Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: looking for salt

On 10 August 2017, I finally did a drive that I had never done before. I'm always hearing or reading about Sheep River Provincial Park, but it was not until maybe three weeks ago, that I got round to looking on Google to see exactly where it is. I found that maybe the first half of the drive, as far as Turner Valley, I had done before, which helped. The drive west from Turner Valley to just past the Sheep River falls was all new, so I "drove" the whole length on Google Earth to see what it was like, before I actually went there.. The whole distance from home and back was 195 km, so it was a much shorter trip than when I drove all the way south to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (511 km), on 3 August. I was hoping to see some wildlife and beautiful scenery, but the most important purpose for this trip was simply to make myself do a new drive. I almost didn't go, as I woke up later than I had planned, not feeling the greatest, and didn't leave home till 11:15 am. Glad I pushed myself out the front door, though. The only wildlife I saw was a Mule Deer doe, that I saw in two different places. She was looking for salt along the road and couldn't make up her mind whether to cross the road in front of me or not. I sat in my car and waited, and eventually she did cross and ended up near the passenger side of my car. When I was almost at the very end of this road, I stopped to take a look at the Sheep River Falls. It takes just a short walk from the parking lot to get a view of the falls below. Towards the end of my walk, black clouds rolled in and there was a bit of thunder accompanied by a sprinkling of rain. Short-lived, thankfully. As for scenery, the smoke continued from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires. This resulted in poor landscape shots, at least with my little point-and-shoot. I did post just a couple of scenic views, not for their photographic merit, but just to remind myself what the landscape in that area is like.

This is so often the view one gets of Bighorn Sheep - seen from the rear. This young one was watching its mother, who was licking salt from the base of the rocky cliff at the edge of the road. Added a previously posted photo showing their faces, in a comment box below. Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got to Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagne for me : ) Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river. It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait. "One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces." www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest. Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no sense in doing so in such dreadful weather. As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines. I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove along one of the gravel back roads just within the edge of the city. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home. Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera once more - since then, winter arrived two days ago, on 2 November 2017, and it is most likely that it will stay on the ground for the next few months.

I have no idea why this Bighorn Sheep female tilted its neck and head like this. It was standing upright on the steep cliff slope, so doing this wouldn't help with balance, I'm sure. "Widespread wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h, with some reaching as high as 130 km/h, blasted southern and central Alberta Tuesday afternoon and evening, fanning wildfires and leaving some 10,000 customers without power." To put things into perspective, sustained winds between 119-153 km/h are considered Category 1 hurricane-force by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A strong Pacific Jetstream caused dramatic weather on this day, along with rain and very strong winds that brought down trees, powerlines, falling glass from windows of office blocks in downtown, fanned wildfires, and so on. Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got to Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagne for me : ) Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river. It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait. "One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces." www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest. Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no sense in doing so in such dreadful weather. As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines. I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove along one of the gravel back roads just within the edge of the city. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home. Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera once more, before the next snowfall arrives and stays on the ground for the next few months.

"Widespread wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h, with some reaching as high as 130 km/h, blasted southern and central Alberta Tuesday afternoon and evening, fanning wildfires and leaving some 10,000 customers without power." To put things into perspective, sustained winds between 119-153 km/h are considered Category 1 hurricane-force by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A strong Pacific Jetstream caused dramatic weather yesterday, along with rain and very strong winds that brought down trees, powerlines, falling glass from windows of office blocks in downtown, fanned wildfires, and so on. Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got as far as Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagne for me : ) Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. This rough, narrow road is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river. It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then cars wait. "One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces." www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces. For the first time ever, I believe, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest. Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no point in doing so in such dreadful weather. As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines. I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove along one of the gravel back roads just within the edge of the city. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home. Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera once more, before the next snowfall arrives and stays on the ground for the next few months.

