Late November

A little colder as of late, but overall, a mild month. The lake is still open and it doesn’t look like I am going to get my usual skate in before the end of November.

The ground hasn’t been frozen until last week. The garlic has had a couple extra weeks to establish. I don’t know if that is good or bad. We shall see.

Up behind the mountain today. Only a couple of inches of snow, none in the valley bottom. I cut a few cedar boughs along the creek for Christmas decorations. Lisa makes wonderful wreaths.

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A week ago I saw three very large Bighorn rams in Radium. A few days later I went back looking for them. I found two, the third, the biggest was nowhere to be found. While I took a few photos a young woman stopped to look as well. She said it was reported the largest one was hit on the highway.

Full curl. Those horns have seen some action.

Incredible considering there are fences, speed signs and even an animal overpass. The woman was from the United States and said she couldn’t believe how fast everyone drives around here. She was referring to the highway through the Kootenay National Park. I told her those are people from Alberta in a hurry to get out here and have fun. I told her Albertans are Canada’s Texans. She laughed and seemed to understand immediately.

Now, before anybody gives me shit for that comment, I realize we have our own share of yahoos in British Columbia. I could well imagine residents of small towns three hours from Vancouver probably hate being taken over by people trying to escape the city.

Regardless of jest, considering all of the precautions in place and provincial money spent, it’s a shame to see Bighorns being killed on the roads.

***

Saw a large heard of elk on the side of Swansea. The bulls kept hidden.

Kale still putting out in late November. No wonder Kaleman is so tough.

Carrot Girl

As most folks in the valley know, the Birchman has been wandering these woods for ages. He’s the quiet sentinel who startles anyone foolish enough to scar the land. Legend claims he rose from the ashes of a colossal forest fire, and let’s just say—you don’t want to end up on his bad side.

This year, though, a new hero sprouted onto the scene: Kaleman. Kale is a super-green, and Kaleman is—naturally—a super man powered by it, devoted to making sure everyone gets their daily dose of vegetables.

My granddaughter Scarlett knows these characters well. She also happens to be the unrivaled champion of spotting the biggest, sweetest carrots in the garden.

At some point she decided the Birchman and Kaleman might need backup. And so, Carrot Girl was born. She’s bold, unafraid of a little dirt, and blessed with extraordinary eyesight—useful, since Birchman and Kaleman’s vision seems to fade a little more each day.

Scarlett used an AI program to create the movie poster above, which is rather delightful. After a few experiments and nips and tucks, she looked at it proudly and announced, “Now this is a movie I’d watch!”

CME

Clouds catching last nights auroras make for an unsettling sky.

The sun has been very active with many coronal holes or sunspots stretched across its equator.

Several of these coronal mass ejections hit earths magnetosphere last night, causing aurora that could be seen into the southern United States.

Here it was cloudy but it is always worth a look. Willow and I took off for the creek and followed it around to the backside of the mountain. We walked to the bottom of Lisa’s trees.

It had rained, and was muddy and slippery hoovering around freezing. The cloud covered sky was odd looking, bruised in places, glowing here and there. I could tell something was going on above the clouds. We walked around, Willow seemed equally taken back not making a peep. We waited around peering above the trees until I was sufficiently damp and cold.

Today, the truck is covered in mud, especially where Willow sits. She is close to the ground and acts like a shaggy mop head in such weather. Reports say it was a fantastic display of Aurora, seen as far south as Florida. Tonight could be the same. It is still cloudy without promise of letting up. Willow and I will probably stay in close to the fireplace.

Fading

Comet Lemmon, you are going to have to take my word for it!

C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is quickly fading from view. Since it was clear Willow and I thought we would give it one more go to spot it.

This time I took my 20mm wide angle lens knowing that if the comet could be seen it would appear very small in the photos. This is the lens I am most comfortable using for night photography because it gives such a large view of the sky. It also allows me longer exposures before the stars streak.

The sun went down and the full moon came up behind us. It dipped quickly to -4°c, which felt chilly. I am going to have to toughen up if I plan on making it through winter. We walked around where Slinky and Ara are buried. It is truly a beautiful spot. As the sky turned blue and darkened we spotted flashes of white as we jumped several White Tailed Deer. They were quick not to stick around. It reminded me of hunting with Dad. Seeing the best game when it was too dark to shoot. Both because you couldn’t see the far sight on the rifle, and more importantly, it’s against regulations.

The full moon illuminated the mountainside. Only the brightest stars could be seen. Of course, the moon also washed away the comet. Still I had faith and pointed the camera in the general direction of where it should be.

Both Willow and I were glad to get back to the warmth of the truck. We picked our way along the back rounds, through frozen puddles, staying the best we could above the ruts. Such a pleasure in my life to putter along old and overgrown roads. I used to do it with a beer in my right hand, now it’s a coffee if anything. We stopped at the lake. It was calm and the moonlight reflected the mountains. I listened for fish jumping. Willow heard something and gave a bark. Her echo barked back at her and then the barking match was on. Willow looked at me seriously, ‘there is another dog out here’.

Time to head back to the valley bottom and the warmth of bed.

An enlargement of the top photo. Due to moonlight, even blown up, Comet Lemmon is hard to spot.

and now for something completely different

This is a composite made from a photo my son Hunter took in downtown Calgary, and a picture I took of the Milky Way.

There is a photographer who used to do cityscapes with stars in the background. They were compositions when they weren’t easy to do with the software available at the time. He tried to show what cities would look like without light pollution. They were eerie. His name is Thierry Cohen if you want to check him out.

Many, if not most, of the astrophotography photos seen now are composites in one way or the other. Often the landscape is taken in one shot and the sky is taken in another. The time and place of the two or more photos can vary greatly. Like this composite for example.

The problem is composites are often presented as real. There is a photo of a nearby historic town with a well known mountain. Above the mountain the Milky Way shoots straight up in the east. The problem is the Milky Way is never in that position. It is a two photo composite. The photographer never presents it as such. The photo has been on magazine covers and sold as fine art photographs. It is probably one of the most well known photographs of that area. Yet the scene it depicts doesn’t exist. Does that matter as we enter an era of AI produced images? Where it is becoming impossible to tell the difference between what is real?

I have always appreciated documentary style photography. It is what I try to do on this site. It is to show change and also provide a record. That attitude probably comes from my family’s history in newspapers.

With this said, I like Hunter and my collaboration. It is not representative of reality, it is more symbolic. What would a city look like if the lights were off on a clear night? Would the world be a different place if we all could see the stars?

Hunter enjoys mixing music. Like his mixes, like art, like this photo, it is essentially storytelling and exists to make us think.

Comet Hunting

Tried to peek through the clouds to get a glimpse at Comet Lemmon. It hasn’t been easy with clouds rolling in just as it’s been getting dark, however thought I’d give it a try regardless. You’ll never catch fish if you don’t put your line in the water.

As the clouds parted I was able to easily see the comets nucleus. In the photo you can even see it reflected in the river. The tail was harder to see. The camera picked it up nicely even amongst the light pollution of the Village of Radium Hot Springs.

Just a word about light pollution; it was interesting to have been in Waterton recently and saw how they have tried to limit light pollution. They are part of a dark sky reserve and it is important to them. In the Windermere Valley light pollution gets brought up occasionally but never gets much traction. The only way it ever will is by showing decision makers that there is some profit in shining lights down. That is a tough sell in a valley growing as fast as this one.

Speaking of pollution, notice the ‘scratches’ in the sky around Comet Lemmon. These are Starlink satellites. It is amazing and annoying how many are in low orbit around the earth. It is almost impossible to look into a darkened sky without seeing them now. This is only going to get worse as Starlink continues to launch thousands more and other countries and companies begin to launch their own version of Starlink.

Without regulations or common sense it may become impossible, in the future, to enjoy the stars, meteor showers and visiting comets, as the night sky fills with streaking satellites. Humans should be ashamed of polluting the atmosphere, oceans, water and land, instead of giving it a second thought, however, we have moved onto corrupting the space and stars above us.

I would still like to get a better look at Comet Lemmon, but my chances are limited as it gets closer to the sun and our weather fails to improve.

Take your shots where you can

Bad weather with no chance to see Comet Lemmon again.

The garlic is in the ground. Four rows, I hope they come up in the spring. You can never be sure.

Very strange year, weather and otherwise!

***

It would be great to have Dougie Ford and Wab Kinew running the show. This ad sure got under the skin of the Whitehouse. I know we are going to have to back down, but it was fun while it lasted.

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A post shared by Wab Kinew (@wabber)

Lazy days

Clear skies tonight and I might give Comet Lemmon another shot. It has moved away from the tail of The Big Dipper and closer to the sun. I searched this morning but couldn’t see it. The evening may be provide a better opportunity.

Only the belt of Orion (top center) and Sirius (far left) visible this morning.

It’s getting chilly, the long underwear and long sleeve undershirts are on for the season.

Here are a few photos from the last few days.

Gazing across the valley at a far off range. Taken from a high perch.

Mount Baldy, the top obscured in morning cloud. This used to be valuable habitat for elk and grizzlies.

Orion

Another beautiful morning. Deep blue skies. The moon is closing in on the sun as it wanes to a thin crescent.

It is time to get the carrots out of the ground and plant next year’s garlic. The garden is getting too big for Lisa and I. Not so much the looking after it but the food it produces. I may have to reevaluate it next year.

Orion is beaming in the mornings. Wintermaker, as a good blogging friend calls it. A much more apt name. It is tough to not be drawn into all it’s mystery, legend and science that accompanies it rising and setting in it’s own season.

C/2025 A6 Lemmon

Comet Lemmon (upper left) seemingly following the same trajectory as a satellite.

Nice brisk morning at -6°c. Willow and I went out at about 5:30. It was just starting to lighten around the mountains in the east. The waning moon was bright to the southeast. I pointed the camera in the direction of where Comet Lemmon should be located as I wasn’t able to spot it with my naked eye. Later when I was home I was able to easily locate it on the downloaded photos. Now that I know where to look it will be easy to spot next time out. And it should get brighter!

Palliser Pass

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