RHH's photos with the keyword: hike

This is the Whitehorn Basin and the Robson River where we camped overnight on our backpacking trip to Berg Lake. Whitehorn Mountain can be seen in the background. At this point we had hiked 11 kilometers over a fairly easy trail, but had spent a lot of time taking photos and admiring the scenery. The next four kilometers would be quite difficult, but we did that the next morning when we were fresh.

Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park.

Photographed in Whitehorn Basin on the Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park. I am not completely sure of the identification on this species of Paintbrush - I find them very difficult to distinguish.

The last few kilometers of our hike into the Berg Lake area we ran into a snowstorm and our first view of the lake and glaciers was through a near white-out. The snow did not last very long and what fell was soon melted, but was a reminder of the fact that we were in the northern mountains.

This was our highest camp, though we did day hikes from this area to much higher elevations. Mount Robson is said to be free from clouds only seven days in a year and this was what we typically saw while at the camp. The glacier is very active, constantly calving into the lake below. We often heard it at night and the lake almost always had icebergs floating in it, hence the name. I should have added earlier that Mount Robson is the highest peak in Canada at 3,954 meters.

Berg Glacier is one the glaciers that flows from Mount Robson. This glacier is constantly calving into Berg Lake.

In Explore July 28, 2009, #201. Obviously accustomed to people, this marmot was constantly around the Berg Lake camp looking for handouts. The group, Snafflehounds, which collects pictures of these and similar creatures describes them as "the alpine creatures that will raid your tent, chew holes in your backpack, steal your lunch and nibble on your climbing rope while you are climbing!" This creature's scientific name is Marmota caligata and the photo was taken by my wife.

Male Harlequin Duck, Berg Lake, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia.

The green Platantheras are very hard to distinguish, but I believe the expanded tip of the lip on this plant is diagnostic. This was photographed in the glacial area below Robson Glacier, just north of the Berg Lake Camp.

I've posted other pictures of this species, but wanted to show how we found them growing - not only as individual plants, but in clumps, often large clumps with 20 or 30 flowers. These were photographed on the Berg Lake Trail near Kinney Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park.

This is a closeup of an orchid that I've previously posted.

We found these in abundance both on the tundra above Robson Glacier and along the Hargreaves Lake trail. This photo was taken along the Hargreaves Lake trail. They bloom almost as soon as the snow is melted and we often found them blooming near unmelted snow.

The name of this fairy slipper is a bit misleading since it, as well as the Western Fairy Slipper, are both found in the west. This variety is the more widespread, however. Interestingly, there are varieties found in Japan and Eurasia too.

Berg Lake Trail at the top of Emperor Hill with Emperor Falls in the background. Taken with my wife's camera by another hiker. I hate looking at myself in pictures, but as I've never posted a photo of myself.... Also, because she has her pack on and I don't, one person who saw this photo suggested that I was making her carry everything, while I went for an easy stroll.

One more shot, this time a close-up, of a Lady's Slipper I had never seen before our trip to Mount Robson, and which we found in abundance near Kinney Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park. This was published in the April, 2011, issue of Orchids, the magazine of the American Orchid Society, in an article titled "Taking Aim."

In Explore, August 8, 2009, #251. This was the goal of our last day-hike before leaving Berg Lake and Mount Robson Provincial Park. It is also the last picture in the series I've been posting for so long. Time to go on to other things.

In Explore August 14, #383. Taken on the Yellow Aster Butte Trail near Mount Baker. This photo was taken on a bright day with a polarising filter that darkened the color of the flowers somewhat.

Photographed near the trailhead to Lake Ann in the Mount Baker Area. This photo is also the result of "focus stacking" (see the next photo of Phalaenoipsis Mini Mark) and is a combination of three photos. These are several of my first efforts.