Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Arethusa Cirque

Unearthed from my archives, this photo was taken on 30 July 2011, on a hike in the mountains. This photo shows just one of the many spectacular views on the Arethusa Cirque trail in Kananaskis, Alberta. The little bit of information that I had been able to find out about this trail said that it was easy with not all that much elevation (122'). Well, we were standing at 8,000' by the time we had scaled the very steep mountain side. Most of the climb was steeply upwards which meant that if I wanted to take flower photos, it would mean trying to balance on a steep slope with an almighty drop below (so I took far fewer photos today than I normally would, ha). I am not good at heights, so did my best to avoid looking "down" during the whole climb up. Also not good at any trail that goes upwards instead of along the flat. We were climbing uphill, off towards the left hand side of my photo. Lol, I never thought I'd reach the top, but amazingly I did - and, oh, what magnificent views!!! This hike is just north of the Ptarmigan Cirque hike and parts of it were quite similar, except that Arethusa Cirque trail is up, up, up the whole way. Still, the views were simply breath-taking, including this massive, twisted, folded rock face : ) Weather was perfect, no Grizzly Bears appeared, and the company was great. Only six of us went, so it was a nice, small group. Can't remember offhand, but I know we saw one new plant - a tiny blue Gentian species with the most exquisite, tiny blue flower. A brutal hike that I'm never likely to repeat, lol!

I don't know about "the hills are alive with the sound of music", but for sure "the hills are alive with the colour of lichen and wildflowers", ha! Just a photo of a large boulder from my fairly recent archives that I happened to come across, taken at Arethusa Cirque, off Highway 40, Kananaskis, on July 30th. Arethusa Cirque is immediately south of the better-known Ptarmigan Cirque, along Highway 40.

This little Ground Squirrel came over to see us when we were hiking up to Arethusa Cirque, Kananaskis, on July 30th. "The golden-mantled ground squirrel is a type of ground squirrel found in mountainous areas of western North America. It eats seeds, nuts, berries, insects, and underground fungi. It is preyed upon by hawks, jays, weasels, foxes, bobcats, and coyotes. A typical adult ranges from 23–30 cm (9–12 inches) in length ... They dig shallow burrows up to 30m (100 ft) in length with the openings hidden in a hollow log or under tree roots or a boulder. The female gives birth to a single litter of 4–6 young each summer." Can you imagine, a comedy about birding, lol? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden-mantled_ground_squirrel For you bird lovers out there, Cornell Lab of Ornithology added the following link to their Facebook page. Apparently, there's a movie about birding coming out this fall, called The Big Year, starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black. youtu.be/JCBAP2wId5M

Oops, I fell asleep sitting in front of the TV (not unusual, but so annoying) straight after I uploaded these three images this evening! Can you believe it, I was in the next province, British Columbia, today?!! Friends Ron and Trish invited me to go with them as far as the amazing Takakkaw Falls, which are located in Yoho National Park, near Field, B.C.. I had never been there before. What an amazing day, seeing so much breath-taking scenery and enjoying great company! Totally dead beat now and will have to fall into bed soon. Thank you SO much, Ron and Trish, for treating me to such a special and thoroughly enjoyable day!!! Still can't believe it! This photo shows just one of the many spectacular views on the Arethusa Cirque trail in Kananaskis, Alberta. Several of us did this hike on July 30th. The little bit I had been able to find on this hike said that it was easy with not all that much elevation (122'). Well, we were standing at 8,000' by the time we had scaled the very steep mountain side. Most of the climb was steeply upwards which meant that if I wanted to take flower photos, it was a case of trying to balance on a steep slope with an almighty drop below (so I took far fewer photos today than I normally would, ha). I am not good at heights, so did my best to avoid looking "down" during the whole climb up. Also not good at any trail that goes upwards instead of along the flat. We were climbing uphill, off towards the left hand side of my photo. Lol, I never thought I'd reach the top, but amazingly I did - and, oh, what magnificent views!!! This hike is just north of the Ptarmigan Cirque hike and parts of it were quite similar, except that Arethusa Cirque trail is up, up, up the whole way. Still, the views were simply breath-taking, including this massive, twisted, folded rock face : ) Weather was perfect, no Grizzly Bears appeared, and the company was great. Only six of us went, so it was a nice, small group. Can't remember offhand, but I know we saw one new plant - a tiny blue Gentian with the most exquisite blue flower (but can't remember the name just now). What a way to spend the day! Thanks so much, David, for sharing this new place with us and thanks, too, for the welcome treat of coffee at Highwood House. Just what was needed : )

Oops, I fell asleep sitting in front of the TV straight after I uploaded these three images this evening! Can you believe it, I was in the next province, British Columbia, today?!! Friends Ron and Trish invited me to go with them as far as the amazing Takakkaw Falls, which are located in Yoho National Park, near Field, B.C.. I had never been there before. What an amazing day, seeing so much breath-taking scenery and enjoying great company! Totally dead beat now and will have to fall into bed soon. Thank you SO much, Ron and Trish, for treating me to such a special and thoroughly enjoyable day!!! A few of us saw several tiny flowers - this is a macro photo - of this alpine Gentian species growing at Arethusa Cirque, Kananaskis, on July 30th (two days ago). By the way, I don't think these are the leaves that belong to this plant, but not sure. These flowers were barely noticeable, just small dots of blue down at ground level - and, oh, so exquisite!

I was hoping to choose a few of my photos from yesterday's day trip into British Columbia ready to post today, but I overslept till about 10:30 a.m. (less than an hour ago) and so still haven't gone through them : ) Took this photo of a Glacier Lily seedpod during a hike several of us went on to Arethusa Cirque, in Kananaskis, on July 30th. I thought it was a rather elegant seedpod.

Hope I've identified this female (thanks, Doug!) Willow correctly - I tend to get mixed up with Arctic Willow and Snow Willow.This is a macro shot of just a tiny plant, but aren't the flowers unusual and beautiful? Photographed near the tiny creek that was running down slope at Arethusa Cirque, Kananaskis, on July 30th.

Thrilled to bits to see two flowers of this species on our day of botanizing along the Arethusa Cirque trail, Kananaskis, July 30th. I believe this was only the second time I have ever seen this species, the other time being along the Picklejar Lakes trail (which nearly killed me, lol!) last summer. Macro shot, as this is only a very small flower. plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=AGAU2