Highway 22 wildlife

After a day of Snowboarding at Fernie, we stayed overnight in a motel in Fernie then headed back to Calgary early the next day.

The 1st 100kms of the return trip (being at dawn) was a constant Mule Deer spotting competition. They were at least as common as Kangaroos back home on dawn and dusk. They're as much of a danger to traffic as roos as well. Fortunately there weren't any elk, unlike the previous morning when I nearly hit a mob of 30. Elk are at least twice as big and if you hit one, it's like hitting a domestic cow.

After 100kms of mule deer spotting, a change. A female moose! She had a yearling calf with her and they were very skittish. Unfortunately this photo's a bit out of focus, but the light was bad and the animals were on the move.

 

These photos are bit more in focus. Unfortunately the Swamp Donkeys (as they like to call moose around here) had gone for the cover

 

  

Not far along the road after the moose, Shane spotted this coyote in a field.
We pulled over and I put the long lens to good use. The next photo is a better example. The overcast sky didn't help things again, but at least the subject was a bit more helpful.

The farmers hate these little scavengers and like to shoot them. I reckon they're pretty cool myself. This one was very well fed probably due to an abundance of rabbits, mice and ground squirrels on the prairies.

Coyotes are always looking for an opportunist's meal. Even though this one was watching me and looking for an escape route, he was still head down searching for a snack.

Fernie

Shane and I decided to wag work for the day (work isn't either of our favourite places at the moment) and head 300kms south of Calgary to Fernie. Fernie's actually just inside B.C. and less than 100km from the Montana border.

Fernie gets incredible amounts of snow each year and is somewhat immune to crowds unlike Banff and Lake Louise. If you want to ski/board in soft stuff, Fernie's the place (within easy driving range).

For the last few snowboarding trips I've been getting a bit dejected with the crowds and conditions. I also tended to get bored pretty quickly. Not the case this time. The lack of crowds, huge amount of fresh snow and some really interesting terrain meant that I have the taste for it again!

It was so different to any other trip because the soft, smooth, untracked snow made it more like surfing than any other time. I won't say more than that because I won't be able to describe it, but those who've done it will understand. Suffice to say that having fresh powder burst onto your legs is a fantastic feeling.
I can't wait to go down there again!

Life returns to Cowtown

 

Calgary has had a fairly brutal, but short winter this year. Last year apparently had record snowfalls, but this year has been crap for the ski resorts. In contrast, the east coast has been belted by snow and it's still going.

 

We've had some nice weather the last month and the birds have started to come back, starting with the Canada Geese (unfortunately they're the most annoying noisy bloody things!).

 

 

After months of being frozen, the rivers have started to defrost and flow again. Big chunks of ice break off and float downstream. These sometimes get stuck along to way (above).

 

Close behind the Canada Geese were the ducks. The Yellow Eyed Ducks (above) are the smaller variety of the ones I've seen.

I don't think I've been anywhere in the world that doesn't have mallard ducks. The North Americans seem to have an obsession with shooting at them (along with everything else that moves including each other.)

The plants are waking up as well. There are little signs all over the place that winter's strangle hold is releasing.

The Chinook

 

Our Savior!
The weather phenomenon that makes Calgary so livable is called the Chinook.
It's not unique around the world, but when it's -30 around most of Alberta, the Chinook is certainly the most welcome. It gives us a reprieve from the icebox bringing the temperatures back up close to zero and even +10 at times.
Needless to say, while the rest of Canada is living in an icebox from anywhere from -20 to -40, Calgary are "Basking" in sunny skies & above freezing temperatures. The margin for getting the benefit of the effect is quite small. Typically there band of warm weather runs from about 5kms from the foothills of the Rockies, to about 80kms out. This usually means Calgary is right on the edge. The narrow band of warm air is accompanied by clear skies & the boundary is distinctly marked by a cloud front (above).

