Logging piles in the Porcupine Hills
Upper Kananaskis Lake
Arethusa Cirque trail, Kananaskis
One of my favourite views
Kananaskis - a winter wonderland
Batteaux Bay, from Blue Waters Inn, Tobago
Batteaux Bay at Blue Waters Inn, Tobago
Frank's Glass-bottomed boat, Blue Waters Inn, Tob…
Rocks near Little Tobago island
Tropical beach beauty, Tobago
Blue Waters Inn, Tobago
Sand and sea - Blue Waters Inn beach, Tobago
Cacti on Little Tobago, Day 3
Alberta's beautiful foothills and mountains
Beyond the fence
A hazy view with Dandelions
Forgetmenot Pond, Kananaskis
Elbow Falls, Kananaskis
Elbow Falls, Kananaskis
Forgetmenot Pond, Kananaskis
Forgetmenot Pond, Kananaskis
Slough near Eagle Lake
Maskinonge Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
Upper Waterton Lake, seen from the town
A different view from Maskinonge lookout, Waterton
I LOVE Canola
Cameron Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
A view from Red Rock Canyon, Waterton
Smoke from the British Columbia wildfires reaches…
Old barn in a field of canola
Alberta foothills in smoke haze
Cameron Falls, Waterton Lakes National Park
Splash of colour
No longer a home
Treasures in the yellow strip
Yesterday's barn
Out in the middle of nowhere
Bison with smoke haze
Love those hills
Vanishing landscape
Little country school with company
A road less travelled
Clouds over the mountains
The beauty of our mountains
Wide angle on the Bighorn Sheep ridge
A favourite road
Old country schoolhouse
Scenery along Highway 40, Kananaskis
Sheep on a smoky day
Farm in the foothills
Walker House, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Our precious Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta…
Road through Kananaskis
In the middle of nowhere - spot the truck
Waterton Lake from the townsite - before the fire
Pine Coulee Reservoir, Alberta
Pine Coulee Reservoir, Alberta
The colours of fall
Ah, those glorious Larches in their fall colours
Things are not always what they seem
Part of an old miners' camp
Before the snow arrived
Kananaskis before the snowstorm
Stubble pattern
Cattle drive - and a few old barns and sheds
Old times remembered
A view from the Porcupine Hills
Dreaming of spring
Old prairie barn
Winter textures
With a little filtered help
Lying on a bed of hoarfrost
Winter in the Nanton, Alberta, area
Non-wild horses in a wild landscape
The beautiful mountains of Alberta
Filtered
Modern - but I like it
Down by the river on a frosty morning
Winter in Kananaskis
Afternoon light on the foothills
An old, red beauty
Our beautiful Alberta
Snow turns something ordinary into beautiful
Winter walking
Nanton Christmas Bird Count
New Year's Day Bird Count
Sunrise colour over the mountain peaks
A beautiful start to a day
Red's the best in winter
TV's "Heartland" series location
Before the snow
Jagged little peaks
A lone Larch in fall colour
Before winter officially arrives
Following the fenceline
Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis
Grain storage in Heronton
A favourite mountain slope
Just like winter
A few craggy peaks
And here comes the snow
Before the snow came
One spectacular fall day
Sharples grain elevator
Reflecting the sun at 'golden hour'
Running free
Freedom
Magic hour
Two winters ago
Under a stormy sky
When storms blow in
Silos/grain terminal and old elevator, Herronton
01 The glory of fall
02 Hidden in the clouds
Elbow Falls, Kananaskis
The beauty of fall
Gap Lake
A day of swans and ducks and geese
A patterned sky
When fall colours are just a memory
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
When winter comes to the mountains
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
An old barn with character
Distant Larch trees in their fall colour
See also...
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Skull on a fence post
Friends, Dorothy and Stephen, made a decision to drive down south on 20 February 2017 and asked if I would like to go with them. As always, my answer was a delighted "Yes, please!" Our mutual friend, Janet, also came along. The weather forecast looked good, especially compared to the forecast snow for the next few days - actually, it has snowed in Calgary the last two days so, if it also snowed south of us, then this whole area will be looking very different now. After meeting at their house, the four of us left at 8:30 am and drove to Nanton. If one travels on Highway 2, Nanton is a 46-minute drive from the southern edge of Calgary, about 72 kms.
From Nanton, we basically drove in a huge circle between Highway 2 and Highway 22, covering such beautiful scenery. Some of these roads were new roads for us, certainly for me. Each year, I take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton, and my small group covers the area to the SW of Nanton, but much closer to the town than the area we explored five days ago.
This farm was somewhere between Nanton and the Porcupine Hills. As you can see, there was very little or no snow to be seen - the lack of moisture must be a concern to some of the local farmers. Most of the fields were completely bare.
My friends' target bird was the Golden Eagle, but all of us were happy as can be to see anything else that we might come across. As it turned out, not only did we not see a single Golden Eagle, there were not many birds of any kind to see all day. A flock of 50+ Starlings, and 25 Common Ravens, various Magpies, a few Pigeons, Canada Geese and a couple of heard Red-breasted Nuthatches were all that we saw. For animals, we saw one Coyote, five Mule Deer and a couple of White-tailed Deer.
