise this morning. Same pack drill as yesterday and yes, I have made sure I come with memory card in camera. No clouds this morning to provide a special sky pizzazz, but very awesome daylight dawning nevertheless.

Today I am making for Vernon, to catch up friends Jacqui and Jack – it’s a road trip of 380 km on Trans Canada highway #1 going south-west.  I discover that the bulk of the places  along the way that I wanted to visit, are now closed for the winter. And there are many road works, so the journey time will be lengthened.

I take time to call into see the Giant Cedars in Mt Revelstoke N Park. They are awesome. The boardwalk takes you into the heart of the of park’s old growth forest, among cedars that are more than half a millennium old. Benches are provided so you can relax and breathe in the serene forest atmosphere. 

I drive to see Miller Lake but again disappointed as rangers have closed the access road for seasonal maintenance – did see a beautiful deciduous tree, sparkling in its yellow-orangey form.

Got to Vernon in time for dinner with mates and a week’s stay in the lovely Okanagan area. Woo hoo.

So I get all excited this early morn, because its sunrise photo taking time at Lake Louise – returning after 4 years, this time with tripod and capacity to do long exposures and use a filter. Perfect. Freezing cold with -2 degrees at 7am. Tripod and camera all assembled at the photo taking point, with about another 20 keen photographers. Turn camera on and I read a message “no memory card available”.  I freeze, but not from the cold. Good God, I’ve left the memory card in the computer last night after doing my edits. NOOOOOOOO! Lids is not taking a photo this morning after all. As I was travelling to the hotel, got to see what the sky was doing in the opposite direction. Very nice hues. Ah well. Lesson learnt.

After brekkie, travelled to see the renowned Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, crossing the border back into BC. Glad I got there before 10am, because after that, bus hoards descended. A 5.2 hiking trail circuits the lake, the first half of which is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. The lake is enclosed by mountains of the President Range, as well as Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain. The vivid turquoise colour of the water, caused by powdered limestone, is most spectacular in July, as snow melts from the surrounding mountains. Still a lovely sight in October.  

Then onto Natural Bridge, an impressive rock formation that spans the Kicking Horse River, where the slower moving waters from the Field River flats begin their descent through a canyon to be joined by the Amiskwi River. It’s a powerful reminder of how much influence water plays in the shaping of a landscape!

 

 

 

 

 

Went back in the evening for sunset….

Lovely weather for exploring more rocks and water vistas. First stop Lake Minnewanka, meaning “Water of the Spirits”, is a glacial lake fed by the Cascade River, in the eastern part of Banff. Its 21 km long and 142m deep making it the 2nd longest lake in the Canadian Rockies. The area is rich in animal life – bear, elk, mule deer. Back to downtown Banff for brunch…the mountains that surround the town make a real impact as you drive around.

Next the Bow Valley Parkway, a 50 km scenic route with lovely picnic stops; a canyon and falls to explore;  Morant’s Curve, where the Bow River and rail line snake in front of the rising peaks of Mt Temple and Fairview mountain; and the dramatic Castle Mountain, sitting astride the mountain fault, which has thrust older sedimentary rocks forming the upper part of the mount over younger rocks forming its base. Its castellated appearance is a result of erosive processes at different rates on the peak’s alternating layers of softer shale and harder limestone and quartzite.

I love the grassy wildlife overpasses on the Trans Canada Highway – these innovative structures have opened migration corridors and saved countless animals from vehicle collisions, including grizzlies. Pine trees and wildflowers have given root, giving the overpasses a fringe of greenery. There are also camouflaged underpasses, which black bears and mountain lions prefer to use. 

Also in the Bow River Valley, but closer to Banff, are the (3) Vermillion Lakes from which you can see Mt Rundle and Sulphur Mountain. I visited during the day and came back for sunset, and was sooo rewarded. A beautiful pink/blue hue over one set of mountains and over to my right, simultaneous yellow/orange hues over another mountain group – about 15 photographers arrived for the sunset and left quite quickly, leaving myself and Charlie, backpacker from England, to revel in the sunset’s  ‘afterglow’. Magic!!