Two weeks ago, on 10 August 2017, I finally did a drive that I had never done before. I'm always hearing or reading about Sheep River Provincial Park, but it was not until maybe three weeks ago, that I got round to looking on Google to see exactly where it is. I found that maybe the first half of the drive, as far as Turner Valley, I had done before, which helped. The drive west from Turner Valley to just past the Sheep River falls was all new, so I "drove" the whole length on Google Earth to see what it was like, before I actually went there.. The whole distance from home and back was 195 km, so it was a much shorter trip than when I drove all the way south to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (511 km), on 3 August. I was hoping to see some wildlife and beautiful scenery, but the most important purpose for this trip was simply to make myself do a new drive. I almost didn't go, as I woke up later than I had planned, not feeling the greatest, and didn't leave home till 11:15 am. Glad I pushed myself out the front door, though. The only wildlife I saw was a Mule Deer doe, that I saw in two different places. She was looking for salt along the road and couldn't make up her mind whether to cross the road in front of me or not. I sat in my car and waited, and eventually she did cross and ended up near the passenger side of my car. When I was almost at the very end of this road, I stopped to take a look at the Sheep River Falls. It takes just a short walk from the parking lot to get a view of the falls below. Towards the end of my walk, black clouds rolled in and there was a bit of thunder accompanied by a sprinkling of rain. Short-lived, thankfully. As for scenery, the smoke continues from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires. This results in poor landscape shots, at least with my little point-and-shoot. I did post just a couple of scenic views, not for their photographic merit, but just to remind myself what the landscape is like.

Five days ago, on 10 August 2017, I finally did a drive that I had never done before. I'm always hearing or reading about Sheep River Provincial Park, but it was not until maybe a couple of weeks ago, that I got round to looking on Google to see exactly where it is. I found that maybe the first half of the drive, as far as Turner Valley, I had done before, which helped. The drive west from Turner Valley to just past the Sheep River falls was all new, so I "drove" the whole length on Google Earth to see what it was like, before I actually went there.. The whole distance from home and back was 195 km, so it was a much shorter trip than when I drove all the way south to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (511 km), on 3 August. I was hoping to see some wildlife and beautiful scenery, but the most important purpose for this trip was simply to make myself do a new drive. I almost didn't go, as I woke up later than I had planned, not feeling the greatest, and didn't leave home till 11:15 am. Glad I pushed myself out the front door, though. The only wildlife I saw was a Mule Deer doe, that I saw in two different places. She was looking for salt along the road and couldn't make up her mind whether to cross the road in front of me or not. I sat in my car and waited, and eventually she did cross and ended up near the passenger side of my car. Just managed to get a quick shot before the passenger side of the car blocked her from such a close view. When I was almost at the very end of this road, I stopped to take a look at the Sheep River Falls. It takes just a short walk from the parking lot to get a view of the falls below. Towards the end of my walk, black clouds rolled in and there was a bit of thunder accompanied by a sprinkling of rain. Short-lived, thankfully. As for scenery, the smoke continues from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires. This results in poor landscape shots, at least with my little point-and-shoot. I'll be posting just a couple of scenic views, not for their photographic merit, but just to remind myself what the landscape is like.

Yesterday, 10 August 2017, I finally did a drive that I had never done before. I'm always hearing or reading about Sheep River Provincial Park, but it was not until maybe a couple of weeks ago, that I got round to looking on Google to see exactly where it is. I found that maybe the first half of the drive, as far as Turner Valley, I had done before, which helped. The drive west from Turner Valley to just past the Sheep River falls was all new, so I "drove" the whole length on Google Earth to see what it was like. The whole distance from home and back was 195 km, so it was a much shorter trip than when I drove all the way south to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (511 km), on 3 August. I was hoping to see some wildlife and beautiful scenery, but the most important purpose for this trip was to make myself do a new drive. I almost didn't go, as I woke up later than I had planned, not feeling the greatest, and didn't leave home till 11:15 am. Glad I pushed myself out the front door, though. Out of time and energy to post any photos yesterday. The only wildlife I saw was this Mule Deer doe, that I saw in two different places. She was looking for salt along the road and couldn't make up her mind whether to cross the road in front of me or not. I sat in my car and waited, and eventually she did cross and ended up near the passenger side of my car. When I was almost at the very end of this road, I stopped to take a look at the Sheep River Falls. It takes just a short walk from the parking lot to get a view of the falls below. Towards the end of my walk, black clouds rolled in and there was a bit of thunder accompanied by a sprinkling of rain. Short-lived, thankfully. As for scenery, the smoke continues from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires. This results in poor landscape shots, at least with my little point-and-shoot. I'll be posting just a couple of scenic views, not for their photographic merit, but just to remind myself what the landscape is like.