Mask in the Park

This paper mask was left in the park near the Shakespeare festival stage in Calgary's Princes Park on a lamp post.  I wonder who left it there and why...

Stoney Nakoda

I photographed this young girl from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation at a traditional dance in Banff.

Sunshine Meadows

Sunshine Meadows are an alpine and sub-alpine area north of Banff and straddling the continental divide so it lies in both British Columbia and Alberta.  Rock Isle Lake is in the foreground, the Monarch behind it.

The alpine is a difficult environment for plants and a fragile one.  This area is part of a ski resort and there was enough snow for skiing up until June.  The growing season is only 3 months long, the trees are stunted and small.  For the most part, people seem to stay on the trails during the summer which allows the flowers that would otherwise be underfoot the ability to grow and sow their seeds.

Another view of Rock Isle Lake, this time from the Standish Viewpoint.  The tall mountain framed center and in the far background is Mount Assiniboine, also known as the Matterhorn of the Canadian Rockies.  It is about 30 km distant.

Bike Rack

A bike rack at a new high rise office building being built in Calgary.  Sometimes I feel artsy.

Glacier Lilies

This field of glacier lilies is located above Highwood Pass.  Glacier lilies are among the first wild flowers to bloom when the snow melts.  The corms were eaten by Native Americans and are still eaten by... bears.  Digging is obvious in the photo and a grizzly was spotted down near the pass the day we were there.

Three Sisters

The Three Sisters are emblematic of the town of Canmore.  This is the view from the baseball field on the south side of town.

Ptarmigan Cirque

The ancient glacier valley in front of Ptarmigan Cirque is about a one hour hike from the car park at Highwood Pass.

A chipmunk on the trail to Ptarmigan Cirque.

Eastern Wood Lily

The eestern wood lily is widely distributed across North America.  This one, along with a whole lot more, was blooming at Many Springs in Bow Valley Provincial Park.  It is worth making a stop here as there are a lot of uncommon flowers in multitude as well as unusual geology.  The site is very accessible and doesn't require a lot of hiking to get to.

Pika

I now believe this to be Ochotona princeps, aka the Little Chief Hare. If you know anything about pikas, let me know.  This is the first one I've ever seen, identified, and photographed.  They are cute little critters about the size of a guinea pig, but related to rabbits, and are not rodents.  They live in the alpine and can't tolerate heat - this one was at something over 2200 meters near Grizzly Col.  The pika is a herbivore and cuts and stores grass for the winter.  This little guy was somewhat curious about me but wouldn't stray too far from his home and ducked back in the rocks if I moved too fast or got too close.

Although I love to see the bears and big game animals, finding these little ones is satisfying too.  Because of their habits, some of them are much more difficut to photograph.  I am getting to where I don't even pick up my camera at times anymore with deer and sheep.  We saw a couple dozen ewes with lambs yesterday.  The lambs are half grown.

Highwood Pass

Highway 40 in Alberta goes over Highwood Pass in Kananaskis Country.  It is the highest paved road over a pass in the country.  There are several trails that can be accessed here and it is an easy way to walk alpine meadows without a climb.

Stampede

A traditional dance at Olympic Plaza in Calgary this afternoon...

Mount Burgess

We drove over to Emerald Lake this afternoon.  This shot is of Mount Burgess, a 2,599 m (8,527 ft) mountain in Yoho National Park, British Columbia.  It is also the location of the Burgess Shale, a depository of 505 million year old Middle Cambrian fossils with many soft parts preserved that has been declared a World Heritage Site.  The mountain was also depicted on the Canadian $10 bill for many years.

Acrobatic Ice Show

There are a lot of different types of entertainment at the Stampede gronds and one of them is a show on ice, mixed with acrobats, and a live band.  Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the 2010 Olympic gold medalists and world champions shown here in "A Rock 'n Roll Fantasy".

Mountie Poet

This retired mountie was reciting poetry and telling stories about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Stampede.

Shriner in a Tin Lizzie

Another picture taken at the Stampede Parade....

Hearse

Everybody participates in the Stampede Parade.

Cadillac Eldorado

One fine ride...  The hood ornament came as standard equipment in Alberta, Oklahoma, and Texas.  They were selling plastic ones that attach to your hood with magnets at the Stampede grounds.

Boy on a Pony

Boy being led on a pony, Stampede Parade

Tangley Calliaphone

A woman plays a calliope inside a horse drawn circus wagon in the Calgary Stampede parade.  The instrument has a nameplate stating it is a Tangley Calliaphone, made in Donnellson, Iowa.

Wapta Falls

Today was a rainy day in Yoho National Park.  It's about a 30 minute walk from the parking area to the falls and the cloudy hazy light actually made it easier to photograph as well as really saturating the colors.  This shot looks down on the falls from slightly in front of it.  The spray from the waterfall  is clearly visible upper middle right.

This is a very interesting falls - I wish I knew the geology.  Downstream is this rubble pile with the main river cutting around it to the right in this photograph.  The spray makes trees in the background hard to see.

And just downstream of that is this interesting island.

Glacier Hotel

These are the remains of the Glacier Hotel, operated between 1887 and 1925 by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in Glacier National Park.  The hotel was famous for it's sophistication and as a base for mountain exploration.  Starting in 1887, George, William, and Mary Vaux of Philadelphia photographed and measured the Illecillewaet Glacier and became prominent in mountaineering and scientific circles.  They developed their negatives in the basement containing the boiler in this photo.

Christmas Trees

The Rock Garden, Revelstoke National Park

Bear Falls

Glacier National Park

Ferns along the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk

Revelstoke National Park

Salmon Arm

The pier at Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Ospreys with Chicks

A pair of Ospreys and their 3 chicks, Salmon Arm.

Takakkaw Falls

I'll quote from the interprative sign on the path to the falls...

When you say "Takakkaw", you are saying "it is magnificent", in Cree.  It is the right name for this 254 metre waterfall, one of the highest in Canada.

Daly Glacier, 350m from the brink, feeds the falls.  The glacier, in turn, is fed by the Waputik Icefield.  Snow falling on the icefield becomes moving ice in the glacier, which melts to become Takakkaw Falls.

In the summer, the rock face roars with the plnging mountain torrent.  But in autumn, the melt is slowed, and by winter, the raging falls narrows to a ribbon of ice awaiting  summer to set it free.

You can walk to the base of the falls where the milky melt form the glacier is palpably in the air.  Takakkaw Falls is in Yoho National Park.

Another view of the falls....

Columbia Valley

The view from Mount Revelstoke into the Columbia River valley.  It was rainy and cool at the top of the mountain.  The last two kilometers had to be hiked and still had snow.  Today we saw a cow elk, black bear, marten, and in the distance some mountain goats.  It was the first marten I've seen in the wild.  Mount Revelstoke is in Revelstoke National Park.  We've been in four today - Banff, Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstoke.

Canada Day

We're on a road trip and this is Lake Louise as seen this morning through a fisheye lens.

Teresa and I on Rogers Pass Summit, Glacier National Park.  Happy Canada Day.