The beauty of winter

I had such a very enjoyable day with a birding friend on 23 November 2013, going SW of the city to Highway 40 and Highwood Pass, in Kananaskis. To look for a White-tailed Ptarmigan was our main aim, plus enjoying a beautiful, sunny day in magnificent scenery. Our weather around that time was comparatively mild - if only it could be like this all winter long! No White-tailed Ptarmigan to be seen by us or several other people we bumped into, though my friend did see some tracks made by these birds. The main highway in this area had just been opened for the first time since all the damage done by Alberta's Flood of the Century, but the whole area was closed again a week later, because it always closes each winter. My photo was taken near the parking lot for Ptarmigan Cirque, and really the only way you could get around was with cross-country skis or snowshoes. My friend had just bought some snowshoes, so he got a good workout checking through the trees, but I stayed on the very narrow track just past the wooden bridge for just a short distance, trying not to plunge through the thin snow crust along the centre of the trail, into very deep snow up to my knees. Even though it's a nice, soft landing if you lose your balance, it's just about impossible to get back up again without help! Thanks so much for a great day, Tony! Much appreciated!

Highwood Pass is the highest drivable pass in Canada, at 7239 ft. (2206 m.) This road is Highway 40 in Kananaskis Country, Alberta south of Calgary. The road is closed from 1st December to 15th June every year to facilitate elk, big horn sheep, deer and moose doing their spring grazing during that time. As well, with spring babies being born, predators are attracted to the area.