Sunrise vs Moonset over the Rockies

The couple of days after the Eclipse were host to some pretty spectacular views from my desk at work. At the same time as the pink tint appeared in the sky from the Sunrise, the full moon set over the Rocky Mountains.

 

It was quite incredible to see how quickly the moon disappeared over the horizon. The time between the top photo and the one above was 18 minutes!
I quite the shot above as the moon was directly above the saddle in the mountains. If you look at the top photo, that same saddle is way over to the right of picture.
We're at the back end of our project at the moment and I'm struggling to get motivation to go to work, let along focus! Nature taunting me from across my desk isn't helping.

Lunar Eclipse

 

Tonight we had a lunar eclipse and for once in my life it wasn't in the middle of the night.

I gave the new camera (with zoom lens) and tripod a work out. I must have taken about 80 photos between catching the eclipse at different phases and mucking around with different camera settings. It was a good learning exercise with the camera. The only thing I couldn't get my head around was the little blue flare (see left & right pics). It seemed to be a reflection from the bright part of the moon bouncing around the long lens.

I'm now a bit dirty that I didn't have the SLR back in Oz last year when the comet went by.

Minus Stupid

Last week was bloody cold here in Calgary.

Monday morning we woke up to -32 with a wind chill factor dragging it down to -48! It only got up to -27 during the day. Tuesday a.m. was -34 & the top that day was -27 again. Wednesday morning was more of the same with -30. Finally by the afternoon was up to -15, but it's hardly a reprieve & -24 overnight wasn't either. The overnight temps were down around the -25 for the rest of the week & it wasn't until the weekend that it backed off during the day to -5. It's been a full week since the minimum temp was above -20.

I've been OK with the cold to this point, but once you get under -25, it's just plain nasty! You cover up every last bit of exposed skin, but you can't protect your eyes. They water like crazy to combat the stinging cold & the dry air. The biggest problem with that is that your eyelashes stick together. Makes it a bit hard to see.

Tomorrow's top temp prediction is -2! About time!

Winter Just Turned Nasty!

For days, all the weather reports on the news have been about a cold air mass on its way from the Arctic. Spot on lunchtime today the snow started coming down & the wind came with it. The temperature has dropped 8deg in no time & is predicted to go under -25 deg by tomorrow morning. (That's up for grabs as the Weather Bureau here is nothing better than a random numbers generation department. Bingo callers we like to call them.) There are even predictions of the -30 mark on Wednesday. I'll find out whether I can actually withstand true Canadian winter conditions this week. Kerri's going to hate it!

On the up side, this cold snap should have arrived some weeks ago. Word has it that this has been a very mild winter this year.

Ski Louise.

Today Dale and I went up to the ski fields for the first time since the disastrous attempt on New Year's Eve. Our resort of choice was Lake Louise. There hasn't been a great deal of snow since Xmas so the conditions were mediocre at best. I had a few high speed slides once the ice started to appear under the grooming. No major injuries, but was a bit bruised by days end.
Above is the view from about half way up the mountain. To the right of shot,  Lake Louise at the foot of the V-shaped Valley. Moraine Lake and the Valley of Ten peaks is over to the left. Not a bad view considering it's just a ski hill.

At the top of the ridge, the view just gets better. Above & below is the Lake Louise Valley where you can just make out the Fairmount. On the other side of the mountains is British Columbia.

Leaving Las Vegas

By the end (well middle really) of our 2nd two night stint in Las Vegas, we'd had enough of the place. The wacky buildings has lost their charm, the long weekend in the US had bought a mountain of loud mouthed ignorant Americans to the city & the multiple variations of "Greasy Burger & Fries" were just starting to make us cringe. We couldn't wait to get home Calgary.

