Random Sights, Victoria BC

The capitol of the province with a statue of Queen Victoria out front

Houseboats and kayaks

A figure from a totem pole

A street performer who calls himself plasterman

Islands in the Clouds

Flying back up the coast from Seattle to Vancouver and then across to Calgary today I was struck by the way the mountains protruded through the clouds.  They looked like islands with fog rolling in.

The Drive to Whistler

A view on the way to Whistler from Kelowna.

Black Bear at Whistler

This black bear was just below Blackcomb Peak.  I'm pretty sure he saw me before I saw him but when I first noticed him his head was down and he was eating.  I saw a black shape that seemed out of place about 100 meters away and stopped.  Then he looked up.  He wasn't that interested in us, he just kind of looked up from time to time to keep track and then wandered off. 

This was at 1860 meters altitude according to my GPS and he was eating grass.  His coat was in good shape and he looked fat.  In Waterton they go into hibernation in early November.  I'm not sure about here.  Anyway, it was snowing lightly and around 3 degrees C.  There are supposed to be about 60 bears in this area.

Whistler Mountain Peak 2 Peak

The view from the Gondola during the ride from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain. It is the highest and longest lift of it's type and carries skiers from one peak to the other.

Kelowna

We are on a trip of the Pacific Northwest.  This is the Japanese Garden in Kelowna, British Columbia.  One of these days, I might write a tour guide to Japanese Gardens in North America.

Lake O'Hara

A view from the climb to Lake Oesa with Lake O'Hara in the far background.  The little stream pours through a series pools into the lake.  This is one of the more scenic spots in the Canadian Rockies and access is limited to protect the fragile environment.

Along the way, I got the best opportunity to photograph a mountain goat up close I've had but blew it while changing lenses.  It was a beautiful day and perfect weather for hiking.  It can be cold and snowy up here this time of year however and the bus that takes you into the area stops running today for the season.  If you can get in, this is a very worthwhile place to visit...

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.

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.

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.

Natural Bridge

The water of the Kicking Horse River dives underneath the rock I am standing on and heads towards the right side of the frame.  The horizontal rock stretching along the right is the natural bridge itself.

Downstream of the natural bridge