Canadian Goose on Vermillion Lake

Bankshead

Bankshead is an abandoned coal mining town in Banff National Park.  At one time, Bankshead was more modern than Banff, sporting electric power from a coal fired plant and indoor plumbing.  The Canadian Pacific Railway started mining coal there in 1903 but it was closed under low prices and a strike in 1922.

Coal still stretches under Cascade Mountain but by the late 1920s it was no longer deemed acceptable to mine and gather resources in the National Parks.  The buildings were moved off or demolished for the most part with the exception of foundations or shells.  A nice trail with interpretative signs leads through the site though and some of the buildings were moved to Banff where they can still be seen.

This shell of a building was the lamp house.  Each miner had their own numbered lamp that was given to them as they entered the mine.  At the end of the shift they knew to send a search party if the lamp wasn't returned.

Canadian geese on the Bow River as seen from the Sundance Trail.

This is the Bow River just below the falls in Banff.  Picture taken at dusk on a tripod and then digitally enhanced to bring out some shadow detail.

Banff Golf Course

We are starting to get an idea where to find the wildlife now.  Last weekend we saw elk, sheep, deer, a bald eagle, and any number of ducks, geese, and such.  Must have seen several hundred sheep.  This elk was on the golf course at Banff - those are sand traps in the background.  There was a small group of 3 males.  We also saw cows down by Vermillion Lakes.  Still haven't seen a bear although I know they are out.  There was a fisherman on the Bow River just below the falls....

Between Exshaw and Dead Man's Flats

It was a beautiful day but you can see the rain clouds to east in this picture and we drove through it on the way back to Calgary.

Inunnguaq

This is just downstream of the confluence of the Spray River and the Bow.

Castle Mountain

Red-winged Blackbird

Seen at Vermillion Lakes

Wabbits

It's springtime and the rabbits are out.  Saw 5 of them together out on the lawn between the apartments and the river.  I'd see a lone rabbit here and there late last fall and over the winter.  I actually wondered how they could find each other in the city to maintain the rabbit population.  I shouldn't have worried.  Like I said, it's spring.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

This group of young rams was on Hwy 40 in Kananaskis. How do I know they are young? Well, they don't have much of a curl yet. Just down the road was a small group of ewes and yearlings. And to top it off, after coffee in Canmore, we saw a larger group of sheep between Canmore and Exeter off Hwy 1A.

Blond Coyote

We had a snow last week but it is definitely warming up and the animals are starting to move.  Within the last couple of weeks there have been reports of grizzly bears up and about in Banff National Park and an area outside of Canmore has been closed due to cougar activity.  Meanwhile I photographed this coyote at Spray Lake just south of Canmore on the road.  It's coat was in good shape, seemed well fed, and more than anything else just seemed curious about us.  Beautiful...

Cougar Activity

Sign posted along Cougar Creek on the east side of Canmore.  It probably goes without saying that we didn't go in.  I think it is as much to avoid disturbing the cougars as it is to protect hikers with fancy cameras.

World's Longest and Highest Suspension Footbridge

Capilano Footbridge, North Vancouver

Whytecliff Park

American Black Oystercatcher

Saw a couple of these near Horseshoe Bay in the Whytecliff Park.  There are estimated to be between 9,000 to 11,000 of this species along the west coast of North America.

Seaplane Base

This is the seaplane base as seen from Vancouver, looking across to North Vancouver.  It threatened rain all day but stayed fairly nice although on the cool side.

Raccoon

Vancouver is at the north end of the range of the raccoon.  This one was spotted in Stanley Park in late afternoon.  First I saw a pair at the inlet to Lost Lagoon and then three more about 20 meters down the path.

Karate Seagull

He was fighting with another seagull.  I think the Karate Kid used this same move at the very end of the movie to defeat the bully.

Gastown Waterfront.

This weekend we are in Vancouver and hopefully I'll come up with a few more pictures.  The weather was mostly miserable - rainy and very windy although fortunately not too cold.  The view here is towards Canada Place from the SEABUS Terminal.

Fairmont Banff

Rundle

There is a great view of Rundle from Tunnel Mountain.  The Bow River and the golf course are bottom left.  Rundle stretches 12 km from this face all the way down to Canmore.

Tunnel Mountain

The mountain in the upper right is Tunnel Mountain, located in Banff townsite.  It is the most climbed mountain in Banff National Park and we ran into plenty of people on the way up (and down).  The path was ice free and a steady moderate climb on a good trail with switchbacks all the way to the top.

This picture was taken from the Vermillion Lakes on the north end of town.  Tunnel Mountain used to be known as Sleeping Buffalo and you might be able to visualize that from this photo.  The head is on the left with the hump and body just behind it.  There is no tunnel in Tunnel Mountain.  When they first surveyed the area for the railroad they had planned a tunnel but ended up going around the mountain instead.

Teresa likes this picture because you can't see the larger mountains around it in the haze so it is hard to tell how high it is.  Actually it is only a bit more than a 300 m climb so not too bad but there is a good view.

Spray River Valley

This is the west side of Mount Rundle as seen from the Spray River Valley.  It was taken on a nice hike out of Banff, a plus or minus 12 km round trip that follows the Spray River.  You can walk or bike all the way to Canmore if you keep going south.  Elevation changes are moderate, only 100+ meters or so but you climb up and back down on each side of the river.

We didn't see much wildlife on this walk although the first grizzly was spotted last week in Banff National Park.  There was still ice and snow on the trail and YakTrax were in order.

Burgermobile

I haven't been to Eddies yet but I like his wheels

Moon over Rundle

The sun was setting and the moon was rising when I took this picture of Rundle in Banff from the bridge that crosses the Bow River on the west side of town.

Canmore hoodoos

The Canmore hoodoos are on the east side of town and are kind of neat.  We had never noticed them before today but climbed up to see them after spotting them.

Texas Gate

In Alberta, a cattle guard is called a Texas Gate in some places.  Just down the road 90 meters from me here is another sign with a picture of a cow.  The Texas Gate is just this side of that cow sign.

Sheep River Valley

The Sheep River is on the south end of Kananaskis Country, whereas yesterday's location is further north and west, maybe 25 km away as the crow flies.  There is a highway here above the river on the right - and it is closed.  In fact the highway at yesterdays location was closed  too.  Why?  They are closed in the winter to take pressure off the wildlife and give them access to water and food in the valleys.  They will open again in May.

Today we walked a kilometer and a half along the closed highway to get to the trailhead and took the Foran Grade Trail.  From there we looped back along the Windy Point Trail to the Sheep Trail which follows the river.  The loop itself is 6.4 km so the total including the closed road was between 9 and 10 km.  The elevation gain is around 225 m.

The ridge in the picture on the upper right is Windy Point.  This area has a lot of sheep and there was sign, but unfortunately we didn't get to see any.  The temperature was up around 12 deg C today - over 50 deg F and a very nice day.

The view of Windy Point Ridge from the Foran Grade Trail.  The Sheep River valley is off the frame to the left.