Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Argillite

"The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx This photo was taken on 21 June 2015, the third and last day of a wonderful trip down to Waterton Lakes National Park with friends Sandy and Heide. I was standing on the bridge, looking down at the tiny stream. Though I don't like getting people in photographs, at a location like this, they do give a sense of size. We didn't do any walking, as there were so many people visiting at the same time as us - horribly crowded! I was happy as can be, though, to just have the chance to see the canyon and its amazing colours again, and grab a few shots. I was so lucky to be invited to join my friends on a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, from 19-21 (inclusive) June 2015. We met up with other members of the Alberta Native Plant Council for their annual Botany Alberta weekend. Most people who attended stayed at the Crooked Creek Campground, a 5.6 km drive east of the Waterton Park Gate on Highway 5, but my friends and I stayed at the Crandell Mountain Lodge on the edge of Waterton town. The ANPC people had a list of species that they hoped to find, and they were very successful. Our stay down south overlapped the annual Waterton Wildflower Festival, but we came across very few people on our various drives and hikes. Needless to say, I was extremely fortunate to spend three days with people who are very knowledgeable about plants and many other things. This meant that I got to see many wildflower species, including several that were new to me, such as the gorgeous Mariposa Lily. It was one of the flowers that was on my mental Wish List - and there were hundreds of them to be seen! I had also never seen the spectacular Bear Grass and I was so thrilled that there were still several plants in bloom. Absolutely made my day! Our two main hikes of the weekend were the Bertha Lake Trail as far as the Bertha Falls (on 20 June), and the Crandell Lake Trail (on 21 June). Makes me smile when a described "short, easy hike" in a book or on the Internet turns into a full day of exploration along the trail, taking hours to reach the destination, though returning to the cars in a much shorter time. Our walks/hikes are very slow-paced with endless stops to look at/for plants and to take photos. This makes it possible for me to go along. The wind made photographing plants a real challenge, including the beautiful Mariposa Lilies in the meadow along the Hay Barn road. Though I took plenty of photos, I wasn't sure that I would end up with any that were sharp enough. Trying to catch a quick shot when a flower is blowing in and out of the viewfinder is not easy! Unfortunately, I'm no longer able to get down and take macro shots (my lens needs to be about 4" away from the subject), so my photos have to be telemacro. I've just been trying to find a list of plant species in Waterton Park, but have so far been out of luck. I do have the book, "Wildflowers of Waterton Park" by Jacinthe Lavoie and Ian Wilson, which has an Index of Plant names, but I was hoping to find a list that I could print out. It's going to take me ages to type descriptions for the various photos I'll slowly be posting, and I will no doubt keep adding new bits and pieces over time. There is just so much information I want to add, but my descriptions are already way too long. Also, my photos of quite a few of the plants will be posted for the use of ANPC members and are, unfortunately, really poor images. Need them added to my Waterton Lakes album, so please bear with me : ) Luckily, you don't even need to look at them.

"The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx This photo was taken on 21 June 2015, the third and last day of a wonderful trip down to Waterton Lakes National Park with friends Sandy and Heide. I was standing along the top of the embankment, looking down at the tiny stream - the water made the rock colours even more vivid. Though I don't like getting people in photographs, at a location like this, they would give a sense of size. We didn't do any walking, as there were so many people visiting at the same time as us - horribly crowded! I was happy as can be, though, to just have the chance to see the canyon and its amazing colours again, and grab a few shots. I was so lucky to be invited to join friends Sandy and Heide on a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, from 19-21 (inclusive) June 2015. We met up with other members of the Alberta Native Plant Council for their annual Botany Alberta weekend. Most people who attended stayed at the Crooked Creek Campground, a 5.6 km drive east of the Waterton Park Gate on Highway 5, but my friends and I stayed at the Crandell Mountain Lodge on the edge of Waterton town. The ANPC people had a list of species that they hoped to find, and they were very successful. Our stay down south overlapped the annual Waterton Wildflower Festival, but we came across very few people on our various drives and hikes. Needless to say, I was extremely fortunate to spend three days with people who are very knowledgeable about plants and many other things. This meant that I got to see many wildflower species, including several that were new to me, such as the gorgeous Mariposa Lily. It was one of the flowers that was on my mental Wish List - and there were hundreds of them to be seen! I had also never seen the spectacular Bear Grass and I was so thrilled that there were still several plants in bloom. Absolutely made my day! Our two main hikes of the weekend were the Bertha Lake Trail as far as the Bertha Falls (on 20 June), and the Crandell Lake Trail (on 21 June). Makes me smile when a described "short, easy hike" in a book or on the Internet turns into a full day of exploration along the trail, taking hours to reach the destination, though returning to the cars in a much shorter time. Our walks/hikes are very slow-paced with endless stops to look at/for plants and to take photos. This makes it possible for me to go along. The wind made photographing plants a real challenge, including the beautiful Mariposa Lilies in the meadow along the Hay Barn road. Though I took plenty of photos, I wasn't sure that I would end up with any that were sharp enough. Trying to catch a quick shot when a flower is blowing in and out of the viewfinder is not easy! Unfortunately, I'm no longer able to get down and take macro shots (my lens needs to be about 4" away from the subject), so my photos have to be telemacro. I've just been trying to find a list of plant species in Waterton Park, but have so far been out of luck. I do have the book, "Wildflowers of Waterton Park" by Jacinthe Lavoie and Ian Wilson, which has an Index of Plant names, but I was hoping to find a list that I could print out. It's going to take me ages to type descriptions for the various photos I'll slowly be posting, and I will no doubt keep adding new bits and pieces over time. There is just so much information I want to add, but my descriptions are already way too long. Also, my photos of quite a few of the plants will be posted for the use of ANPC members and are, unfortunately, really poor images. Need them added to my Waterton Lakes album, so please bear with me : ) Luckily, you don't even need to look at them.

