Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#380

We have three species of Flax growing wild in Alberta - Yellow Flax, Common Flax and Wild Blue Flax. This photo shows Common Flax, which is not a native plant, unlike the other two species. Common Flax has flowers that are a deeper blue than those of Wild Blue Flax. It is an annual plant that is cultivated for its linseed oil and fibres. Right now, I'd be more than happy to see any of these species - it's snowing yet again : )

This was the view from the beginning of the Grassi Lakes Trail this morning. These lakes are in Kananaskis country, west of Calgary. I had very kindly been invited to go walking there today and we had a really enjoyable hike. There was a lot of haze over the mountains, which isn't exactly what one hopes for as far as photography goes, and it was sunny and around 30C. This artificial waterway was built in 1951, near the town of Canmore. From here, we chose the easier climb to the two Grassi Lakes and and returned to the car via the steeper, more difficult trail. Note added on Monday 30th July: I have just been told that there is a report in the newspaper today that a woman in her 40's fell to her death here while we were there on Saturday. Having seen the area and trails, it is very easy to understand how an accident such as this could happen (as, indeed, it could happen anywhere in these mountains). We wondered why there were so many sirens, and a Police car arrived in the parking lot. My heart goes out to her family - so very, very sad.