Before "winter" arrived
Swainson's Hawk juvenile
Canada Geese on ice at Pine Coulee Reservoir
Old house next to metal silo
Popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl, from January 2015
Christmas Market
Alpaca at the Christmas Market
Alberta foothills in the fall
Granary Road
Goat at the Petting Zoo
The new "Famous Five" at Granary Road
Old, see-through barn
The beauty of erosion
Another surprise on another gloomy day
Common Redpoll / Acanthis flammea
Down on the farm
It's the little guy/gal again
New "barn", Granary Road
A peaceful winter scene
Evening Grosbeaks, male and female
Black farm cat
Autumn in Alberta
Old-fashioned garden decoration
Pioneer Acres branding iron
A country scene
Northern Shrike
Walking in a winter wonderland
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Behind the tangled branches
White-tailed Ptarmigan camouflage
A patch of blue
A change from a world of white
A white world
Time to rest
Sculpture at Granary Road
A happy find
Wilson's Snipe
She can't see me
Standing at the edge of the storm
Memories of colour
Model Mamod Steam Tractor, Pioneer Acres
Aging Echinacea
Modern barn
House Sparrow at the Saskatoon Farm
Old country church
Old tractor at Pioneer Acres
Part of an abandoned mining camp
Dazzling sunlight on distant peaks
The fun times are over
Where countryside and civilization meet
Rural decay on the prairie
Once was wild
White Pheasant
Wild Turkey
The sweetest little thing
Bison/Buffalo
Handsome buck
Licorice Allsorts eyes
Colourful shed at the Cochrane Ecological Institut…
Blacksmith at work, Cochrane Ecological Institute
Wild Turkey at the Cochrane Ecological Institute
Handsome - Norwegian Fjord Horse?
One of my favourite barns
Weathered wood
Barn Owl
Distant ice patterns on the reservoir
Old weathered shed
Spider walking on snow
Morning sun over Pine Coulee Reservoir
Common Redpolls / Acanthis flammea
Lost, in Weaselhead
One of a pair
A beauty of a barn
Shadows
Old house on the prairie
Couple of Coots / Fulica americana
Lest we forget
In winter time
American Tree Sparrow / Spizelloides arborea
Yesterday's absolute treat - the size of your fist…
Beyond repair
At the Saskatoon Farm
The difference 10 days make
September flowers
Licking salt from the road
The red barn
The joys of an old farmyard
Dragonfly - Black Meadowhawk?
Old barns in late afternoon sun
Sweet White-tailed doe
Snow-capped berries
The ever-friendly Black-capped Chickadee
Hello, winter
The return of the ice pillars
And down(y) he flew
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
Pontiac and Massey Harris, rusting side by side
Storm clouds near the city
In fairly good condition
Learning from Mom
Kinetic sculptures by Katie Ohe, KOAC
Lichens on nature trail at KOAC
Fragile and leaning
Goodbye fall, hello winter!
Final resting place
End of the season
Weathered
Curious Alpaca
Happy Halloween!
Autumn Stripes
International Loadstar 1600
Beauty in old age
A touch of Halloween
Double-crested Cormorants / Phalacrocorax auritus
Finally, the search is over
Welcome colour
Kinetic sculpture by Katie Ohe, at KOAC
Early morning sunrise over the mountains
Katie Ohe, sculptor
Naturalist, Gus Yaki, with Harry Kiyooka, artist
Remembering summer colour
Storm arriving at Quarry Lake, near Canmore
After a busy night of hunting
Part of the same shelf cloud
Evening Grosbeak female
See also...
See more...Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
190 visits
Start of the storm
A strong Pacific Jetstream caused dramatic weather the day of this trip, along with rain and very strong winds that brought down trees, powerlines, falling glass from windows of office blocks in downtown, fanned wildfires, and so on.
Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day on 17 October 2017, and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got as far as Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagna for me : )
Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road from Canmore is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river.
It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait.
"One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces."
www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai...
Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces, as the storm moved in. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest.
Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had originally hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no point in doing so in such dreadful weather.
As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines.
I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove back to the edge of the city and along one of the gravel back roads just within the city limits. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home.
Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera, before the next snowfall arrives and stays on the ground for the next few months.
Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day on 17 October 2017, and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got as far as Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagna for me : )
Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road from Canmore is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river.
It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait.
"One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces."
www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai...
Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces, as the storm moved in. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest.
Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had originally hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no point in doing so in such dreadful weather.
As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines.
I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove back to the edge of the city and along one of the gravel back roads just within the city limits. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home.
Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera, before the next snowfall arrives and stays on the ground for the next few months.
Yves Saulnier has particularly liked this photo
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Sign-in to write a comment.