However, perhaps our biggest excitement came when we found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive. We could see the huge herd in the distance, with one lone cowboy on his horse at the rear, coming towards us. The whole procession was following another farmer, driving very slowly with a huge hay bale in the back of his truck. After taking a quick few distant shots, we climbed back into our vehicle and waited, and waited, and waited till the very last cow had walked past us. The cowboy said he appreciated the fact that we had stopped, not wanting to spook any of the animals. As soon as they were past us, we climbed out of the car to take a quick photo or two. I think I've only ever seen a cattle drive maybe twice before. So good to see a genuine cowboy at work, doing what he does so well.
Another interesting stop was when we were driving along part of the Sky View Road. We came across a logging sight, with a couple of large piles of cut logs waiting to be trucked out of the area. Fortunately, it was Family Day, so there were no huge logging trucks on the rough, gravel road leading up the hillside. We were hoping to reach the Lookout in case there were amazing views from up there, but we decided that it might be risky to drive the last part of the road that would have led to the Lookout. We had climbed high enough to already find a lot more snow and the rough, narrow road was not in the best condition. This was where we saw the two White-tailed Deer. We had seen beautiful views already, lower down the road, so we were happy.
"Between the Rockies' vigorous upthrusts and the recumbent lines of the grassland plains, the Porcupine Hills provide a softly rounded interface, gentle contours that stir the heart, They are always so beautiful, from the wildflowers of spring to the hazy shimmer of summer and the sharp gold of fall aspens, and even in the austerity of a landscape under the sharp shadows of snow. The hills bring magic to all the seasons."
These are the first few lines from the book, "Exploring the Routes Less Travelled - Country Roads of Alberta", by Liz Bryan. This is a book that my daughter gave me a year or two ago and I had forgotten just which journeys it covered. Once I was back home, while I was Googling the area that I had just spent the day exploring with my friends, I came across this book online. The short chapter on this area made interesting reading.
Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day, exploring a new area. It was so much fun to see some new things and, of course, the scenery was spectacular. How lucky we are to live within reach of such beauty! Having been out so few times in many weeks, and having taken barely any photos at all, this kind of day was exactly what I needed.
From Nanton, we basically drove in a huge circle between Highway 2 and Highway 22, covering such beautiful scenery. Some of these roads were new roads for us, certainly for me. Each year, I take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton, and my small group covers the area to the SW of Nanton, but much closer to the town than the area we explored five days ago.
This farm was somewhere between Nanton and the Porcupine Hills. As you can see, there was very little or no snow to be seen - the lack of moisture must be a concern to some of the local farmers. Most of the fields were completely bare.
My friends' target bird was the Golden Eagle, but all of us were happy as can be to see anything else that we might come across. As it turned out, not only did we not see a single Golden Eagle, there were not many birds of any kind to see all day. A flock of 50+ Starlings, and 25 Common Ravens, various Magpies, a few Pigeons, Canada Geese and a couple of heard Red-breasted Nuthatches were all that we saw. For animals, we saw one Coyote, five Mule Deer and a couple of White-tailed Deer.
However, perhaps our biggest excitement came when we found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive. We could see the huge herd in the distance, with one lone cowboy on his horse at the rear, coming towards us. The whole procession was following another farmer, driving very slowly with a huge hay bale in the back of his truck. After taking a quick few distant shots, we climbed back into our vehicle and waited, and waited, and waited till the very last cow had walked past us. The cowboy said he appreciated the fact that we had stopped, not wanting to spook any of the animals. As soon as they were past us, we climbed out of the car to take a quick photo or two. I think I've only ever seen a cattle drive maybe twice before. So good to see a genuine cowboy at work, doing what he does so well.
Another interesting stop was when we were driving along part of the Sky View Road. We came across a logging sight, with a couple of large piles of cut logs waiting to be trucked out of the area. Fortunately, it was Family Day, so there were no huge logging trucks on the rough, gravel road leading up the hillside. We were hoping to reach the Lookout in case there were amazing views from up there, but we decided that it might be risky to drive the last part of the road that would have led to the Lookout. We had climbed high enough to already find a lot more snow and the rough, narrow road was not in the best condition. This was where we saw the two White-tailed Deer. We had seen beautiful views already, lower down the road, so we were happy.
"Between the Rockies' vigorous upthrusts and the recumbent lines of the grassland plains, the Porcupine Hills provide a softly rounded interface, gentle contours that stir the heart, They are always so beautiful, from the wildflowers of spring to the hazy shimmer of summer and the sharp gold of fall aspens, and even in the austerity of a landscape under the sharp shadows of snow. The hills bring magic to all the seasons."
These are the first few lines from the book, "Exploring the Routes Less Travelled - Country Roads of Alberta", by Liz Bryan. This is a book that my daughter gave me a year or two ago and I had forgotten just which journeys it covered. Once I was back home, while I was Googling the area that I had just spent the day exploring with my friends, I came across this book online. The short chapter on this area made interesting reading.
Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day, exploring a new area. It was so much fun to see some new things and, of course, the scenery was spectacular. How lucky we are to live within reach of such beauty! Having been out so few times in many weeks, and having taken barely any photos at all, this kind of day was exactly what I needed.
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