Scenery 2

Barrier Lake was our first stop on a beautiful drive through Kananaskis yesterday. Friends very kindly invited me to go with them for the day, as they needed to check out the Mt. Lorette area before the Golden Eagle migration takes place just a few minutes' drive away from this lake. We were lucky that a group of people were taking kayak lessons while we were there. After endless rain and grey-skied days (a whole summer of it!), we were so lucky to have a decent day yesterday. A healthy mix of sun and cloud went perfectly with the fall colours that suddenly seem to have appeared. Today, we are back to rain, and more rain in the forecast. Thanks, D and S for such a wonderful day! Barrier Lake is located approximately 80 km west of Calgary city limits, so takes about an hour to drive there. The Barrier Lake Visitor Information Centre is located 6 km (3.6 miles) south of the Trans-Canada Highway, on Highway 40. If you ever get the chance, Highway 40 takes you on a spectacular scenic loop through Kananaskis!

I don't like using the "S" word (SNOW), but we all knew it had to happen sometime!!!!! LOL, taken today on a botanizing trip south of the city! We were supposed to botanize two ranches down in the William's Coulee area for the day, but quickly realized that all the plants were covered. The day turned out to be a birding trip from the comfort of the car instead, ha. This is still SUMMER!!! We did see a lot of Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks perched high, many American Pippits and a few other species. When we got back to Calgary, I went back to Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, to see if I could find any fungi, and then, on my way home, I called in at a Birthplace Forest to check if any mushrooms were growing amongst all the woodchips. Most of my photos from today were a complete waste of time - most will need to be deleted. Where IS the sun??? My camera just won't take any decent shots in such low light : (

Wednesday was such a mixed day, weatherwise. I went with friends to Kananaskis, where we drove the Highway 40 loop - such a magnificent, scenic route! Blue sky and sunshine part of the time, alternating with grey, billowy clouds. Can't remember if this was a view taken from the Elpoca Trail head, just off Highway 40, but this mountain area had such a strange look to it - almost like gleaming metal. We all throughly enjoyed this rare, decent day in a "summer" that barely "was", LOL. We had been expecting to see snow on the ground, but everywhere was pleasantly bare - for now : ) Was out birding at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary all morning - 37 species were seen, but all much too far away to photograph, and the light was crummy, too. I did happen to notice a couple of rather pathetic fungi, though, and I did photograph THEM, LOL. No sunshine in the forecast for the next few days, either - actually, it did come out for a bit this afternoon, but I fell asleep straight after I'd eaten lunch. Seems to be the story of my life these days - when I'm not out with my camera, I'm home and fallen asleep in front of the TV, thanks to getting so little sleep at night, ha. Like last winter, this coming winter I will have to make sure I get more sleep than during the summer months. It was cold out this morning, 1C-5C (34F-41F) - wore a fleece jacket, plus a fleece vest and my thick winter jacket! And it's still SUMMER! Average high for September is 16C (61F).

When I was out in Kananaskis with friends on Wednesday, we stopped at the Elpoca pull-off to photograph the mountains in the distance and to have a quick look around. These pretty waterfalls were only a matter of a few steps away, but were hidden from the road (Highway 40). Some beautiful mosses covered the rocks we walked past to the right of the falls, and there were even a few fungi (as seen in my next photo). No spectacular photos of them, and am uploading the shrooms more as a reminder to myself. A side road climbs upwards at this pull-off, but the gate was closed, unfortunately. I'm still shaking my head at how lucky we were to have had some sunshine that day (as well as lots of dark, billowing black cloud, LOL). A beautiful day out!

Not a particularly good shot technically, but there is something that I just liked about this image. This was our final pull-off on the Highway 40 loop through Kananaskis, coming back via the south to Calgary.

We get very little red colour in our fall here in Alberta, unlike further east in Canada. Not sure if the splashes of red here were rose leaves or something else, but it was nice to see it added to our usual yellow and orange. Seen three days ago on a morning walk at Mallard Point, Fish Creek Park, on the eastern side of the Bow River.

It won't be long now before all the leaves are off the trees. After a quick, rather disappointing visit to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park three days ago, I drove home via some of the backroads south of 22X. The fall colours were beautiful (though unfortunately I was facing the sun in this shot). The next day, Tuesday, it was grey and pouring with rain when I went out to Kananaskis for the afternoon, so I was thankful that I had seen these lovely colours the previous day.

I always love seeing this strangely shaped mountain and was lucky enough to get the chance to spend the day in this area on Thursday. Went with two Lichen-lovers/experts, who are searching for and recording every different species of Lichen they come across. This mountain is on the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, so is part of the very first range that is seen when driving westwards from Calgary. "While it is officially named Mount John Laurie, also known as Mount Laurie, it is best known now by the native name Mount Yamnuska, or simply Yamnuska. Yamnuski translates to "wall of stone." John Laurie was a founder of the Indian Association of Alberta. Mount John Laurie is the first mountain on the north side of the Bow River valley (Bow Valley) as it exits the mountains for the foothills and prairie of Alberta. Located close to Calgary, it is a popular "great scramble". It is also a popular rock climbing destination, with over 100 routes of all difficulty levels spread out across its face. This mountain is the result of a thrust from the Mcconnell Fault. This resulted in 80 million year old rock in the face of its cliff and 8 million year old rock at the scree slopes near its base." The thrust line is clearly visible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_John_Laurie

What a treat to see the beautiful fall colour on the way from Calgary to Bow Valley Provincial Park. Though the trees are rapidly losing their golden leaves, it was wonderful while it lasted : ) As you can see, we don't have the breath-taking red Maples that you find in eastern Canada, but, yellow is beautiful. Taken on 30th September, on the way to search for Lichens (and, for me, anything else as well!) in Bow Valley PP.