Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#400

As you can see by the colour of the sky, this was not the kind of sky I had hoped for on 29 September 2014. The light really was not good, but I had to take photos anyway : ) This particular area is the official protected area of hoodoos in the Drumheller area, with steps around the various unique formations. Hoodoos can be seen almost anywhere in the Badlands, but these ones are especially spectacular. That day, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary, that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw this particular Hoodoo area of the Badlands of Alberta. A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip, All summer, we have been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and a day where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for yesterday was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going! This drive was the longest drive I had ever done. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have no sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol! I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round two main areas - Dorothy and Rowley, each in different directions from Drumheller (known for its remarkable dinosaur findings). The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake on going on this trip yesterday. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there this year. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun. Our three main destinations were the Hoodoo Trail (seen in this photo), the almost-ghost-town of Dorothy (calling in at Wayne as well), and the hamlet of Rowley. "Hoodoos take millions of years to form and stand 5 to 7 metres tall. Each hoodoo is a sandstone pillar resting on a thick base of shale that is capped by a large stone. Hoodoos are very fragile and can erode completely if their capstone is dislodged (in other words, no climbing allowed). This protected Hoodoos site is a guaranteed spot to see Hoodoos but smaller versions of these sandstone giants can be found all over the Badlands. The name "Hoodoo" comes from the word "voodoo" and was given to these geological formations by the Europeans. In the Blackfoot and Cree traditions, however, the Hoodoos are believed to be petrified giants who come alive at night to hurl rocks at intruders." From traveldrumheller.com www.traveldrumheller.com/index.php/directory/7-Drumheller... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_ (geology) After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with two being right next to each other and the other being a bit further away. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept. From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I really don't like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!

Another shot taken on 29 August 2013, on my second recent visit to Bow Lake, Icefields Parkway (Highway 93), Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The turquoise, glacially-fed lake lies at the foot of the mountains, behind the patch of coniferous trees, The Crowfoot Glacier is seen in the centre of the image. Crowfoot Mountain lies at 3050m (10007ft.). The Bow Glacier and Bow Lake Falls lie further round the lake, off to the right of my photo. This is the source of the Bow River that is the main river that runs through Calgary. The river that flooded and devastated so many places in June during our Alberta Flood of the Century. In the fall, we don't get the magnificent red Maples that you see in Eastern Canada, but I reckon Fireweed does a pretty good job of making sure we still get some vibrant colour with its glorious leaves! They positively glowed.

Desperate for some colour for my photostream, I dug into my archives and found this beautiful Columbine, seen at the Reader Rock Garden on 14 July 2010.

I used to have a small, straggly Bleeding Heart plant in my garden, but it died several years ago. The plant in my photo was growing at the Reader Rock Garden. I always enjoy seeing photos of these posted by others, so I hope my little dangling hearts bring joy to you today - even more so, as it has just started to rain, and thunderstorms are in the forecast.

I've had this photo in my archives since early June. Bought this pretty pink rose from Safeway.

Dug up a photo that I hadn't posted before. A tulip bought from Safeway a few months ago. Christmasy in a strange way - reminds me of candy canes!