I really prefer to not have people in my photos, but sometimes people just don't move away, lol. I waited and waited, hoping that I would soon have the view to myself, but it never happened. They do give an idea of the size of the creek at Red Rock Canyon, though. Unfortunately, we got to this location a bit too late to catch the sun on both sides of the creek - how the colour changes when in shadow. "The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, spent two nights (26 & 27 August 2014) in Waterton, driving the four different roads within the park for those two days, including the Red Rock Parkway. The third day, we drove eastwards from the park before driving all the way back to Calgary. Of course, we couldn't have had a more beautiful area to explore during our three days! Waterton Lakes National Park has amazing scenery and wildlife. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine - too often, it can be rainy weather. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from the park, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m., and when we tried to get away from it, it quickly engulfed us. Someone from The Alberta Tornado Watch identified this storm as a Mesocyclone. Thankfully, we were not right in the very centre of it, but it was still a very scary experience. A few of the things we saw during our three-day trip included fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer (including several that we saw in the village of Waterton, where we stayed for two nights at the clean and friendly Bear Mountain Motel), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including the endangered Burrowing Owls (new to all three of us), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse (uncommon in Waterton Lakes National Park). I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators.

This view was taken along the Red Rock Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park, roughly a three-hour drive south of Calgary. "The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, spent two nights (26 & 27 August 2014) in Waterton, driving the four different roads within the park for those two days. The third day, we drove eastwards from the park before driving all the way back to Calgary. Of course, we couldn't have had a more beautiful area to explore during our three days! Waterton Lakes National Park has amazing scenery and wildlife. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine - too often, it can be rainy weather. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from the park, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m., and when we tried to get away from it, it quickly engulfed us. Someone from The Alberta Tornado Watch identified this storm as a Mesocyclone. Thankfully, we were not right in the very centre of it, but it was still a very scary experience. A few of the things we saw during our three-day trip included fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer (including several that we saw in the village of Waterton, where we stayed for two nights at the clean and friendly Bear Mountain Motel), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including the endangered Burrowing Owls (new to all three of us), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of some species of Grouse (still not sure what kind). I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. Later: I am so glad we returned to Calgary when we did, five or six days ago. Today, SNOW was falling "at a moderate to heavy pace this morning over the foothills of southwestern Alberta." We haven't even started fall yet! Up here in Calgary, we had rain instead, thank goodness.

I was so excited to know that we would be going to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park on the final day of our week's holiday. I had never been there before, but had seen photos of the beautiful red rocks that can be seen along the edge of the creek. We were also very lucky to see a Black Bear far away on one of the hillsides along the Red Rock Canyon road. Taken on 17 September 2012, on the way back to Calgary after spending seven amazing days with my friends from England, Linda and Tony, visiting Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Waterton-Glacier. "The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx

I was so excited to know that we would be going to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park on the final day of our week's holiday. I had never been there before, but had seen photos of the beautiful red rocks that can be seen along the edge of the creek. We were also very lucky to see a Black Bear far away on one of the hillsides along the Red Rock Canyon road. Taken on 17 September 2012, on the way back to Calgary after spending seven amazing days with my friends from England, Linda and Tony, visiting Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Waterton-Glacier. "The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation. The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock." www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx