Our mountains in winter

This photo was taken in the morning of 26 January 2015, along the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail in Kananaskis Country (the closest area of the mountains west of the city). This gravel road, south of Canmore, travels through the heart of the scenic Smith-Dorrien Valley, which is one of the of the wildest areas in Kananaskis. For years, I had read about this road and how not to drive along it when the weather was poor or if it had been raining. However, usually when I have been there with friends, Cathy and Terry, we have found the road to be in good condition, unlike much of this day. I think the temperature during the day varied from around 1C to a high of 8C.

This day, the three of us had a great day in this area, even though we had to deal with ice everywhere. Parts of the road were bare, other parts wet and muddy and the rest were a solid sheet of ice. Each time we stopped to take photos or watch wildlife, we were surrounded by a sheet of ice. Consequently, I took most of my photos either from inside the car (which usually doesn't work!) or else standing and holding on to the car, which resulted in heat distortion/blur from the car. Most of my shots need to be deleted : ((!

In the afternoon, we drove along the Bow Valley Parkway, where we watched a Coyote lying in the snow, enjoying the sun. We also stopped to look at two very distant Elk feeding

Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for yet another great day in the mountains - always so much fun! I really needed this wonderful day spent with the healing power of nature!

Posting really late today, around 1:00pm. Didn't get to sleep till just after 3:00 am, though. I have several urgent errands to run this afternoon, especially as snow is in the forecast for Saturday and Monday.