Lisa and I along with hounds Willow and Lola went for an early morning walk down the lake. It is a place we don’t go often.
The banks above the lake are dry. Plenty of dead grasses and broken branches. Many years ago people would go here to party, cutting down trees and lighting large fires, driving motorcycles and cars tearing up the earth. I was only there once when that was going on. I was young, but remember it well and I hated it. I still get the same feeling thinking about it all these years later.
These hills are now protected or they would be ruined like every other place around the lake other than the Akisqnuk Nation land.
This morning we watched sparrow hawks, swans, swallows and juncos fly above the fields. The dogs had a good swim once we reached the lake. The smoke cast a soft light, the mountains shrouded, out of reach, the lake almost calm.
It was a good morning walk. The dogs were slower going home.
A large wasp nest that one would be smart not to disturb.
The sun is captured by a wall of smoke. Lisa and I sat on our patio and watched this cloud of smoke move quickly from the north. The blue sky of evening is above.
Fires are springing up and starting to burn all around.
Bad news from Jasper tonight as it is being reported that several buildings are starting to burn within the evacuated town.
I would often visit Jasper in my teens for the hiking into the surrounding mountains. It is a beautiful area. Lisa and I even spent part of our honeymoon there.
I was hoping with the cooler spring we had that the fires would not be bad this summer. Just wishful thinking.
Stepped outside a few minutes ago and took a photo of the sun. It is red from the forest fires burning nearby. It has been hot and the smoke has rolled in the past few days. It can and probably will get a lot worse. The moisture seems to be getting sucked out of the earth.
Giant sunspots can be seen on the sun. The photo was taken with a 200mm lens. I have cropped a great deal of the photo as the sun took up a small part of the frame.
It is the smoke acting as a filter that makes this photo possible, but it also shrouds the detail.
Still the sunspots are big. Every bit as big as the one that erupted in early May that caused those magnificent auroras.
The moon will come up shortly when the sun dips and could be as red rising in the east. These colourful cosmic bodies could be a harbinger of doom, yet in their own right, hold an otherworldly elegance. Nature’s reminder that we aren’t in charge nor ever will be.
Payton, Kennedy, Mia, Jack, Josh and Nathan stopping at the first lake
In what has become a summer ritual a few of my young coworkers and I set off on a hike to see some rock, snow and blue water.
It was special to have Jack’s brother Josh, visiting from the UK, along for the walk.
The days have turned hot. We made an early start and missed most of the heat hiking up. The first lake was pristine surrounded by peaks spotted with snow and ice. Moraine swept from slides to shore. Twisted tamaracks shot skyward, some standing for centuries. A great honour to walk among them with these fine youngsters.
Kennedy leads the way along the trail.
We set off for the scramble to the second lake. It was decided a short section be named Payton’s Pass for her ability to manage it despite her reluctance or otherwise good sense.
The meadow leading to the second lake with wild flowers and trickling stream with short cascading waterfalls was welcome walking the rest of the way.
We stopped for lunch. Everyone had a swim. I wanted to but the thought of the sharp rocks on my feet stopped me. I’m getting a little old and tender I guess.
We followed our route backwards, descended into the heat of the valley bottom. A very fine day.
What a spectacular night. Lisa and I spent the entire night out. As soon as it got dark the auroras started and didn’t let up until dawn. We took lots of photos and are still going through them. Here are a few samples.
They were everywhere overhead and in every direction.
A butterfly or angel.
The mountains are illuminated by the shining auroras.
It is rare I point the camera directly overhead. For this night I made an exception.
The burnt snags reach towards the light.
Wondering the creek bottom by the light of a solar storm.
The garlic and daffodils are up. A bit of rain here and there, a few snowflakes, just winters way of trying to hang on. A few seeds could be poked into the ground. Carrots, radish, lettuce; maybe if I get ambitious this weekend.
An array of colours along the path of The Milky Way. This is ten photos stitched together in Adobe Lightroom. It spans from North to South looking East.
Tried again, this morning, to spot Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. This comet could be beyond Willow’s and my ability to track down. It is very close to the horizon beside the Andromeda Galaxy. By the time it rises above the mountains the sky is losing darkness. Also, we haven’t had super clear skies and the thickest haze is always closest to the horizon. That haze is in fact pollution. That’s why many cities have beautiful sunsets.
The moon as it appeared just after dark.
It is funny in a ridiculous way, our summers are filled with smoke from forest fires, now the spring and fall also has it’s share of smoke, as the provincial government and logging companies burn slash piles. Slash piles are all of the waste wood left over from clear cut logging. There is a lot of waste; branches, rotting wood, stumps, small trees, basically any mess the companies leave behind is pushed into piles and set ablaze.
The core of The Milky Way returns signalling spring and the coming summer. The green haze is a combination of haze, light pollution and maybe even some stardust. Lake Windermere still has its layer of winter ice.
It would be interesting to know if these C0 emissions are counted as industry emissions or if they get tabled under forest fire emissions. The latter not counted towards Canada’s yearly emission targets. Regardless, it is another case of the government saying one thing and doing another. The entire valley could drive around in Diesel Ford F350s for years and not emit the pollution that one of these massive slash piles produce.
I don’t think there is any big conspiracy involved, I just think government is incompetent in this regard.
This is how a panorama looks when I am stitching it together. This is ten individual photos taken left to right with overlap. This image is five frames wide and two frames high. The lens used was 20mm, which is wide, so a lot of the sky is captured. I did not do a very good job of keeping the bottom of the photo even. It can be difficult as it is dark and I can not see through the viewfinder, so it is done by feel. The bright lights in the distance is Invermere.
Palliser Pass 