It's beginning to look a lot like winter
Distant Larch trees in their fall colour
An old barn with character
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
When winter comes to the mountains
Fall colours at Silver Springs Botanical Gardens
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
Bark colour after the rain
When fall colours are just a memory
Sometimes it's wildlife, sometimes it's .... cows
A patterned sky
A day of swans and ducks and geese
Gap Lake
The beauty of fall
Elbow Falls, Kananaskis
02 Hidden in the clouds
01 The glory of fall
Silos/grain terminal and old elevator, Herronton
An old favourite
A colourful walk through the woods
When storms blow in
Under a stormy sky
Simplicity
Two winters ago
Magic hour
Freedom
Running free
Reflecting the sun at 'golden hour'
Sharples grain elevator
Oak leaf and insect gall
One spectacular fall day
Before the snow came
And here comes the snow
Old barn at the Ellis Bird Farm
A few craggy peaks
Just like winter
A favourite mountain slope
Grain storage in Heronton
Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis
Following the fenceline
Before winter officially arrives
One of my favourite barns
A lone Larch in fall colour
Can you see what I see?
Jagged little peaks
Before the snow
TV's "Heartland" series location
Red's the best in winter
A beautiful start to a day
Sunrise colour over the mountain peaks
New Year's Day Bird Count
Nanton Christmas Bird Count
Winter walking
Snow turns something ordinary into beautiful
Our beautiful Alberta
An old, red beauty
Afternoon light on the foothills
Winter in Kananaskis
Down by the river on a frosty morning
Jazzing up the old silos - with Pacman
Modern - but I like it
Filtered
The peace of a prairie farm - my main photo today
A vanishing world
When sane people do crazy things
Distant haze
The beauty of Kananaskis along Highway 40
Autumn colours at the stormwater pond
Glorious colours of fall
Periglacial feature, Plateau Mountain
Looking towards top of Plateau Mountain
The long hike down the mountain
Our beautiful foothills on an overcast day
Across the river
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy
The arrival of fall
The long road south
McDougall Memorial United Church
Lower Kananaskis Lake at Peninsular
Peninsular, Lower Kananaskis Lake
One of my favourite meadows
Mt. Buller, Buller Pond, Kananaskis
A view from Mt. Shark
Above the tree line
Mt Lorette Ponds, Kananaskis
Mossleigh grain elevators
Fading into the distance
Storm clouds over Canola
Gottlob Schmidt's Antelope Hill Ranch
Antelope Hill Provincial Park
Weathered and patched
01 Middle Lake, Bow Valley Provincial Park
Yellow and blue
Beautiful old house in the hills
Landscape colours
Layers of colour
The Grad Barn 2016
The difference the sun makes
Prince of Wales hotel, Waterton
Challenges of a photographer
Wildflowers galore at the Bison Paddock
Waterton Lakes National Park
Layers
Love those Canola fields
Lighting up the storm clouds
This old house
Escape of the Black-crowned Night Heron
Ram's Horn Snail shell
And then there were only THREE!
Middle Lake, Bow Valley Provincial Park
One of my favourite views
Hike on Erik Butters' beautiful land
Meadow Creek area, Benchlands
Along a country back road
Entrance to the Ellis Bird Farm
The old barn at the Ellis Bird Farm
McDougall Memorial United Church
Dandelions - of course : )
Still standing
An old barn in winter
Charcoal effect
Roof shingles galore
A day in the mountains
Clouds, reflected
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221 visits
Almost above the clouds
This photo was taken during a brief moment when I could actually see some of my friends in the distance. Most of the time, they would have vanished completely into thick cloud. There was one moment when we were all spaced out and I couldn't see anyone or anything - not a good feeling to have when walking on the top of a mountain.
On 28 September 2016, I was with friends down on a lower plateau of Plateau Mountain, in sunshine and bare ground. A week later, on 5 October 2016, we weren't even sure whether to go again, as the forecast was not good, snow and -6C. In the end, seven of us reckoned we would go and see if we could get to the top of Plateau Mountain (special permission was obtained). Conditions worsened en route and, while we were driving up the rough gravel mountainside road, trees were beginning to have a light covering of snow. On our way up to the plateau top, everything disappeared from sight, swallowed up by the swirling low cloud. Once at the top, I couldn't really see anything through my viewfinder, other than an occasional shape - just grey. It really was a case of point and shoot and hope that I was capturing something. Most of the time, you could see nothing - such poor visibility. Amazingly, a few of my photos were not too bad after they had been brightened. Impossible to tell from my photo, but we were standing at a height of approximately 8251 ft.
The mountain itself is located in the Savannah Creek Gas Field and there were two producing gas wells located on the summit of the mountain which were accessed by a road which is gated to prohibit public vehicle access. More recently, the plant we walked to was closed down. We walked over ground that was treacherous to walk on, even more so when mostly covered by snow. There are areas of patterned ground where larger pieces of rock are arranged in polygonal patterns with finer materials in the centre. These patterns were formed during the ice age when the mountain rose above the surrounding ice. Every rock and plant stem was covered in chunky ice crystals. This walk was only fairly short, but long enough, given the conditions. Long enough to take a few photos and find a few animal tracks (small, thank goodness, not Grizzly or Cougar!). For a few minutes or moments, there would be a slight opening in the low cloud and we caught sight of a tiny patch of blue sky - then the whole world around us would disappear yet again into the cloud. No sign of any of the spectacular mountains that surround Plateau Mountain. I have lots of views in my Plateau Mountain album, taken in good weather during several past visits.
Thanks so much, Sandy, for planning this trip and for the ride! The weather certainly gave us a different kind of outing, which was great. Still can't believe that I've been lucky enough to visit this area twice in eight days!
"This nearly flat high-elevation plateau is recognized for several unique features. There is an internationally recognized ice cave with ice crystals, curls, sheets and pillars (ice crystals are so fragile that a temperature increase of one degree Celsius can cause melting). The periglacial features (known as "patterned ground") in the reserve include active permafrost, sorted stone circles, polygons, steps and frost boils. The area also contains critical winter range for bighorn sheep." From www.albertaparks.ca/plateau-mountain.aspx
There are no public roads in Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve; the road to the mountain top is leased by Husky Oil; to prevent vandalism to natural gas production facilities and to lessen impact on the area's natural features, access is controlled by the locked gate; travel in the reserve is by foot only; there are no facilities on site and overnight camping and open fires are prohibited."
www.albertaparks.ca/media/2741526/plateau_mtn_mgmt_plan.pdf
On 28 September 2016, I was with friends down on a lower plateau of Plateau Mountain, in sunshine and bare ground. A week later, on 5 October 2016, we weren't even sure whether to go again, as the forecast was not good, snow and -6C. In the end, seven of us reckoned we would go and see if we could get to the top of Plateau Mountain (special permission was obtained). Conditions worsened en route and, while we were driving up the rough gravel mountainside road, trees were beginning to have a light covering of snow. On our way up to the plateau top, everything disappeared from sight, swallowed up by the swirling low cloud. Once at the top, I couldn't really see anything through my viewfinder, other than an occasional shape - just grey. It really was a case of point and shoot and hope that I was capturing something. Most of the time, you could see nothing - such poor visibility. Amazingly, a few of my photos were not too bad after they had been brightened. Impossible to tell from my photo, but we were standing at a height of approximately 8251 ft.
The mountain itself is located in the Savannah Creek Gas Field and there were two producing gas wells located on the summit of the mountain which were accessed by a road which is gated to prohibit public vehicle access. More recently, the plant we walked to was closed down. We walked over ground that was treacherous to walk on, even more so when mostly covered by snow. There are areas of patterned ground where larger pieces of rock are arranged in polygonal patterns with finer materials in the centre. These patterns were formed during the ice age when the mountain rose above the surrounding ice. Every rock and plant stem was covered in chunky ice crystals. This walk was only fairly short, but long enough, given the conditions. Long enough to take a few photos and find a few animal tracks (small, thank goodness, not Grizzly or Cougar!). For a few minutes or moments, there would be a slight opening in the low cloud and we caught sight of a tiny patch of blue sky - then the whole world around us would disappear yet again into the cloud. No sign of any of the spectacular mountains that surround Plateau Mountain. I have lots of views in my Plateau Mountain album, taken in good weather during several past visits.
Thanks so much, Sandy, for planning this trip and for the ride! The weather certainly gave us a different kind of outing, which was great. Still can't believe that I've been lucky enough to visit this area twice in eight days!
"This nearly flat high-elevation plateau is recognized for several unique features. There is an internationally recognized ice cave with ice crystals, curls, sheets and pillars (ice crystals are so fragile that a temperature increase of one degree Celsius can cause melting). The periglacial features (known as "patterned ground") in the reserve include active permafrost, sorted stone circles, polygons, steps and frost boils. The area also contains critical winter range for bighorn sheep." From www.albertaparks.ca/plateau-mountain.aspx
There are no public roads in Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve; the road to the mountain top is leased by Husky Oil; to prevent vandalism to natural gas production facilities and to lessen impact on the area's natural features, access is controlled by the locked gate; travel in the reserve is by foot only; there are no facilities on site and overnight camping and open fires are prohibited."
www.albertaparks.ca/media/2741526/plateau_mtn_mgmt_plan.pdf
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