Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: mountain peaks

Earlier today, just about everything was going wrong on Flickr (for me, at least), including difficulty in even opening the website. Don't know if anyone else has had problems today. Something tells me that my photos may not be showing up today? Definitely something wrong! Ah, just checked the Help Forum and I see I'm not the only one. Today, I'm again leaving my Waterton images and instead adding three more photos taken five days ago (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and W of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from Calgary). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. These Grouse were the rare rufous-morph, and we startled them when we were walking through the forest in their direction. Usually, you don't see Grouse because they are so well-hidden. When you get fairly close (sometimes very close) to them, they suddenly "explode" from the tangle of shrubs and plants of the forest floor, making ones heart beat fast! Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour. Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015). Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property, and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so far behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!

Another photo from my archives, taken from the trail on an absolutely brutal hike in Kananaskis, on 6 August 2010. I still remember that two tough guys who do/did a lot of walking/hiking also used the word "brutal" to describe this day's hike : ) I can't do this kind of hike any more - my body likes "flat" not "steep"! The description of the botany hike that the leader had sent us, was so different from what it actually was. No shortage of beautiful valleys and peaks in Alberta, that's for sure. Apparently, this valley is very popular with Grizzly Bears, but fortunately we didn't come across any. Lots of wildflowers, but the walk was too fast-paced and I wasn't able to get many photos, which was so disappointing. However, we saw a number of new species, which was great. Location on my map is only very approximate. Gillean Daffern writes about the last bit of the trail in her book, "Kananaskis: Country trail guide": ".... Shortly, the trail turns due north and you drag yourself up a hot, dry, shaley hillside to the pass". All was true (except, thankfully the "hot") and "drag" was a most appropriate word. I've also read on some website a young guy's comment that this is a "short, easy hike". A good job I didn't read his comment before doing this hike : ) He must have been tremendously fit! It's definitely one of those days that I will never forget, ha.

I finally got out as far as Forgetmenot Pond on 27 September 2012, the far end of Elbow Falls Trail, Highway 66, west of Bragg Creek, Kananaskis. A slight exaggeration of the fall colours, as we get mainly yellow leaves, with just the very occasional yellowy-orange tree. I've only ever pulled over on this quite steep hill two or three times before, as it's not a safe place to do so. However, not another car in sight at that moment. Even though I've driven this way many times, when I come to the top of this hill, the view always takes my breath away.

It is obvious how Emerald Lake, in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, got its name : ) The turquoise colour of the water is beautiful. I was so fortunate to have the chance to see this lake - and other spectacular places - when Flickr friends, Ron and Trish, invited me to go with them as far as Takakkaw Falls, near Field B.C. (British Columbia) on August 1st (a holiday Monday). What an absolute treat for me! "The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was famed guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers: "For a few moments I sat [on] my horse and enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene." It was Wilson who gave the lake its name because of its remarkable colour, caused by fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water. However, this was not the first time Wilson had dubbed a lake 'Emerald.' Earlier that same year he had discovered another lake which he had given the same moniker, and the name even appeared briefly on the official map. This first lake however, was shortly renamed Lake Louise." From Wikipedia.

I went with friends to Bow Valley Provincial Park near the end of August, for a day of botanizing. They were searching for lichens, especially any ones that were new to them, but of course I had to get it a few scenery shots, too ; ) There are several trails one can follow in this Park, all beautiful, and this was seen at the Middle Lake trail. It is less than an hour's drive from Calgary west to Bow Valley Provincial Park, and it is a superb place for wildflowers, especially in June. Wish I had the courage to drive there myself, though it's probably not a good thing to do on one's own, anyway.

I only took a few photos yesterday, when I went with several others to Bow Valley Provincial Park for the day. These were birders, LOL, and they walk at a much faster pace than my botany friends! Also, most of the wildflowers have finished now, apart mainly from Asters. This park is well known for its amazing displays of wildflowers - best time, end of June. I always love the view across this small lake, Middle Lake, with reeds in the foreground. The sky darkened with clouds as the day wore on and my scenery photos came out dark blue and little else. I've adjusted colours, etc. in this one, so that you can actually see something, but still not sure now that I've got it right ; ) Was out for about three hours this morning in Fish Creek Park. Raining and cold - well, it's only 6C this afternoon! The average low for today is 7C, so that tells you something. I think the average high for today is 21C. I ended up having to drive to three different spots, all pretty close together, as I was just in too much pain to do a long walk at a fairly fast pace. Saw a few things including two handsome White-tailed Bucks, two teeny slugs on a post, and various birds. I hadn't been to this part of the park for ages and was shocked at the devastation caused by one recent storm. So many large trees had been blown down. I was relieved to see that the Great Horned Owl's new nesting tree for this year was still standing, but two trees near it had fallen to the ground. The young owls had used these other two trees when they were learning to fly, so I'm not sure if the adults will use this nesting tree next year.

This was the "easier" part yesterday - a nice, uncluttered trail, even if it WAS going uphill, LOL. At a rough guess, this was perhaps half way along the trail, if that, to the Picklejar Lakes in Kananaskis. Parts of the trail went through forested areas and other parts traversed open grassy slopes, covered in wildflowers. I would have had to quit early on if it had been a hot day, but thankfully, it was fairly cool with a helpful breeze, but overcast. The rain started as we began our climb down to the highway, turning the trail into slippery mud - have I ever been so thankful to see our cars before, LOL??? No sign of a Grizzly Bear, though this is a popular area for them. This trail starts from the Lantern Creek day use area on Highway 40, Kananaskis. It starts on the opposite (east) side of the highway slightly north of the day use area. I managed to get as far as the high lookout from where you got your first glimpse of the first Picklejar Lake, but there was no way I could have climbed down to the level of the lakes - and then back up the mountain side again, LOL. The trail from this point led across a rocky mountain side and down to lake level - and this can be dangerous. I believe we hiked about 9 km.

Just one of many views seen on our full-day hike at Marston Creek in Kananaskis Country yesterday. This area is on the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains and right where Kananaskis Country begins, south of the city. As you can see, the weather was beautiful - we felt maybe half a dozen raindrops as the day wore on, that's all. The trees were such an amazing, brilliant green. One word about the "Creek" here - when we did this hike a year ago, the creek was just a little trickle. Yesterday, it was a fast-flowing stream that we had to cross somehow. People crossed at a couple of different places - I ended up crossing at what was described as the "best" place to cross, i.e. inching my feet across a slippery log from bank to bank, holding on to a long, sturdy stick that I pressed into the water, and grabbing so tightly to my backpack that a very helpful friend was carrying across for me, LOL. Thanks SO much, Arnold, for all your help! Would not have made it on my own, that's for sure! And thanks, David, for carrying my camera safely across for me - it would have been a sad thing if I had fallen in along with my camera! Of course, the whole process had to be repeated on our way down : )

A very kind friend invited me to go along with him to search for White-tailed Ptarmigan at Highwood Pass, Kananaskis, today. We have tried a couple of times before to find one, but still no luck : ) The day started out around 7:45 a.m. with a gorgeous sunset mixed with a Chinook arch (see photo that was posted after this one), as we headed south of the city. The colour and light were spectacular! As we drove deeper into the mountains on Highway 40, it started to snow, and when we eventually reached Highwood Pass, there was SO much snow - too much to be able to walk unless one had snowshoes or skis. Fortunately, the highway itself was very good. When we got back to the city, it felt good to see clear ground and gorgeous sunshine : ) I so rarely get to the mountains, and I really appreciate a treat like this!