We headed to the airport mid morning thinking we'd be home just on dark. Nice thought at the time. The airport was insanely busy & it took us ages to get though security. We hopped on the plane & had to wait for ages at the terminal for a slot to taxi. 45 minutes later we were finally at the end of the runway when the captain come on to the intercom & says "we are unable to start the right engine & will return to the terminal...."
 We thought we were out of the place!
Because of the busy long weekend there was talk of not being able to get us out until Tuesday if the plane wouldn't start (& it was a real possibility). Being a weekend, we couldn't even hire a car to get out! They managed to start the plane some hours lately & eventually took off 4 hrs late. Fortunately the connection in Salt Lake City had a back up that left pretty soon after we landed & eventually touched down in Calgary a bit after 10pm. We were so glad to be home.
What an ordeal?! Thanks Delta Airlines!!

The Grand Canyon - South Rim

 

We woke up the next morning in our little cabin to -15C! Ouch! The 2100m above sea level in the middle of winter tends to make for some low temperatures.
After breakfast we had a bit of a look at a couple of view points near the village & took a few photos.
I soon learned to use the camera with gloves on.

Yavapai Point

Yaki Point

Helicopter Flight

We had booked a helicopter flight for 11am & headed off for the airport. It was the first time I'd (we'd) been in a helicopter so it was all very exciting. Notice the large "Vista" windows in the aircraft. It turned out to be a great advantage when looking down into the canyon. The 50min flight cost about $180CAD all up & as well worth it (I would almost call it a steal).

The first part of the flight traveled across the forest to the Canyon Rim. The Grand Canyon National Park forests are different to any that I've ever seen before. The trees are all so much shorter than the tall forests of Alberta. The trees all seem stunted & are quite well spread apart. It means that the light comes through to the ground easily & reflects off the snow. It's hard to take a photo of, but believe me, its worth seeing, particularly from the ground.

This is about the best view of the Colorado river we had & I can't tell you how awesome it was to see it from the air. This photo was taken from the North East section of the main part of the Grand Canyon.

One thing you notice from the helicopter more than by driving, is the variety of geological formations in the Grand Canyon.
This ridge caught my attention & kind of reminded me of a dinosaur.

This is one of a number of similar sharp peaks in the canyon. This is Mt Hayden & can be seen from the North Rim by road. The North rim is actually closed to cars in winter as the roads are snowed over.

Here's Mt Hayden from a different aspect. Again, I can't stress how awesome the view is from the helicopter.
The snow made for a nice touch & looked like someone had sprinkled the Canyon with icing sugar. It showed up the layers & ridges nicely.

This peculiar formation is called Brady Peak, also known as The Battleship.

Desert View

After our thrilling helicopter ride, we headed along the Eastern Rim road out to a place they call Desert View. Some years ago the Americans (in their infinite wisdom) built this replica Indian watch tower. A clever plan since it is really an excuse for a merchandising store / tourist trap.

In the end, it's built on my vote for the best view of the canyon on the South rim.

Lipan Point

Remember the watch tower? Well that's it just right of centre of picture, perched up on the ridge. It really puts the incredible size & depth of the Grand Canyon into context.

View Point 

Grandview Point

Thanks to the high altitude (2000m above sea level) & the lack of mountains near by, the trees get hammered by high winds & cold air. On top of that the lack of oxygen makes for a fairly hostile climate for plant life. Consequently the trees are typically short & twisted like this one, particularly where they're exposed to the winds from the canyon.

Grandview point is one of the more trafficked view points on the South Rim. Not bad, but I preferred Desert View.

This is just one of those Rim viewpoints, but I quite liked it. I managed to get my camera & tripod to play the game as well & the result speaks for itself. This photo has been stitched from two photos.

This rock formation was popular with the resident crow. I call it 'Bird's View Point'. From it's perch, the crow could overlook the Grand Canyon to the rear & keep an eye on humans bringing potential snacks to the front. There were many other similar stop points with wonderful views of the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Railway

No trip to anywhere in North America is complete without the obligatory train shots.
There are a small number of passenger trains to the Grand Canyon that run from Williams (the hicksville town 90 miles to the south of the Grand Canyon) & Flagstaff. There's even a steam train that runs from Williams sometimes.